High School Overtime: Level 3

GREEN BAY - West De Pere, Waupaca, Freedom, Brillion, St. Mary’s Springs and Hilbert are each one step away from playing for a state title after each won its Level 3 playoff game last week.

While West De Pere, Waupaca and St. Mary’s Springs cruised as expected, there were some interesting outcomes involving other local teams.

At the forefront was Freedom, which as a No. 8 seed, and had been the feel-good story of the postseason through two levels. After wins over No. 1-seeded Chilton and No. 4 Marshall, Freedom traveled to Eastern Valley Conference rival Little Chute in last week’s GameTime Game of the Week.

The No. 2 Mustangs edged the Irish, 13-6, during the regular season but that was eight weeks earlier and Freedom was hoping that meant nothing … and it didn’t.

Running back Nathan Peters gashed the Mustangs for 314 yards and four second-half touchdowns as the Irish ran all over Little Chute, 36-7. Peters didn’t start until Week 4, the week after the teams’ first meeting, as starting running back Bo Casper suffered a season-ending injury.

Peters rushed for 120 yards in the teams’ first meeting after Casper was hurt, but this time he was simply brilliant and the Mustangs had no answer. Peters leads the Irish into a Level 4 game this week at West Bend against Big Foot, and the way Peters is running (782 rushing yards, 11TDs in the postseason) and Freedom is playing, would anybody be surprised if the Irish keep it going?

Showdown set up
We know Northeast Wisconsin will be represented in the Division 3 state title game as undefeated teams West De Pere and Waupaca meet in Level 4. The Phantoms pushed their winning streak to 39 games with a 25-7 win over previously-undefeated Plymouth. West De Pere scored the game’s final 25 points.

Meanwhile, Waupaca scored just two offensive touchdowns but still tripped up Medford, 20-6, in its Level 3 win.

At least in Northeast Wisconsin, Waupaca has been the second most impressive team in Division 3 behind West De Pere, but now the Comets get a chance to do the unthinkable and hand the Phantoms their first loss since the 2009 state title game. This game promises to be a good one.

Divisions 1 and 2 gone
Entering Level 3, Appleton North, Kimberly and Green Bay Southwest had a combined record of 29-1 with the only loss being a North win over Kimberly, and were still alive in Divisions 1 and 2. But after their games last week they were all done for the season.

In Division 1, North’s defense couldn’t handle Hudson at Stevens Point and lost, 40-21. It was the most points North had allowed since its 45-27 loss to Stevens Point in the 2010 postseason.

Also in Division 1, Kimberly started fast against the favorite to win the Division 1 state title, but that was it. The Papermakers scored on their opening drive to grab a 7-0 lead over the Warhawks, but then Kimberly found out why Arrowhead is ranked No. 1.

Meanwhile, in Division 2, Green Bay Southwest for the second week in a row was involved in a game that was to be decided in the final minute. Homestead trailed, 13-10, with about three minutes to play and had possession on its own 38.

Southwest’s defense bailed out the Trojans a week earlier when it snuffed out a 2-point conversion in the final minute of a 27-25 win against Pulaski and the defense would have to come up big again.

For one of the few times this season, or maybe the only time, Southwest’s defense couldn’t make the big play. The Highlanders rallied for a late score to end Southwest’s perfect season with a 17-13 win.

Rematch a carbon copy
In a Division 6 Level 3 game Shiocton and Springs met in a rematch of the 2011 Division 6 state title game which was won by Springs, 24-0.

Shiocton had to find a way to slow down the state’s top-ranked scoring offense (52 points per game), and it did. For the second year in a row, the Chiefs held Springs to 24 points. However, for the second year in a row, Shiocton didn’t score, meaning for the second year in a row Springs won, 24-0.

Shiocton is the only team to hold Springs to less than 25 points over the last two seasons and it has done it twice. However, the Chiefs lost each time because once again it looks like Springs is the class of Division 6 in the state.

Local Level 3 Scores
Arrowhead 31, Kimberly 7
Hudson 40, Appleton North 21
Homestead 17, Green Bay Southwest 13
West De Pere 25, Plymouth 7
Waupaca 20, Medford 6
Freedom 36, Little Chute 7
Brillion 41, Racine St. Catherine’s 9
St. Mary’s Springs 24, Shiocton 0
Hilbert 13, Owen-Withee 12

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

doug.ritchay@wluk.com