MONROE - Junior Dempzy Foley's journey from soccer to football may be headed for a Hollywood script after he kicked a game-winning 18-yard field goal as time expired to give the Monroe High School football team a thrilling 24-21 win over Fort Atkinson Friday night.
The Cheesemakers mobbed Foley after the first game-winning field goal of his career.
Monroe (9-0, 6-0 Badger South), ranked seventh in the Associated Press medium school state poll, won its first conference championship since 1998. The win also gives the Cheesemakers their first unbeaten regular season since 1995 when Monroe was the WIAA Division 2 state runner-up. Monroe will likely get a No. 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs; the pairings will be announced later today.
"I thought I was going to need a 30- or 40-yard field goal to win it," Foley said. "We haven't been in a game this close this year where we needed a field goal to win. It's the first game-winning field goal I have made. I gave the seniors an undefeated season they wanted at the beginning of the year."
Before the field goal, Foley and many others thought senior running back Jacob Kind had scored a touchdown to win it with 3 seconds to go.
"I thought I was going to be kicking an extra point, and they called for the field goal team," he said.
Fort Atkinson (5-4, 3-3 Badger South) rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The Blackhawks capped a nine-play, 74-yard drive with senior running back Preston Strasburg bowling in for a 4-yard TD run. Strasburg ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 21 with 2 minutes, 27 seconds left.
With a little more than 2 minutes to go, the Cheesemakers' offense went to work and drove 66 yards. After Kind had a 4-yard run to the Blackhawks' 1-yard line, the Cheesemakers called a timeout with 3 seconds to go. That set the stages for Foley.
"He's a rock solid kid," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said of Foley. "This is probably the first time since I have been a coach other than college that I have had the choice and confidence to win the game like that. I hope everyone is enjoying this because I sure did. This has been a blast."
Monroe senior Isaac Allen rushed for 120 yards on 32 carries and scored two touchdowns. The Cheesemakers racked up 366 total rushing yards. Kind rushed for 136 yards on 20 carries, and senior Cole Murray rushed for 78 yards on 14 carries and had one touchdown. Senior quarterback Tyler Elmer completed 3 of 7 passes for 40 yards and he ran for 32 yards.
Fort Atkinson senior quarterback Matt Romens scored two touchdowns. Romens had a 3-yard TD run to cap a long Blackhawks' drive about midway through the first quarter that gave Fort a 7-0 lead.
The Cheesemakers answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in Allen ramming into the end zone on a 2-yard TD run to tie the game at 7. Murray had a 2-yard TD run in the second quarter to give the Cheesemakers a 14-7 lead. Romens then directed a 65-yard drive and capped it off hooking up with Jared Edwards on a 19-yard TD pass. The Blackhawks looked to take the lead, but Monroe junior Brayden Zettle tackled Connor O'Brien short of the end zone to preserve the Cheesemakers' 14-13 lead at the half.
The Cheesemakers rode their power running game in the second half with a 21-play, 80-yard drive, punctuated by Allen's 1-yard TD plunge to give Monroe a 21-13 lead. The drive chewed up 9 minutes, 5 seconds.
Golembiewski said that was a big drive, but the most important part is the Cheesemakers got seven points off the drive.
"That was huge," Allen said. "We kept them off the field. They have a high-powered offense and we had to keep them off the field."
With an eight-point lead, the Cheesemakers had another 11-play drive in the fourth quarter that ended in a critical turnover on downs. Facing fourth-and-5 from the Blackhawks' 26-yard line, Elmer's pass sailed incomplete along the sideline and the turnover on downs gave the Blackhawks an opportunity they cashed in on.
Golembiewski relied on the Cheesemakers' offense that rolled up 406 total yards to convert on fourth down. Golembiewski said he didn't consider kicking a field goal to give the Cheesemakers an 11-point lead.
"We weren't on the field where we wanted to be for a field goal," he said.
After forcing the turnover on downs, Strasburg ripped off a 27-yard run and also had 10- and 13-yard runs on the drive as the Blackhawks mounted a comeback. Moments later, Strasburg scored on a 4-yard run. Strasburg rushed for 136 yards on 23 carries and scored one touchdown.
That set the stage for Foley's heroics.
