STOUGHTON — The Cheesemakers are wearing the insignia of underdog as a badge of honor and identity. After an inconsistent, yet competitive regular season, Monroe went on to upset second-seeded Onalaska in the first round of the WIAA Division 2 playoffs. A week later, on Nov. 1, the Cheesemakers knocked off Stoughton, the No. 3 seed, 14-7.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s what every football kid dreams of — keep moving on in the playoffs,” senior two-way starter Patrick Rielly said.

In Week 8, Stoughton obliterated Monroe 53-18. But in Level 2, with a rugged field, cold and snowy conditions became the great equalizer.

“I think we were more designed for it than they were. There were probably the better team athletically — the bigger team for sure — and on a warm turf field in Texas probably would have smoked us again,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. “They are a powerful team and a conference champ with Milton — and now we beat both of them. I’ll definitely take a trip to Level 3 over a conference championship trophy.”

Monroe (7-4) shut down Stoughton’s offense on each drive and came up with three key turnovers deep inside Cheesemaker territory in the fourth quarter. Alex Witt recovered a fumble at the Monroe 5 that would turn into the game-winning score six plays later. Nick Bansley added a pair of interceptions in the final four minutes to help seal the win.

“You could tell that they were a little hamstrung offensively on some of the things they would have liked to do because they were having trouble handling the cold, wet ball. Our defense really stepped up and took advantage of those things,” Golembiewski said.

The Vikings (8-3) opened the game with an 87-yard kickoff return for a score by Jack Rilling. It was the only score the Cheesemakers would allow.

“We gave up that special teams score, and that might have been a little bit of a motivator for us. One of the best things about something like that happening at the beginning of the game is you have the whole rest of the game to recover, rather than having it happen at the end of the game,” Golembiewski said.

Immediately after the kickoff, Monroe went to work on offense. Bansley busted off a 39-yard run on second down to put the Cheesemakers at the Stoughton 20, as well as put him over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. On the next play, Trevor Rodebaugh reached the 1, and three plays later Bansley scored from two yards away.

“We knew we had to answer right away. We didn’t want to get too behind right from the start. We came down and pounded it in right away,” Bansley said.

For the rest of the first, second and third quarters, both offenses were stagnant. Monroe’s defense held first-team all-conference running back Quinn Arnott in check and bottled up second-team all-conference fullback Brooks Empey. In the Week 8 tilt, Arnott was injured and didn’t play, while Empey rushed for 221 yards and three touchdowns on just 13 carries, but in the playoff game, Empey gained just 7 yards on 5 rushing attempts. Arnott had 66 yards on 16 carries.

“We took that film, we prepared really well, stayed focused throughout the week and got after them,” Rielly said.

Adam Hobson, Stoughton’s second-team all-conference quarterback, didn’t fair any better for his offense. He was 4 of 14 passing for 81 yards while gaining just three yards in the run-pass-option offense. Meanwhile, Monroe QB Max Golembiewski was just 1 for 7 passing in the game. However, that one pass was the biggest of the game.

In the final minute of the third quarter, Hobson escaped the pocket while being pressured by Deion Hargrove, who may or may not have been held. Hobson’s pass was deflected, bobbled and then caught by Alexander Cisewski, who sprinted 63 yards down the snow-covered sideline before getting decked to the ground at the Monroe 5 by Tyler Matley. Two plays later, on the first snap of the fourth quarter, Empey fumbled the handoff and Witt dove on the ball to give the Cheesemakers the ball back.

Matley was brought down in the backfield at the 1 on a sweep, and Toby Golembiewski called a timeout to talk over offensive strategy. Bansley then ran a sweep for eight yards and Rodebaugh went for 10 more to give the Cheesemakers a fresh set of downs. After back to back runs for no gains, Monroe was faced with a third-and-10 at the 19. Enter Max Golembiewski’s lone completion — a quick fly route to sophomore JT Seagreaves who made the catch, broke a tackle and dashed the rest of the way for an 81-yard touchdown.

Stoughton had three more possessions in the fourth quarter — the first ended in a punt after a three-and-out, and the final two interceptions by Bansley.

“I was just waiting. I knew they were going to be passing there and trying to get us. I just sat on it and picked it off when it came over to my side,” Bansley said.

