Brodhead-Juda wins state football berth
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Some die hard Brodhead-Juda fans braves the cold to cheer the Cardinals on to victory over the Bigfoot Chiefs on Saturday.
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Bigfoot's Mason Dixon gets taken down by Brodhead's Jesse Delorme, Skyler Rundle and Bryan Bauman in the first half of their semifinal game on Saturday.
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Brodhead's Alex Wallace stiff arms Bigfoot's Michael Kunes during their semifinal game at Middleton on Saturday.
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Brodhead's Mike Peterson celebrates with Evan Marchant (65) and Dylan Bauman (20) after hauling in a pass for Brodhead's third touchdown putting them up for good with 9 seconds left in the first half against Bigfoot on Saturday.
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Bigfoot's Jordan Gottman runs for 23 yards and scores the first Bigfoot touchdown in the first quarter in The Chief's semifinal game with Brodhead on Saturday.
MIDDLETON — On a team void of any blue-chip prospects, Brodhead/Juda had plenty of superstars Saturday.
The Cardinals dominated from the midway point of the first quarter and cruised to a 32-14 win over defending state champion Walworth Big Foot in a Division 4 semifinal game at Breitenbach Stadium.
Brodhead-Juda (11-2) plays unbeaten Kewaunee (13-0) for the state championship Thursday night at 7 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. The Cardinals will be making their first trip to the state finals since losing to Ripon in the title game in 2003.
What was billed as a clash between Rock Valley South titans turned into a clinic on both sides of the ball by Brodhead/Juda. The Cardinals played smashmouth on offense, rushing for 329 yards, while suffocating the bewildered Chiefs on defense. Brodhead/Juda limited Big Foot (10-3) to 147 yards of total offense.
“To be able to beat a team as good as Big Foot is a huge win for us,” Brodhead/Juda coach Jim Matthys said. “Our whole idea was to play tough defense, keep the clock going and get to the fourth quarter where they had to scramble against the wind. And fortunately, that’s how it turned out.
“We got so many extra yards today on extra effort. That’s as hard as Alex (Wallace) and Jesse (Delorme) have run all season. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids.”
Big Foot struck first to go up 7-0 midway through the first, but Brodhead/Juda responded with 25 straight points to take control. Delorme’s 8-yard touchdown run gave the Cardinals the lead for good at 6:46 of the second quarter, and Mike Peterson’s clutch 17-yard touchdown pass from David Earleywine with nine seconds left in the half pushed the advantage to 19-7.
Big Foot, which was shooting for a third straight trip to the state title game, floundered after an impressive opening drive. The Chiefs had no rhythm offensively, and defensively could not get off the field on critical third-down plays. Leading rusher Kenneth Walker was unable to go for Big Foot because of a sprained ankle, but head coach Rodney Wedig was not making any excuses afterward.
“I think more than anything, we just picked a poor game to not play our best,” Wedig said. “We missed a lot of tackles, and that’s a credit to Wallace and Delorme. They really ran hard and attacked us.
“The third quarter was the key. We had to make our move there with the wind, and because of poor field position, we weren’t able to do much with it. But give Brodhead a lot of credit. They played awfully well.”
Wallace and Delorme both finished with over 100 yards rushing, while Earleywine ran the offense to perfection.
Delorme capped off the Cardinals’ memorable performance with an acrobatic interception midway through the fourth quarter that put an end to any comeback hopes for the Chiefs.
“We were stunned after they scored right away on the first series, but I told the guys that one play or one series is not going to affect the rest of the game,” Delorme said. “Our offense came back and scored right away, and that got everybody pumped up.
“Coach preached all week that defense was going to win the game. And our defense stepped up.”
BRODHEAD/JUDA 32, BIG FOOT 14
Walworth Big Foot 7 0 0 7—14
Brodhead/Juda 6 13 6 7—32
Scoring summary: BF—Jordan Gottman, 23 run (Sean Kivlin kick). B/J—Jesse Delorme, 11 run (kick failed). B/J—Delorme, 8 run (run failed). B/J—Mike Peterson, 17 pass from David Earleywine (Josh Dougherty kick). B/J—Earleywine, 1 run (kick failed). BF—Gottman, 1 run (Kivlin kick). B/J—Earleywine, 1 run (Dougherty kick).
Statistics: First downs—BF 9, B/J 19. Rushes—BF 37-115, B/J 55-329. Yards passing—BF 32, B/J 97. Passes—BF 18-3-1, B/J 9-4-0. Fumbles—BF 3-0, B/J 2-1. Penalties—BF 3-18, B/J 4-50.
Nov 16, 2010 at 4:37 p.m.
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Ok - what do we know about the Storm? Anyone got them researched? I know they're undefeated this year. Big team? Fast Team?
Nov 16, 2010 at 12:36 p.m.
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I'm all for bringing a town back together and backing the children of a district, but why does an interview or even facebook always have bring up what happened in the past. It's time to move on and support the children!!
BRING HOME THE GOLD BRODHEAD-JUDA!!!!
