MONROE - The Monroe football team found out its playoff fate Saturday. The Cheesemakers will play at New Berlin Eisenhower at 7 p.m. Friday in the first round of the WIAA Division 3 playoffs.
The WIAA released the first-round playoff matchups and seeds Saturday. Monroe (4-5) received an eighth seed in an eight-team grouping. New Berlin Eisenhower (9-0) was the top seed. Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski was excited to see the Cheesemakers get a playoff berth back-to-back years for the first time since 2000-2001.
"It's a whole new season now," Golembiewski said. "I figured it was New Berlin Eisenhower was our best draw. The way I see it, the best four teams in our group are Waukesha Catholic Memorial, Mount Horeb-Barneveld, New Berlin Eisenhower and Pewaukee and they were all going to get home games."
Twelve teams in the 224-team, playoff field finished with a record under .500. Five teams who made the playoffs based on the first tiebreaker of conference winning percentage (0.444) include Janesville Craig, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Ashwaubenon and West Bend East. Monroe made the playoffs on the second tiebreaker, the combined winning percentage of conference opponents. There were 16 teams that finished 3-4 in conference. Monroe and Cambria-Friesland both made the playoffs because they each had beaten teams in their respective conferences that had combined won six games. The second tiebreaker rewards teams who have defeated some of the better teams in the conference. The Cheesemakers' 29-28 win over Watertown, another playoff qualifier, was a key victory Sept. 8.
"It shows the competition in the conference," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. "We are playing against some powerhouse Division 2 teams."
Through last week, Catholic Memorial (7-2) was ranked No. 1 in the WisSports.net Division 3 Coaches Poll and New Berlin Eisenhower, the conference champion of the Woodland West Conference, was ranked second. Catholic Memorial plays in the Classic Eight Conference against many other Division 1 teams.
Catholic Memorial senior linebacker C.J. Goetz, a University of Wisconsin recruit, has more than 80 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and two sacks this year. The 6-4 225-pound Goetz racked up 103 tackles and 11 tackles for loss last season in earning first-team all-state honors by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and Associated Press. He posted eight tackles and had two sacks in leading Catholic Central to a 24-14 win in the Division 3 state championship game last year.
"Catholic Memorial has the best defensive player in the state who will be playing for Wisconsin next year," Golembiewski said of Goetz. "He's good enough to be playing college football right now."
For a full preview of Friday's game, check out Thursday's Monroe Times.
Other area first-round playoff matchups:
Division 3: No. 6 Evansville-Albany at No. 3 Mount Horeb-Barneveld
Division 5: No. 6 New Glarus-Monticello at No. 4 Prairie du Chien
Division 6: No. 8 Darlington at No. 1 Markesan
Division 6: No. 5 Pecatonica-Argyle at No. 4 Fennimore
Division 7: No. 8 North Crawford at No. 1 Black Hawk
The WIAA released the first-round playoff matchups and seeds Saturday. Monroe (4-5) received an eighth seed in an eight-team grouping. New Berlin Eisenhower (9-0) was the top seed. Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski was excited to see the Cheesemakers get a playoff berth back-to-back years for the first time since 2000-2001.
"It's a whole new season now," Golembiewski said. "I figured it was New Berlin Eisenhower was our best draw. The way I see it, the best four teams in our group are Waukesha Catholic Memorial, Mount Horeb-Barneveld, New Berlin Eisenhower and Pewaukee and they were all going to get home games."
Twelve teams in the 224-team, playoff field finished with a record under .500. Five teams who made the playoffs based on the first tiebreaker of conference winning percentage (0.444) include Janesville Craig, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Ashwaubenon and West Bend East. Monroe made the playoffs on the second tiebreaker, the combined winning percentage of conference opponents. There were 16 teams that finished 3-4 in conference. Monroe and Cambria-Friesland both made the playoffs because they each had beaten teams in their respective conferences that had combined won six games. The second tiebreaker rewards teams who have defeated some of the better teams in the conference. The Cheesemakers' 29-28 win over Watertown, another playoff qualifier, was a key victory Sept. 8.
"It shows the competition in the conference," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. "We are playing against some powerhouse Division 2 teams."
Through last week, Catholic Memorial (7-2) was ranked No. 1 in the WisSports.net Division 3 Coaches Poll and New Berlin Eisenhower, the conference champion of the Woodland West Conference, was ranked second. Catholic Memorial plays in the Classic Eight Conference against many other Division 1 teams.
Catholic Memorial senior linebacker C.J. Goetz, a University of Wisconsin recruit, has more than 80 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and two sacks this year. The 6-4 225-pound Goetz racked up 103 tackles and 11 tackles for loss last season in earning first-team all-state honors by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and Associated Press. He posted eight tackles and had two sacks in leading Catholic Central to a 24-14 win in the Division 3 state championship game last year.
"Catholic Memorial has the best defensive player in the state who will be playing for Wisconsin next year," Golembiewski said of Goetz. "He's good enough to be playing college football right now."
For a full preview of Friday's game, check out Thursday's Monroe Times.
Other area first-round playoff matchups:
Division 3: No. 6 Evansville-Albany at No. 3 Mount Horeb-Barneveld
Division 5: No. 6 New Glarus-Monticello at No. 4 Prairie du Chien
Division 6: No. 8 Darlington at No. 1 Markesan
Division 6: No. 5 Pecatonica-Argyle at No. 4 Fennimore
Division 7: No. 8 North Crawford at No. 1 Black Hawk
