Edgerton junior outside linebacker Holden Howard tackles Lake Mills junior quarterback Tyler Wollin during Friday’s WIAA Division 4 Level 1 game in Lake Mills.
Edgerton junior defensive backs Eli Kittleson (left) and Brody Butterfield combine to bring down Lake Mills junior wide receiver Collin Christian during Friday’s WIAA Division 4 playoff game in Lake Mills.
Edgerton junior outside linebacker Holden Howard tackles Lake Mills junior quarterback Tyler Wollin during Friday’s WIAA Division 4 Level 1 game in Lake Mills.
NATE GILBERT/ADAMS MULTIMEDIA
LAKE MILLS — The Edgerton High football season ended Friday night when the No. 5-seeded Crimson Tide were thumped at No. 4-seeded Lake Mills 42-0 in a WIAA Division 4 first-round playoff game.
After Edgerton head coach Russ Lietz watched his team get outgained 404-100 by the L-Cats, he believes the season likely ended a week earlier when the Crimson Tide lost at home in a Rock Valley Conference finale to McFarland 28-21.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak and prevented Edgerton from sharing the Rock Valley title with Evansville and Delavan-Darien and having a home playoff opening game. One of those five straight wins came at Evansville and is the only blemish on the Blue Devils’ season.
“I think our kids were a little bit intimidated before the game started and (Lake Mills) punched us in the mouth pretty quick,” Lietz said. “We didn’t respond well.
“You can always guess why,” Lietz said. “I think they were deflated from the week before. I think that McFarland loss put a little doubt in them.”
Edgerton was a bit surprised by the L-Cats running game
“We expected them to pass the ball, and they ran it down our throats the first three quarters,” Lietz said. “They were gaining about eight yards a crack.”
L-Cats came out flyingThe L-Cats (8-2) got out to a flying start, scoring two touchdowns before the Crimson Tide (6-4) picked up a first down. Five of Lake Mills’ six scores came on the ground, including three by senior running back Kaden Smolinski and two by junior running Kamden Tande-Habich.
After the Crimson Tide went three-and-out to start the game, the L-Cats got to work on a six-play scoring drive covering 68 yards.
Edgerton junior defensive backs Eli Kittleson (left) and Brody Butterfield combine to bring down Lake Mills junior wide receiver Collin Christian during Friday’s WIAA Division 4 playoff game in Lake Mills.
NATE GILBERT/ADAMS MULTIMEDIA
Junior wideout Jackson Roberts had two first-down receptions, juking a defender on the sideline to pick up 20 yards and move it inside the Edgerton 25-yard line. Smolinski reeled off a 22-yard scamper off left end, then plowed in for a 1-yard TD. Senior kicker Brock Levake added the first of his six extra points.
Two incompletions on short-yardage situations led to another Crimson Tide punt, with Lake Mills taking over at the Edgerton 41. Junior quarterback Tyler Wollin started the series by scrambling for 13 yards, Tande-Habich moved the sticks on fourth-and-1 before Roberts hauled in a 20-yard grab. Tande-Habich shot around the left side and scored from 15 yards out to make it 14-0 with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
Edgerton had a promising drive stall near the red zone, when a fourth-and-7 pass from the 23 intended for junior wideout Brody Butterfield glanced just off his hands in the end zone.
Lake Mills fumbled next, just the team’s second giveaway this season, as Smolinski was stripped by junior defensive back Anthony Stowell. The Crimson Tide, however, quickly punted it back.
The L-Cats, facing third-and-7 at the plus 35, moved the chains when Wollin picked up 10 yards on a designed run. Tande-Habich added a 15-yard run to get it inside the 10, where junior wideout Collin Christian high-pointed a strike from Wollin in the left corner of the end zone, getting both feet inbounds for a 9-yard TD with 1:49 left in the first half.
Edgerton, sensing it needed to do something to stem the tide, tried an onside kick to start the second half, but Lake Mills senior Mason Flood alertly pounced on it near midfield.
Eight plays later, Smolinski pounded it in from a yard away to make it 28-0.
After an Edgerton punt, Lake Mills needed only seven plays to travel 76 yards, pushing their margin to 35-0 on a 24-yard TD dash by Smolinski.
Lake Mills head coach Tyler Huber said limiting big plays and keeping Edgerton junior wide receiver Eli Kittleson bottled up were key ingredients in the shutout.
Lake Mills knows what awaits — a clash with top-seeded Racine St. Catherine’s (9-1) next Friday at Horlick Athletic Field. The L-Cats surrendered a late fourth-down score in last season’s Level 3 meeting, which the Angels won 19-14 en route to claiming a state championship.
Lietz defines season by the defeat of rival Evansville
Lietz, who announced his retirement from teaching and coaching at the end of the school year after 32 years in the Edgerton school system, still was processing the outcome Saturday.
“I didn’t see this coming,” Lietz said. “I compared Lake Mills to Evansville. We just didn’t respond.
“I told the kids in the (postgame meeting) in the end zone that they shouldn’t let this game define the season,” Lietz said. “I told them if they want to remember the pinnacle, just remember the Evansville game.
“The was a perfect game,” Lietz said. “They played a near-perfect game against a really good team.”
Tom Miller contributed to this story.
LAKE MILLS 42, EDGERTON 0
Edgerton 0 0 0 0 — 0
Lake Mills 14 7 14 7 — 42
First Quarter
LM — Smolinski 1 run (Levake kick), 7:59
LM — Tande-Habich 15 run (Levake kick), 3:10
Second Quarter
LM — Christian 9 pass from Wollin (Levake kick), 1:49
Third Quarter
LM — Smolinski 1 run (Levake kick), 7:19
LM — Smolinski 24 run (Levake kick), 1:31
Fourth Quarter
LM — Spiegelhoff 4 run (Levake kick), 4:39
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