DARLINGTON — The entire Redbirds season came down to one play. That play was a quick snap and throw that skipped across the grass and out of the end zone. The incomplete pass — the play the coaching staff was confident would work — would be the last offensive snap of the season for Darlington. The Redbirds lost 36-35 to 10th-ranked Milwaukee Academy of Science (MAS) in Level 2 of the WIAA Division 5 playoffs Nov. 1.
“I was proud of them,” Redbirds head coach Travis Winkers said of his players after the loss. “As a coach, when you get the type of effort that they give us, that’s all you can ask for. That’s what makes being part of teams so much fun.”
After a thrilling, high-scoring win over New Glarus (6-4) the week before, the Novas (11-1) had to make the two-hour drive to Lafayette County to play on the grass turf at Marten’s Field. MAS wasted no time showing the Redbird faithful that this game was going to be a dog fight. The only loss MAS suffered all year was in Week 9 to Grafton, ranked No. 3 in Division 3 and also moving on to a state quarterfinal.
The Novas went 76 yards on just four plays to score the game’s first touchdown — then added a 2-point conversion to turn the heat up even more.
“They’re explosive. They are as good of an offense that we’ve faced in my time here in Darlington,” Winkers said. “They are really good. They have athletes.”
Darlington (9-3) responded with a thrilling reverse on the kick return, with Zeke Zuberbuhler running into Novas territory. The Redbirds then capped a five-play, 40-yard drive of its own with a 7-yard touchdown run by Maddox Goebel, who also scored the 2-point conversion to tie it at 8. The TD was the first of four from Goebel on the night.
Darlington took a 15-8 lead after the first play of the second quarter, a 13-yard rush from Goebel and a kick from Yasser Andino-Andino. The Novas responded with an 11-play, 68-yard drive and a TD pass from Bralyn Albritton to Cameron Gray from six yards out. Another 2-point conversion put MAS back on top.
The pendulum swung back into the hosts favor on the next drive. A 20-yard pass up the seam to Dante Glendenning got the crowd back into it, and an 8-yard run with a 15-yard personal foul tacked on with a late push out of bounds put the Redbirds 20 yards from pay dirt again. Three plays later, Goebel crossed the goal line for his third touchdown of the half, and added the 2-point conversion to again put his team up seven at 23-16.
Momentum briefly seemed to be in Darlington’s favor, as Andino-Andino’s kickoff went directly off the pads of a Novas up-man and the Redbirds recovered it at the MAS 39. On the second snap, however, Darlington fumbled it away. The two teams traded possessions again before the Novas scored on the final play of the first half — a 25-yard scrambling heave pass from Albritton to Brian Stewart just inside the right pylon. Goebel put a big stick on Kameron Williams’ attempt to run in the 2-point conversion, and the Redbirds went into half with a slim 23-22 lead.
The Redbirds scored to open the third quarter, taking nearly five minutes off the clock by the time Zuberbuhler took the QB option nine yards into the end zone. The PAT, however, failed after a bad snap. MAS countered right away, going 80 yards on its next drive, scoring on a 42-yard pass from Albritton to Mekhi Malcom. The 2-point conversion was successful, and the Novas found themselves back on top, 30-29, with 4:33 left in the third.
Scoring halted from there for a number of possessions. However, the Redbirds coughed up another fumble just two plays into a mid-fourth quarter drive at its own 25, and MAS quickly scored two plays later to go ahead 36-29.
Knowing the season could be down one last drive of its own, the Redbirds locked in together. Darlington pulled off a 13-play, 77-yard scoring drive on an 8-yard run by Goebel off the left side of the line. The drive lasted over 6 minutes and left just 1:14 on the clock.
Winkers faced a decision: Try to kick it for the tie, and hope to keep MAS from scoring at the end and take their chances in overtime — or go right at their worthy adversary and put the game on the line with a 2-point try.
“We talked about it with our staff, and we knew we needed to go for two. We just felt like that was the time to win it,” Winkers said.
Zuberbuhler’s pass to Broker Buschor was off line though, and Darlington’s last hope was an onside kick recovery — except this time MAS knew it was coming. The Novas up-back recovered the kick without a struggle, and Albritton knelt out the clock to end the game.
“That was the play we wanted, and we just came up a little bit short. That was the play we had designed way back when we were at the 30 going in,” Winkers said.
Goebel finished with 88 yards rushing on 14 carries (6.2 ypc). Calum Crist had 20 carries for 107 yards (5.3 ypc), and Zuberbuhler added 49 yards rushing and 52 through the air on 3-for-4 passing. Darlington had 326 yards of offense (274 rushing). MAS, meanwhile, had 518 yards of offense, including 269 on the ground and 249 through the air. Albritton was 15 of 31 passing. Novas senior RB Josiah Johnson had 257 yards rushing (10.3 ypc), moving his total to 2,262 yards (12.1 ypc) for the season.
“They are an awesome team. Unfortunately, they made plays,” Goebel said. “Kudos to those guys — they are really good and are going to go deep in the playoffs.”
MAS moves on to play top-seed and third-ranked Prairie du Chien (10-1) in Level 3.
The Redbird seniors stuck around at midfield one last time after the handshake and postgame meeting. They shared hugs, sweat and tears, just as they had the past four years.
“There’s nothing like these guys. I wouldn’t want to be playing with anybody else. If I were to play another game, it would be with these guys,” Goebel said.
One of the players not on the field was senior leader Talan Crist, who got injured midway through the game and was unable to return.
“He’s a first-team all-state kid last year as a junior, so it’s a big loss for us. He plays both ways and was first-team all-conference both ways,” Winkers said. “It sucks that he doesn’t get to be a part of this last game here.”
Deep runs in each of the past two years — a state semifinal in 2022 and a stunning loss in the championship in 2023 — played a large role in the school getting bumped up a division for this postseason in the WIAA’s new competitive balance system. The Redbirds will move back down to Division 6 next year.
“This is a special group. We had some star power, but we also had a ton of kids that were maybe overlooked but waited their turn to play. They have nothing to hold their hat on,” Winkers said.
Goebel reminisced of his time with the program: the feats and accomplishments, the motivation, his personal growth and the heartbreak he’s felt putting on shoulder pads and the Redbird helmet.
“I think if my freshman self saw me, he’d be proud,” Goebel said. “I’m proud of myself, and proud of who I became. I’m proud of the impact I made on this town; on this team.”
