By Casey Krautkramer German ….
By Casey Krautkramer
German foreign exchange student Laurenz Plattner’s 32-yard game winning kick in Thursday’s WIAA Division 6 football state championship will forever go down as one of the most clutch plays in Stratford’s rich football tradition. It gave Stratford its ninth state championship in school history, which is tied for the state record among all divisions with Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs.
Plattner was an unlikely hero in Stratford’s 10-7 Division 6 state title victory against Darlington, although the humble young man doesn’t consider himself a “hero.” He’d made 26 of 28 extra point kicks going into the Division 6 state championship, but he’d never attempted a field goal. That changed at the end of the state title game.
Thursday’s defensive slugfest was tied, 7-7, when Stratford junior defensive end Carter Lueck sacked Darlington senior quarterback Breylin Goebel for a loss of two yards at the end of the third quarter Darlington punted the football to Stratford on the first play in the fourth quarter.
Stratford began its offensive drive deep in Darlington territory at the four-yard line. The Tigers went on a long 22-play drive spanning 89 yards that took 11 minutes, 27 seconds off the game clock
See TIGERS WIN BACK-TO-BACK D-6 STATE TITLES/ page 11
NINTH STATE TITLE TIES THE STATE RECORD- Stratford’s varsity football team senior captains on Thursday raise up the WIAA Division 6 state championship trophy after beating Darlington, 10-7, in thrilling fashion on German foreign exchange student Laurenz Plattner’s 32-yard field goal with no time on the clock. Pictured, from left to right, are players Koehler Kilty (32), Matt Folz (52), Gavin Leonhardt (23) and Peyton Glenn (13).
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER WIAA DIVISION 6 STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
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and lasted nearly the entire fourth quarter. Senior Koehler Kilty, who scored the team’s lone touchdown of the game in the third quarter, ran the football 14 times during the 22-play drive. When the drive sputtered at Darlington’s seven-yard line, Stratford head coach Jason Tubbs made a decisions to allow Plattner to attempt his first field goal of this season and his entire life because he’d only played soccer in Germany before coming to the United States three months ago.
Plattner’s first field-goal in the fourth quarter, a 24-yard attempt, was blocked by Darlington’s Goebel 23 seconds left in the game.
“After I kicked the first one I felt depressed a little, sad,” he said. “I thought when we lose this game, I’m the idiot who cannot kick a field goal, and before that field goal I always only made extra points.”
Darlington took possession of the football at Stratford’s 20-yard line. Stratford senior linebacker Gavin Leonhardt tackled Darlington senior Reagan Jackson after his eight-yard run. The Redbirds took a timeout after the play but were penalized for a five-yard false start on the next play. Darlington then attempted a homer pass deep down the right sideline but it was incomplete. Then things got interesting.
Darlington’s Jackson ran the football for nine yards to his team’s 32-yard line where Stratford senior strong safety Cole Tichy stripped the ball out of his hands and it landed in Stratford junior safety Alec Chapel’s hands. Chapel returned the fumble seven yards to Darlington’s 25yard line. Stratford took a timeout with only six seconds remaining in the game.
Stratford junior Jack Tubbs completed a pass to Chapel for 22 yards to Darlington’s three-yard line as time expired, but Redbirds senior defensive back Will Murray was penalized for holding during the play. Since the play started on the 25-yard line, the officiating crew gave Stratford the football 10 yards ahead to the 15-yard line and an untimed down for the final play in the state championship. Stratford’s players told coach Tubbs to give Plattner another try at making a field goal to win the game.
“Everyone said Laurenz, you can make it, you can make it,” he said.
He wrote the message “Just like you did in practice” on his arm before the state championship game began so he could see it as a reminder before his field goal attempts. Plattner calmly kicked a 32-yard field goal through the uprights on the final play of the game to give Stratford a thrilling 10-7 win against Darlington in the Division 6 state championship. Chapel snapped the football to senior Matt Folz who held the football for Plattner to kick it.
Coach Tubbs needed to take a few large breaths of air before his postgame interview with the media.
“They block a field goal and we get the ball back on a turnover and then we have See TIGERS WIN BACK-TO-BACK D-6 STATE TITLES/ page 14
THE FAMOUS GAME-WINNING KICK- Laurenz Plattner, Stratford’s German foreign exchange student, on Thursday goes into his kicking motion before booting the gamewinning 32-yard field goal against Darlington in the WIAA Division 6 state championship. Junior Alec Chapel snapped the football to holder Matt Folz (52) while senior Parker Glenn (13) blocks Darlington senior Maddox Goebel just enough to give Plattner
enough time to kick the football. STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
KILTY SCORES TIGERS’ ONLY TOUCHDOWN- Stratford senior Koehler Kilty on Thursday sneaks the football inside the orange pylon for a nine-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the Tigers’ 10-7 win against Darlington in the WIAA Division 6 state championship. Stratford began this offensive drive on Darlington’s 29-yard line after senior defensvie end Landon Zawislan’s fumble recovery.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Tigers win back-to-back D-6 state titles
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an untimed down where our kicker hits the longest field goal and his only field goal of the year, and it was just a storybook ending,” he said. “Unbelievable. I would have kneeled the football and went into overtime if I was Darlington personally because I am just more conservative, but they took a shot down field and our guys made a good play and God blessed.”
After a scoreless opening quarter, Darlington strung together an 11-play scoring drive spanning 47 yards in the second quarter. Jackson ran for a five-yard touchdown and senior Denilo Ramos-Godoy kicked the extra point to give the Redbirds a 7-0 lead with five minutes left before halftime.
Stratford received the break it needed in the third quarter, when senior defensive end Landon Zawislan recovered Goebel’s fumble on Darlington’s 29-yard line on the Redbirds’ first possession of the second half. The Tigers only needed five plays to score their first and only touchdown of the game. Kilty ran for nine yards to score just inside the orange pylon at the end zone. Plattner kicked the extra point to tie the game 7-7 with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Kilty led Stratford in rushing with 25 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown against Darlington. Tubbs rushed 12 times for 45 yards and he completed five of seven passes with an interception for 44 yards. Leonhardt caught two passes from Tubbs for 23 yards but 15 of those yards came after the catch. Junior Jett Schoenherr caught three passes from Tubbs for 21 yards but eight of those yards came after the catch.
Chapel and Leonhardt paced Stratford’s defense with eight tackles apiece. Seven of Chapel’s tackles were solo and six of Leonhardt’s tackles were also solo. Folz contributed seven tackles and a tackle for loss. Kilty and Zawislan had five tackles each. Although Zawislan was having trouble with the contacts in his eyes during the game, he still tied Lueck for the team lead with 1-1/2 tackles for loss. Tichy intercepted Goebel’s pass near the end of the second quarter.
Coach Tubbs has now led Stratford to back-to-back WIAA Division 6 state championships after losing his first two state titles, both in Division 5, as the team’s head coach in 2018 and 2019. He was Stratford’s defensive coordinator under head coach Cal Tackes when the Tigers won a state record six consecutive state championships from 2003-2008.
“As a coach, being here six times as an assistant, and then losing the first two as a head coach and then winning the next two, call me Even Steven I guess,” he said.
