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Chiefs come close to a perfect game

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Big Foot v Kewaunee Div 4 State Championship

Photos from The Walworth Big Foot Chief's 42-13 victory over the Kewaunee Indians in the Division 4 State Championship game at Camp Randall.

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MADISON — Bowling and baseball are the only two sports where a perfect game is possible.

But Walworth Big Foot’s football team came awfully close Thursday night.

Oh sure, there were four penalties and four punts for the Chiefs, but not much else went wrong in the 42-13 dismantling of previously unbeaten Kewaunee for the WIAA Division 4 state championship.

“Coach talked all year about putting together four quarters of mistake-free football,” Big Foot senior quarterback Steve Dowden said. “And tonight, for the first time, I think we did that.

“Everything seemed to be clicking, and once we got Michael (Walker) going, that seemed to really open things up.”

Kewaunee’s defense went 13 games this season without allowing an opponent more than 20 points.

The Chiefs had 28 by halftime of their second straight appearance in the state finals.

Walker was the instigator. The all-everything senior ripped the Indian defense for 121 yards the first half and scored three touchdowns, then went on to a Division 4 championship game record with five touchdowns to top off a 255-yard rushing night.

“He was the best back we saw all year,” Kewaunee coach Kurt Flaten said. “It was his combination of speed and power that hurt us, and we missed some tackles.”

Kewaunee has played in the state championship game in three of the last four years but has lost all three times. Flaten said there’s no secret to the Indians’ lack of success on the big stage.

“There’s just a lot of pressure that comes with playing for a state championship,” Flaten said. “And I thought we were a little tight coming out tonight. We settled down a little bit the second half, but we really hurt ourselves with the rough start.”

Despite the back-to-back state title appearances, Big Foot coach Rodney Wedig said he was forced to tweak his offense before the 2009 season in order to spread the field and utilize the talents of Dowden.

Dowden made Wedig look like a genius with another outstanding performance—this time with a state title on the line. Dowden was a clean 5-for-10 passing for 85 yards and two touchdowns. With Walker running amok, Dowden didn’t have to be special, just efficient.

“When all of our players are doing what they should do and don’t try to do too much, I don’t think anyone can beat us,” Wedig said. “And when Steve is comfortable in the pocket like he was tonight, and Michael is able to run in space, you saw what can happen.

“We still feature the power running game quite a bit, which they (the Indians) had trouble adjusting to tonight, but putting in a variation of the spread offense allowed Steven to really shine this year.”

Kewaunee (13-1) cut Big Foot’s lead to 28-13 early in the second half, but Walker rattled off touchdown runs of 47 and 32 yards to curtail any hopes of a comeback.

Big Foot senior Alec McGreevy, who scored the game’s first touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Dowden and intercepted three passes, said losing in the state title game two years in a row was not an option.

“We wanted to win last year, but we were also happy to be playing in the game,” McGreevy said. “This year, there was no way we were going to lose two years in a row in the championship game. We knew what to expect.”

The Chiefs expected a perfect game and delivered it.