Nov 16, 2010 at 8:07 a.m.
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Amen to that!!
Nov 15, 2010 at 8:32 p.m.
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onecardinalfan this football season is bringing our town back together!
Let's only think positive!
Nov 15, 2010 at 12:59 p.m.
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A recent facebook post from one of Brodheads "STAR" players
"i would just like to say...screw all of those who voted for the referendum to take away sports jst because u didnt wnt to pay a lil more tax. you c wht we have done for u? and u did tht to us? we came back from tht crap stronger then ever. shame on u all"
Wow! What a disapointment!
Nov 15, 2010 at 10:24 a.m.
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That was a great game!
Nov 14, 2010 at 6:53 p.m.
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Martin 19 well said! Coach Wedig along with several of his coaches came off the field as the Brodhead fans congregrated awaiting the Brodhead Juda players each one of them said congrats to many of us and said and said enjoy the week!
Yes we are rivals to the core but yes we respect each other!
Nov 14, 2010 at 4:41 p.m.
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Congratulations Brodhead-Juda on a hard earned victory!! It was a great football game between two teams that respect each other and two schools with alot of class. You also have two communities very proud of you !! Also congratulations to coach Wedig and his Chiefs for their excellent season. It is now four out of the last eight years the Rock Valley has been represented in D-4 championship game at Camp Randall. I guess that alone says what kind of football we play around here. GOOD LUCK Cardinals Thursday and lets keep this thing going!!!
Nov 14, 2010 at 3:44 p.m.
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I can only imagine how badly Nekoosa would have beaten Big Foot. lol
Nov 14, 2010 at 3:05 p.m.
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Congratulations Brodhead Juda - Now Go Get That Gold Ball for our Conference!!
Nov 14, 2010 at 11:06 a.m.
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Being an alum of Big Foot I had hoped the Chiefs could have repeated with another Division 3 Championship, but it was not to be. The Chiefs were outplayed by the Cardinals. Both teams had exceptional seasons, and for that they should be congratulated, but the Cardinals were the better team yesterday.
Congratulations to Brodhead/Juda for a well played game. I tip my hat to the players and coaching staff for a job well done. On to Madison! Here's hoping the Cardinals defeat Kewaunee and bring the Division 3 State Championship back to the Rock Valley Conference for another year.
Nov 14, 2010 at 10:25 a.m.
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Congratulations to the Brodhead-Juda team on a game/season well played!! Have fun this week and good luck at Camp Randall!!
Nov 14, 2010 at 10:01 a.m.
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I was simply too engaged in cheering and watching the game! I just wanted to know if you went. I had no intention of seeking you out. I was quite busy and quite honestly, I had no desire to meet you. Much to your chagrin, perhaps, that event did not make my radar of top five things of importance to do during the game. Sorry to disappoint you. Not only that, you were clearly not in front of my eyes. That being said, I will do as requested and give you no more of my time and energy. I am going to enjoy the victory earned by Brodhead-Juda yesterday. I will also look forward to watching the Cardinals play for a state title on Thursday evening.
Nov 14, 2010 at 9:15 a.m.
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I have read the article over and over, and I just cannot see any innuendo or insinuation from the writer that this match-up was predetermined. However, both teams did win last week, so the results were secured pre, before, this game, so maybe that is the interpretation of pre-determined. I am not sure, though! Congratulations to Big Foot on a great season. It was awesome to watch conference rivals battle with a trip to the state finals on the line. I am SURE I will regret it, but did you partake of the game hf?
Nov 14, 2010 at 9:10 a.m.
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To the Brodhead/Juda fans - I would like to request that we honor our players, coaches and fans by refusing to give honorable_fan any more of our time and energy. We are focusing on the WRONG thing by continuing to take this poster seriously.
We've got a great group of young men and coaches working hard to uphold the tradition of excellence in our small town. GO BRODHEAD-JUDA! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!
Nov 14, 2010 at 12:18 a.m.
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MikeF-The same eyes that saw conspiracy at Nekoosa saw "predestined" in the Big Foot article. Oh, and as usual, he took another slap at us by not capitalizing B-J. The maturity level (or lack thereof) is staggering.
Nov 14, 2010 at 12:08 a.m.
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"he made it sound as if it were pre-determined that b/j would play Big Foot"
I read the story twice and do not see this... What part(s) made it sound like that?
Nov 14, 2010 at 12:05 a.m.
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HF get lost! Ur old news baby!! Cus we goin TO STATE!!!
Nov 13, 2010 at 11:17 p.m.
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LOL! honorable fan. You must be severely delusional. 1st B/J stole the win last week, 2nd you're requesting a do over in HS Football, and 3rd you're suggesting a conspiracy? OMG! What's next??
Awesome game B/J can't wait until Thursday! Enjoy the Victory!
Nov 13, 2010 at 10:42 p.m.
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Get....Over.....It.....Must have been a difficult week of sleep for you as you can't seem to get your undies out of the bunch they are in.
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