Boyceville’s championship football bid falls a point short in state semifinal loss to Edgar

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CHIPPEWA FALLS — Boyceville appeared to be a team of destiny last Friday evening, November 15 in Chippewa Falls.

After trailing 8-7 at halftime and 14-7 entering the final 12 minutes of regulation play in its Division 7 state semifinal (Level 4) contest versus Edgar, the defending state champion, the Bulldogs turned a long, third down pass into an eventual game-tying score just seconds into the fourth quarter and then recovered a Wildcats’ fumble that led to the go ahead touchdown with just 3:53 left on the scoreboard clock.

Although Boyceville missed the important Point-After-Touchdown kick, it had regained a 20-14 advantage. And when Edgar’s junior quarterback, Tucker Streit, was flagged for a grounding penalty after he flung an incomplete pass into the artificial turf of Chi-Hi’s Dorais Field to avoid a heavy Boyceville rush and possible sack, the resulting loss of down and ultimate 20-yard penalty assessment (based on the spot of the infraction) put the Wildcats in a second and 30 situation and had the Bulldogs sniffing a state championship berth.

But Edgar, who had 95 wins in its 37 playoff appearances coming into the November 15 game, has been in plenty of similar situations throughout the legendary career of its head coach Jerry Sinz and never seemed to panic.

Instead, Streit completed three consecutive passes for gains of 24, 18 and 14 yards to quickly move the Wildcats from their own 25 to the Bulldogs’ 19. Then Edgar’s running back, Maverick Butt, took over as he rushed four straight times including a three-yard sweep to the end zone that knotted the game at 20 all with 1:27 to play. After a Wildcat timeout to discuss the extra point try, their kicker, Jarvis Kofent, booted the football straight through the uprights for 21-20 lead.

Boyceville had one final opportunity to score as it took over at it’s own 20 following a touchback on the kickoff. But, on first down Boyceville quarterback Carson Roemhild, the Dunn-St. Croix Conference two-time offensive player of the season, was sacked and fumbled. Edgar’s Wyatt Klockziem fell on the loose ball at the Bulldogs’ 14 yard line with 1:18 still remaining.

Three rushes and the Wildcats had a first and goal at the two. Streit then took a knee to run out the clock and end Boyceville’s season as Edgar held on for the 21-20 win and its 14th state championship berth.

While Edgar will go for its ninth state championship when it faces Potosi/Cassville in the D7 state title match this Thursday, November 21 at 10 a.m. in Camp Randall, Boyceville finished 11-2. Both of those defeats were by a single point. The first loss to Spring Valley cost the Boyceville a second consecutive conference championship while the latter kept it from qualifying for its first state championship football game.

“Not many people outside of our players or coaching staff thought we had a chance against Edgar,” said Michael Roemhild, Boyceville head coach. “The team had big goals at the beginning of the season. The ultimate one was to be playing on November 21. We came up four minutes short of that. For a brief moment we had all of our doubters proven wrong.”

“Unfortunately, there was a reason we weren’t meant to advance. Right now we don’t know what that reason is. As we talk about all the what ifs, eventually watch film, and reflect upon the season the pain won’t go away. I am ok with that. If you could ask any coach, player, fan if they would take losing in the final moments of a game to go to state compared to not making the playoffs or losing in an earlier round, there isn’t one person that wouldn’t want to be in our position,” added Roemhild.

It was a position the Bulldogs had earned and they showed early on that they could go head-to-head with the Wildcats.

But, like two heavyweights testing one another in the early rounds, neither Boyceville nor Edgar were able to effectively sustain drives let alone score throughout the first quarter of action which ended in a scoreless deadlock.

The Bulldogs first two offensive forays ended in punts, as did the Wildcats. But, when Edgar punter Dakota Ellenbecker netted just 16 yards to conclude his team’s second possession, Boyceville took over at the midfield stripe.

After short runs by Landyn Leslie and Jake Bialzik, Roemhild went to the air and found Zach Hellendrung open on toss to the flat which the punishing junior running back turned into a 26-yard gain to the Edgar 23. On the very next play, Leslie took the  reverse hand off and found wide open field to his left and raced to the end zone for the game’s first score, a touchdown at the 7:12 mark of the second quarter. Hellendrung made good on the extra point kick to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.

