BRODHEAD - Kettle Moraine Lutheran took Brodhead-Juda's football team out of its game Tuesday, and then out of the playoffs.
The Cardinals (7-3) never got going in this postseason following their state semifinal appearance in 2007. Kettle Moraine Lutheran (7-3) was aggressive from the start in its 28-0 win in the first round of the WIAA Division 4 playoffs.
"They took us out of our game a little bit and made us do some things later on which we aren't used to doing to try and get back into the game," Cardinals coach Jim Matthys said. "They're a pretty good football team. They were aggressive and came after us."
Brodhead-Juda looked a bit unprepared to start the game, whereas the Chargers were jumping around the field from the opening kickoff.
"In a way, we got off to slow start and that hurt us a bit," Matthys said. "It wasn't one of those things where it was an effort issue. It was just one of those things that they had a little more in the first quarter."
The Cardinals started the game from their own 11-yard line after a holding penalty on the kickoff. They gained only 23 yards on six plays, 10 of which were courtesy of a defensive holding call that negated an interception.
On Brodhead's fourth down, a timeout needed to be called because of personnel issues, and the proceeding punt shanked hard right and went out of bounds at just the 35.
"We gave them some short fields. They didn't have to put together some long drives to score," Matthys said. "The problem was field position. That's part of the game and something we have to get better at in the future."
The Chargers came out swinging from their prime position. Kettle Moraine Lutheran needed only three plays on its first drive to score. Two of the plays were runs by junior quarterback Benjamin Plahmer, for 25 and 10 yards. Plahmer's speed and missed tackles showed a quick view of how the game would go.
"We probably weren't tackling as much as we'd like to on defense," Matthys said.
The Cardinals went three-and-out before another punt landed on the short side of the 50. Before the KML snap,
Brodhead again had personnel issues and used its second timeout with 6:14 left to play in the first quarter.
However, the Cardinals stopped the Chargers from advancing more than five yards and got the ball back. But Brodhead's offense couldn't muster any steam and was forced to punt after just three plays. This time, the punt was blocked, and KML took over at the Brodhead 23-yard line - the first of a string of four memorable plays in just five snaps.
The second play saw a Charger running back fumble and Brodhead recover. The third came from the Cardinals' trick-play calling.
On second down at their own 27, quarterback Beau Benner hit Dan Douglas on a quick hook. Douglas flipped the ball to his brother, Ethan, in an attempt for the ladder. However, a KML player snagged the ball out of the air for yet another turnover.
The fourth play of memory was the next snap, when Charger running back Derek Gresenz dashed 33 yards for a touchdown, and a 13-0 KML lead.
Brodhead's next possession started with a block-in-the-back penalty on the kickoff. The Cardinals started from their own 6, and fizzled out at the 8 just moments into the second quarter.
The two teams muddled back and forth for the duration of the half, with KML scoring on a 33-yard run by Jonathon Eastman with just 59 ticks left on the clock.
Many in the stands (and on the field) hoped the Cardinals would come out booming in the second half.
Brodhead forced the Chargers to punt in their first two possessions of the second half, and recovered a lateral pass in the backfield late in the third to keep KML from scoring. However, Brodhead's offense couldn't get going, either.
After the fumble recovery, the Cardinals finally were in prime position to score at KML's 33, but turned the ball over on downs in just four snaps.
The Chargers then got a quick pass from Plahmer to Douglas Martin for 16 yards and then a 41-yard touchdown run by Gresenz on the next play. Gresenz took the wing sweep handoff to the left, but quickly reversed direction to open real estate on the right side and glided into the endzone for the score and effectively put the cap on Brodhead-Juda's season.
"My hat goes off to the seniors," Matthys said. "They're a group of guys who people thought would be 3-7 instead of 7-3 this year. They did a real good job this year as a whole."
The Cardinals (7-3) never got going in this postseason following their state semifinal appearance in 2007. Kettle Moraine Lutheran (7-3) was aggressive from the start in its 28-0 win in the first round of the WIAA Division 4 playoffs.
"They took us out of our game a little bit and made us do some things later on which we aren't used to doing to try and get back into the game," Cardinals coach Jim Matthys said. "They're a pretty good football team. They were aggressive and came after us."
Brodhead-Juda looked a bit unprepared to start the game, whereas the Chargers were jumping around the field from the opening kickoff.
"In a way, we got off to slow start and that hurt us a bit," Matthys said. "It wasn't one of those things where it was an effort issue. It was just one of those things that they had a little more in the first quarter."
The Cardinals started the game from their own 11-yard line after a holding penalty on the kickoff. They gained only 23 yards on six plays, 10 of which were courtesy of a defensive holding call that negated an interception.
On Brodhead's fourth down, a timeout needed to be called because of personnel issues, and the proceeding punt shanked hard right and went out of bounds at just the 35.
"We gave them some short fields. They didn't have to put together some long drives to score," Matthys said. "The problem was field position. That's part of the game and something we have to get better at in the future."
The Chargers came out swinging from their prime position. Kettle Moraine Lutheran needed only three plays on its first drive to score. Two of the plays were runs by junior quarterback Benjamin Plahmer, for 25 and 10 yards. Plahmer's speed and missed tackles showed a quick view of how the game would go.
"We probably weren't tackling as much as we'd like to on defense," Matthys said.
The Cardinals went three-and-out before another punt landed on the short side of the 50. Before the KML snap,
Brodhead again had personnel issues and used its second timeout with 6:14 left to play in the first quarter.
However, the Cardinals stopped the Chargers from advancing more than five yards and got the ball back. But Brodhead's offense couldn't muster any steam and was forced to punt after just three plays. This time, the punt was blocked, and KML took over at the Brodhead 23-yard line - the first of a string of four memorable plays in just five snaps.
The second play saw a Charger running back fumble and Brodhead recover. The third came from the Cardinals' trick-play calling.
On second down at their own 27, quarterback Beau Benner hit Dan Douglas on a quick hook. Douglas flipped the ball to his brother, Ethan, in an attempt for the ladder. However, a KML player snagged the ball out of the air for yet another turnover.
The fourth play of memory was the next snap, when Charger running back Derek Gresenz dashed 33 yards for a touchdown, and a 13-0 KML lead.
Brodhead's next possession started with a block-in-the-back penalty on the kickoff. The Cardinals started from their own 6, and fizzled out at the 8 just moments into the second quarter.
The two teams muddled back and forth for the duration of the half, with KML scoring on a 33-yard run by Jonathon Eastman with just 59 ticks left on the clock.
Many in the stands (and on the field) hoped the Cardinals would come out booming in the second half.
Brodhead forced the Chargers to punt in their first two possessions of the second half, and recovered a lateral pass in the backfield late in the third to keep KML from scoring. However, Brodhead's offense couldn't get going, either.
After the fumble recovery, the Cardinals finally were in prime position to score at KML's 33, but turned the ball over on downs in just four snaps.
The Chargers then got a quick pass from Plahmer to Douglas Martin for 16 yards and then a 41-yard touchdown run by Gresenz on the next play. Gresenz took the wing sweep handoff to the left, but quickly reversed direction to open real estate on the right side and glided into the endzone for the score and effectively put the cap on Brodhead-Juda's season.
"My hat goes off to the seniors," Matthys said. "They're a group of guys who people thought would be 3-7 instead of 7-3 this year. They did a real good job this year as a whole."
