MADISON — A series of late misfortunes kept Darlington from winning its first gold ball since 1995.

Tied at 7-7, a late Redbird fumble was followed by a defensive holding penalty as time expired. The pair of errors by Darlington allowed Stratford’s German-exchange soccer player, Laurenz Plattner, to attempt an untimed down, 32-yard game-winning field goal. 

Just 23 seconds earlier, Plattner’s first field goal attempt was blocked by Darlington’s Will Murray. This time around, he flushed it right down the middle.

The previous Redbirds possession came with 23 seconds left. Stratford had two timeouts remaining. Darlington coach Travis Winkers elected to run three plays instead of kneeling the ball to run out the clock and force overtime. On third-and-7, Winkers called Reagan Jackson’s name. Jackson (9 att, 43 yds, 1 TD) ran up the middle for 9 yards, but Stratford’s Cole Tichy punched the ball out of Jackson’s hands into those of his teammate, Alec Chapel. 

With just six seconds left on the clock, Tiger quarterback Jack Tubbs lofted a 22-yard pass to a wide-open Chapel, but Murray chased him down, tackling him at the 3-yard line as time expired. However, a flag had been thrown against the Redbirds for defensive holding.

The penalty allowed Stratford one more snap to win its ninth state title, tying St. Mary’s Springs for the most in state history.

“We get the stop — the blocked field goal — and they had their three timeouts,” Winkers said. “We knew we had to get at least one first down. We thought we could go down and score. We put it in our kids’ hands. We practice that 2-minute drill with less time than that (23 seconds). An unfortunate thing happened.”

In fact, Darlington turned the ball over an uncharacteristic three times in crucial moments — first with 13 seconds left in the first half, then on the opening drive of the third quarter, and lastly with 23 seconds left in the fourth.

“A couple turnovers killed us,” Winkers said. “We can’t turn the ball over like we did in the spots that we did. It is what it is.”

Despite the turnovers, the Redbirds held momentum for much of the first half. Stratford came up empty in its first drive thanks to two penalties and timely tackles by Darlington — a 4-yard tackle for loss by Murray and a combo sack by Roger Volkening III and Talan Crist.

The Redbird defense then forced a 3-and-out on the Tigers’ second possession.

That’s when Darlington got the ball at Stratford’s 47-yard line. The Redbirds picked up three key first downs, with two coming from Tye Crist (12 att, 23 yds) — first on a 15-yard gain and then another on fourth-and-1 at the Stratford 10. 

Jackson finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown rush with 5:01 left in the second quarter. With Denilo Ramos-Godoy’s extra point, Darlington took a 7-0 lead.

Despite an interception from each team in the final 13 seconds of the half, Darlington’s lead held going into halftime.

“We only had three possessions in that first half,” Winkers said. “The second one we scored on — we did what we wanted to. There wasn’t a ton of adjustments to make at halftime because we didn’t have the ball that long.”

Darlington possessed the ball for 11:07 in the first half, while Stratford had the ball for 12:53. However, the Redbirds had six first downs in the first half compared to the Tigers’ four.

Because the Redbirds won the coin toss and deferred, they received the ball to start the second half. Unfortunately, the first-half momentum didn’t carry over.

After a Jackson first down, Breylin Goebel (13 att, 29 yds) fumbled the ball and Stratford’s Landon Zawislan recovered at Darlington’s 29-yard line.

The Tigers capitalized on the mistake, scoring five plays later. Koehler Kilty, the Central Wisconsin Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, ran for a 9-yard touchdown. Plattner then tied the game with an extra point just four minutes into the third quarter.

The score shifted momentum to favor the Tigers. Their defense forced a 3-and-out, allowing just two yards. On Darlington’s next drive, Chapel forced a fumble from Maddox Goebel (4 att, 7 yds). Tichy went for the loose ball, but it squirted out of bounds. 

Thus, Darlington maintained possession at Stratford’s 38-yard line. Maddox Goebel went down on the play, though, and was assisted off the field by trainers. He later returned to the game.

Despite the second-chance opportunity, the Redbirds were unable to score with a pair of 2-yard tackles for loss from Carter Lueck. Maddox Goebel’s ensuing punt began the fourth quarter.

Stratford ate up all but 27 seconds of the fourth quarter on one drive. The Tigers kept the possession alive, converting six third downs — Tubbs gained six yards on a keeper, Kilty broke outside for six yards, Tubbs picked up four yards through the middle, Kilty went left for nine yards, Tubbs completed a third-and-8 pass to Gavin Leonhardt and Tubb’s 4-yard gain set up the first field goal.

With 27 seconds left on the clock, Plattner lined up first his first field goal attempt of the season. The low kick was blocked by 6-foot-7 Murray, who got a hand on the ball.

That left 23 seconds on the clock for Darlington. Jackson picked up eight yards on the first carry, but much of his gain was negated by a false start on second down. On the next snap, Breylin Goebel (0-for-2, 0 yds, 1 INT) lofted an incomplete pass to Murray. That set up third-and-7 for Jackson, who fumbled with 17 seconds remaining.

The turnover gave Stratford a second chance in prime territory — one that the Tigers seized with a 32-yard field goal. It was the only field goal Stratford made all season.

The score gave Stratford a 10-7 win for the Division 6 title — its second in as many years and ninth overall.

With the loss, Darlington finished its season 12-2 with its third straight SWAL title. The Redbirds earned the program’s 13th trip to state, earning their ninth silver ball. Darlington has been runners-up for the last seven appearances with its most recent title coming in 1995. 

Winkers hopes that, once the initial hurt resides, his players and community will look at the game as another success in the program’s decorated history.

“I hope our community is proud of our kids,” Winkers said. “We have 13 balls, and everyone wants gold. Our kids want gold more than any fan in the crowd does. It’s not like they aren’t trying — it’s not like everyone else isn’t trying. I hope they don’t take it for granted getting here because it’s special.”