BEN PRIESGEN
JOURNALIST
On October 25, Campbellsport football lost 35-7 to Berlin in Level One of the WIAA Division 4 Football Playoffs.
“We played hard all game with the kids fighting throughout the game and that’s what you want to see from them is never to quit,” said Head Coach Todd Wondra.
Campbellsport (6-4) forced Berlin (9-1) to punt after allowing one first down on their first possession.
The sixth-seeded Cougars got a Riley Kohlmann 11-yard run for a first down before they punted the ball back to the third-seeded Indians.
Berlin attempted a halfback pass which was intercepted by Luke Pendowski at the Berlin 40-yard line.
Pendowski got a key first down run for six yards to keep the Cougars drive alive before Campbellsport fumbled the ball back to the Indians in the red zone at the 18-yard line.
The Indians got a 20-yard run to convert a fourand- one at their own 28-yard line when they proceeded to drive the length of the field.
Berlin converted another fourth down on the drive for a three-yard touchdown pass to give the Indians a 7-0 lead at the 8:19 mark in the second quarter.
The Cougars fumbled the snap on the second play on their next possession after the Berlin touchdown to give the ball back to the Indians’ offense at the Campbellsport 38-yard line.
Emmett Gonnering got a big sack on a fourth down to stop the Berlin drive at the Campbellsport 40-yard line but the Cougars went three-and-out to punt the ball back to Berlin.
Berlin got a big play from the passing game with a 46-yard passing touchdown to push their lead to 14-0 with 2:42 left in the first half.
The two teams traded fourth down stops by their defenses to start the second half in the playoff contest.
The Berlin offense took advantage of their good field position by capping off their drive with a 15yard rushing touchdown, further increasing their lead to 21-0 at the 2:21 minute mark in the third quarter.
Campbellsport went on a 76-yard drive from their offense, highlighted by a 26-yard run by Kohlmann, and it was finished off by Braden Bothe to Pendowski for a 24-yard passing touchdown to get the Cougars on the scoreboard to make the score 21-7 in favor of Berlin with 11:53 left in the game.
The Cougars’ defense forced a punt on the next Indians’ possession before Berlin caused a strip sack to get the ball back to their offense at the Campbellsport 28-yard line.
Berlin got a 28-yard passing touchdown to extend their lead to 28-7 with 7:46 left on the game clock.
The Campbellsport offense was stopped on fourth down to give the ball back to the Indians’ offense which they proceeded to drive for their final touchdown of the game to push their lead to 35-7 with 4:49 on the fourth quarter clock.
The Cougars’ final drive of their season ended on a fourth down run which was stopped three yards short of the first down.
Berlin kneeled down to drain the game clock of their final minute in the playoff matchup.
“At the beginning of the season you have goals... earning a berth is always on the list with football being the only high school sport you need to earn your way in by your play on the field,” said Wondra. “This is our sixth consecutive trip to the playoffs but sometimes you run into good football teams.”
“I want to thank our seniors for the past four years for everything they have given our program,” said Wondra. “We’ll get back to work this off season and learn from this year what we can do better to help us moving forward.”
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