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Prep football: Waunakee runs through Norskies

Dennis Semrau  —  10/04/2008 11:23 am

DEFOREST -- It was Homecoming and Waunakee was in town.

Friday night under the lights doesn't get much better than that.

But the DeForest Norskies had a lot more going for them while they eagerly awaited the opening kickoff of their Badger North Conference matchup with fifth-ranked Waunakee.

For pregame entertainment, there was Channel 27 chief meteorologist Bob Lindmeier with his tailgate entourage adding a little sparkle to the evening.

And Jared of Subway sandwich fame ventured out to midfield to a roar of approval from the crowd to participate in the pregame coin flip ceremony.

"Eat fresh."

Too bad for the Norskies, though, that they ended up with indigestion following a steady diet of a Waunakee running attack that rotated three tailbacks behind an experienced and tenacious offensive line which turned the game into a virtual running clock.

So despite their best efforts, for the 12th straight year during the regular season it was DeForest that left the field disappointed and frustrated while its rival Waunakee had a bounce in its step and another notch in the win column.

Waunakee 28, DeForest 14, so what else is new?

"The line of scrimmage was theirs tonight. They owned the clock and took care of the ball," said DeForest coach Mike Minick, whose Norskies are 0-8 against Waunakee since realignment created the Badger North Conference in 2001 and 1-14 against the Warriors dating back to 1996, when DeForest pulled out a 13-10 victory en route to earning its last conference title.

"The kids competed. We played the game and that's how it goes."

Coming off of a 27-13 victory at home over Waunakee in the WIAA Division 2 state quarterfinals last season, anticipation was high during the pregame fun that DeForest was ready to emerge as the frontrunner in the conference race.

But although the Norskies finished second at state last season and were fueled by preseason optimism that they would be the ones to end Waunakee's five-year reign atop the Badger North, the Warriors showed no signs of relinquishing their status among the state's elite programs.

"Half the guys on the team were there last year. They felt like they wanted revenge," Waunakee linebacker Darren Anderson said of last season's loss to DeForest in the Division 2 state quarterfinals. "We played our hearts out tonight and that's what we got."

While it might be hard to believe for the current generation that is used to Waunakee ruling the roost, it wasn't that long ago that DeForest dominated this series.

The Norskies won 12 of 14 games in the series from 1979 through 1992, including six games in a row from 1979-84 and five in a row from 1988-92.

But since 1993, Waunakee has a commanding 15-2 lead in the series, a point not lost on Minick, who was a member of the 1982 DeForest team that beat Waunakee 35-0 during the regular season en route to winning the WIAA Division 4 state title.

"They're high school kids. From day-to-day, you don't know what's going to happen," said Minick, who wouldn't mind another shot at Waunakee during the playoffs. "But we have good kids and I like working with them. Each season is completely different. We're not at the point Waunakee is. But we just keep playing hard."

Minick, who is in his ninth season as the Norskies' head coach, has had his share of frustration playing against his school's biggest rival. The Norskies have finished second in the Badger North Conference to the Warriors five times in the past seven years.

Baring a Reedsburg win over Waunakee or any other upset over the final three weeks of the regular season, the Warriors are ready to make it six-of-eight.

Since DeForest's last victory during the regular season over Waunakee, the Warriors under coach Pat Rice have posted an amazing 134-13 record for a .912 winning percentage spanning the past 11-plus years. That includes eight trips to the WIAA state semifinals, four berths in the state finals and two state championships. Waunakee has also won nine conference titles in the last 11 years.

After watching their impressive 41-0 rout of Milton, which has the inside track on the Badger South Conference title, and Friday's businesslike performance against DeForest, who was the coaches' preseason pick to win the Badger North title, the Warriors aren't ready to relinquish their top dog status any time soon.

"Competition definitely breeds champions and we had some real competition here," Waunakee senior offensive tackle Al Baures said. "We knew we were coming into hostile territory and had to succeed. We had to prepare and we did. We did our jobs and came out with the 'W.'

"The atmosphere helps you play up another notch. Everybody plays at a level you didn't know you had. You get out there and there is something inside that pushes you."

What made this victory over DeForest even more impressive was Waunakee's relentless defense and strong offensive line, two areas of the game that Rice has built his program on over the past 17 seasons.

"We challenged our kids to step up and not back down. We knew they'd just keep coming," Rice said of DeForest, which entered the game averaging 42 carries and 310 yards rushing per game and was held to 31 carries for 126 yards Friday.

"DeForest is a very good program and a good team. We felt we got worn down last year and this year we wanted to finish the game. We felt a good way to do that was to keep our offensive line on the field as much as we could."

That included rotating tailbacks Jared Woock (12 carries, 43 yards), Kyle Acker (23-128, 2 TDs) and Kanha Mann (10-71, 1 TD), who ran mostly over the left side of the Warriors' line behind Baures, guard Jacob Hellenbrand and center John Kaltenberg.

It wasn't by coincidence that the Warriors were a bit left-handed against the Norskies. Waunakee did its best to stay away from DeForest's returning second team all-state defensive end Drew Barman.

"We had a pretty good idea where Barman was and he happened to be on the wrong side quite a bit," Rice said with a smile.

But Waunakee was successful because Rice and his coaching staff have convinced their players that the only way to get the job done is to check your egos at the door.

"It's a team game and we play as a team," Baures said. "There is no single person who carries the load. We go out there and do our jobs."

That was a point that the Waunakee defense certainly focused on.

"That's a great team. We only allowed 14 points and their season average is 44-something," said Anderson, who had two quarterback sacks during the game. "That's a heck of a defensive stand right there."

Dennis Semrau  —  10/04/2008 11:23 am