Bansley, a first-team all-conference corner, has blanketed receivers all year long. Like Onalaska a week earlier, Stoughton worked away from Bansley in the first half, only to throw at him in the second half and get burned.

“We manned up on who we had or played zone and didn’t let anything happen,” Bansley said. “We knew we could do it. We knew we could have more wins — there were some close games, but we’ll keep on fighting, watch film and just get better.”

The second of Bansley’s interceptions came with 1:57 left in regulation. Hobson scanned his options and threw deep to Nathan Hutcherson, only for Bansley to step in front and make a leaping catch in the back of the end zone. A first-down run by Tyler Matley on third-and-10 allowed Monroe to kneel out to end the game.

“I kind of wonder if they were looking ahead of us,” Rielly said of Stoughton, whose players were visibly stunned at the final outcome.

Bansley finished with 119 yards rushing on 15 carries, while Rodebaugh had 58 yards and Matley 43. The Cheesemakers had 298 yards of offense while holding Stoughton to 157 total and gained 13 first downs to the Vikings’ 4. Monroe’s defense also held Stoughton to just 1 for 11 on third down conversions, while the Cheesemakers were 5 of 15.

“The pounding on the field makes it start to deteriorate a little bit more, and as long as we had the lead and stayed patient with our philosophy,” coach Golembiewski said before switching gears. “There’s a lot of people that throw the ball all over the place and criticize us for not, but if you want to be where you want to be late in the season in the state of Wisconsin, you’re going to have to deal with these conditions.”

Up Next: DeForest (11-0)

While Onalaska (8-2) and Stoughton were high-quality D3 teams, Monroe’s next test will be its toughest by far. DeForest spent the entire season ranked in D2 in the weekly Wisconsin Football Coaches Association polls. Going into the final week of the regular season, the Norskies, then ranked No. 4, knocked off top-ranked Waunakee, which is still alive in the Division 2 bracket.

“Who the hell would have thought we would have won this one? Might as well go up there and beat them,” coach Golembiewski said of DeForest.

DeForest routed McFarland and Reedsburg in the first two rounds of the playoffs by a combined score of 69-7. The Norskies are outscoring opponents 485-61, including a stunning 326-20 mark in the first half — leading to an average of nearly 27 points at halftime.

Most of DeForest’s offense is maintained on the ground, with only 22 percent of its plays ending in a throw. The Norskies have gained more than 2,700 yards on the ground and another 1,200 through the air. Defensively, DeForest has allowed fewer than 1,400 total yards — an average of just 123 yards per game, compared to 366 its offense produces. Only one pass has resulted in a TD against DeForest’s defense, which has 18 interceptions on the year.

Senior QB Trey Schroeder has thrown 110 of DeForest’s 111 passes on the year for 1,248 yards and 20 TDs with just six interceptions. Lane Larson, a senior, is Schroeder’s top target, catching 42 passes for 788 yards and nine scores.

On the ground, junior Gabe Finley is the main threat with 1,117 yards and 13 TDs. Alex Endres, a senior, has 11 touchdowns and 559 yards rushing, while Schroeder has 490 yards and 10 scores in 11 games. On defense, sophomore Devin Magli has eight INTs, junior Trace Grundahl has four picks and senior Trey Warne has six sacks.

In order to prepare for DeForest, the Cheesemakers will turn to its scout team, which has stepped up its game over the past few weeks.

“We’re going to take a look at some film. They’ve got size, they’ve got speed — they’ve got everything. We’ll just have to line up after preparing as hard as we can and give them what they’ve got, and we’ll see what we’ve got,” coach Golembiewski said.

After struggling in the opening weeks of the season, the 1-2 Cheesemakers upset Watertown at home and then cruised in a win over winless Fort Atkinson. In Week 6, Monroe lost its footing and was sloppy in a loss to Oregon. The coaching staff challenged the team to step up its focus and preparation after the loss, and the Cheesemakers responded by handing Milton it’s only loss of the regular season. The next week Stoughton rolled Monroe, which was able to move on and manhandle Edgewood in Week 9 before beginning the Cinderella run in the postseason.

“I wouldn’t want to be on any other team,” Rielly said.

The game against DeForest is scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at McFarland.