It would be a short-lived advantage, however, as Edgar drove 67 yards in eight plays for six points. Streit used his arm and legs to sustain the Wildcats’ march. He found senior wideout Leyton Schuett for pass plays of 17 and 19 yards and then ran the final 24 yards to pay dirt with 3:32 left in the half. Edgar used a bit of razzle dazzle to earn the two-point conversion and an 8-7 lead. A double handoff ended with a good pass back to Streit for the two points.

The Bulldogs made it into Wildcat territory, but Roemhild was sacked and they had to punt and the first half closed with the locals trailing by a point.

After deferring its choice until the second half, Edgar took the kickoff to begin the third quarter. Just five plays into that opening drive, senior running back William Hackel broke through the line and raced 47 yards before Boyceville’s Jon Madison made a touchdown-saving tackle at the Bulldogs’ four yard line. Unfortunately, fellow backfield mate Maverick Butt chewed up the final four yards on the ensuing play to score the touchdown. Kofent’s extra point kick went just wide, but the Wildcats led 14-7 at the 7:50 mark.

The next two offensive possessions ended with each squad punting away the football.

With 4:49 showing on the third-quarter clock, Boyceville took over at its own 40. The first two plays netted minimal gains, but on third and eight Roemhild threw a laser shot to junior receiver Bradley Maes, who despite being closely defended, made a superb catch that netted 26 yards and a fresh set of downs at the Edgar 32.

The Bulldogs then unleashed their ground game. Hellendrung had consecutive gains of 5, 6, 8 and 4 yards and Bialzik ended the third stanza with a run of seven yards that took the football to the Wildcat two. On the very next play and just five seconds into the final quarter, Hellendrung plowed his way to pay dirt. He then kicked the PAT to knot the game at 14 aside.

On the second play of Edgar’s next possession, the ball was fumbled and Lexton Benitz recovered at the Wildcat 41.

Boyceville used the power run to the move the ball with Hellendrung serving as the main attacker. But, the drive stalled at the Wildcat 12 after a third-down run resulted in a loss. The Bulldogs lined up to attempt a field goal or at least that is what they wanted Edgar to think. Instead, Carson Roemhild, who served as the kick holder, took the snap and quickly stood up and dashed for the end zone. He was knocked out of bounds, but not before gaining ten yards to the two and a fresh set of downs. After Hellendrung lost a couple of yards on a first-down run, Bialzik carried on back-to-back attempts for three yards and then the final yard for the go-ahead score with 3:53 remaining in the game. The crucial extra points try by Hellendrung just missed left, but Boyceville was ahead 20-14.

The lead however would not stand, despite putting the Wildcats in a second and 30 situation. Streit’s passes to Hackel for 24 and 14 sandwiched around an 18-yard toss to Butt took the Wildcats to the red zone. Butt then ran four straight times for gains of 9, 6, 1 and 3, the final one taking Edgar into the end zone, tying the score. Kofent confidently booted the extra point straight through the uprights for a 21-20 Wildcat lead.

The Bulldogs last gasp effort ended when Roemhild was sacked and fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Wildcats and allowed them to run out the clock and claim victory.       

The final offensive statistics were fairly comparable. Boyceville finished with 242 yards and Edgar tallied 275.

Roemhild completed four of his five pass attempts for 79 yards. Hellendrung snared a pair for 43 yards to lead the way while Maes and Leslie each had one for 26 and ten yards, respectively. Hellendrung topped the rushing charts with 78 of the Bulldogs’ 163 yards and a TD on 20 carries. Leslie added 37 and a score on five carries, Bialzik had a touchdown and 24 yards in eight hauls and Roemhild rushed six times for 23 yards.

Will Hackel had 110 of Edgar’s 184 ground yards. Butt added 43 yards and two scores on 15 attempts and Streit, who passed for 91 yards on a 7-for-13 performance, ran six times for 31 yards.  Hackel added 38 yards on two receptions while Schuett had four catches for 35 yards.

“I am so proud of how hard this team works, how unselfish they all were, and how much they played for each other, their coaches, and their community,” commented Coach Roemhild.

“This loss will always hurt and will never go away but I will take this pain every year if it means we have that chance to do something special. Just because we lost this game does not mean it’s over. It just means we have to work harder. These young men made a community proud. I have never seen so much pride and excitement for our football team like I have seen this year. My message to our team and community…we are not done yet!” he stated.

This game, however, was the final one for five seniors. Ryker Benitz, Jake Bialzik, Mark Knopps, Oliver Hoff and Nathan Jensen will graduate out of the program next spring.