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.