"I didn't have the words to describe it," Allen said after Foley's winning field goal gave the Cheesemakers an undisputed conference title. "We really worked hard, and we wanted it more. We earned it."
The Cheesemakers mobbed Foley after the first game-winning field goal of his career.
Monroe (9-0, 6-0 Badger South), ranked seventh in the Associated Press medium school state poll, won its first conference championship since 1998. The win also gives the Cheesemakers their first unbeaten regular season since 1995 when Monroe was the WIAA Division 2 state runner-up. Monroe will likely get a No. 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs; the pairings will be announced later today.
"I thought I was going to need a 30- or 40-yard field goal to win it," Foley said. "We haven't been in a game this close this year where we needed a field goal to win. It's the first game-winning field goal I have made. I gave the seniors an undefeated season they wanted at the beginning of the year."
Before the field goal, Foley and many others thought senior running back Jacob Kind had scored a touchdown to win it with 3 seconds to go.
"I thought I was going to be kicking an extra point, and they called for the field goal team," he said.
Fort Atkinson (5-4, 3-3 Badger South) rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The Blackhawks capped a nine-play, 74-yard drive with senior running back Preston Strasburg bowling in for a 4-yard TD run. Strasburg ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 21 with 2 minutes, 27 seconds left.
With a little more than 2 minutes to go, the Cheesemakers' offense went to work and drove 66 yards. After Kind had a 4-yard run to the Blackhawks' 1-yard line, the Cheesemakers called a timeout with 3 seconds to go. That set the stages for Foley.
"He's a rock solid kid," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said of Foley. "This is probably the first time since I have been a coach other than college that I have had the choice and confidence to win the game like that. I hope everyone is enjoying this because I sure did. This has been a blast."
Monroe senior Isaac Allen rushed for 120 yards on 32 carries and scored two touchdowns. The Cheesemakers racked up 366 total rushing yards. Kind rushed for 136 yards on 20 carries, and senior Cole Murray rushed for 78 yards on 14 carries and had one touchdown. Senior quarterback Tyler Elmer completed 3 of 7 passes for 40 yards and he ran for 32 yards.
Fort Atkinson senior quarterback Matt Romens scored two touchdowns. Romens had a 3-yard TD run to cap a long Blackhawks' drive about midway through the first quarter that gave Fort a 7-0 lead.
The Cheesemakers answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in Allen ramming into the end zone on a 2-yard TD run to tie the game at 7. Murray had a 2-yard TD run in the second quarter to give the Cheesemakers a 14-7 lead. Romens then directed a 65-yard drive and capped it off hooking up with Jared Edwards on a 19-yard TD pass. The Blackhawks looked to take the lead, but Monroe junior Brayden Zettle tackled Connor O'Brien short of the end zone to preserve the Cheesemakers' 14-13 lead at the half.
The Cheesemakers rode their power running game in the second half with a 21-play, 80-yard drive, punctuated by Allen's 1-yard TD plunge to give Monroe a 21-13 lead. The drive chewed up 9 minutes, 5 seconds.
Golembiewski said that was a big drive, but the most important part is the Cheesemakers got seven points off the drive.
"That was huge," Allen said. "We kept them off the field. They have a high-powered offense and we had to keep them off the field."
With an eight-point lead, the Cheesemakers had another 11-play drive in the fourth quarter that ended in a critical turnover on downs. Facing fourth-and-5 from the Blackhawks' 26-yard line, Elmer's pass sailed incomplete along the sideline and the turnover on downs gave the Blackhawks an opportunity they cashed in on.
Golembiewski relied on the Cheesemakers' offense that rolled up 406 total yards to convert on fourth down. Golembiewski said he didn't consider kicking a field goal to give the Cheesemakers an 11-point lead.
"We weren't on the field where we wanted to be for a field goal," he said.
After forcing the turnover on downs, Strasburg ripped off a 27-yard run and also had 10- and 13-yard runs on the drive as the Blackhawks mounted a comeback. Moments later, Strasburg scored on a 4-yard run. Strasburg rushed for 136 yards on 23 carries and scored one touchdown.
That set the stage for Foley's heroics.
"I didn't have the words to describe it," Allen said after Foley's winning field goal gave the Cheesemakers an undisputed conference title. "We really worked hard, and we wanted it more. We earned it."
