Wildcats capture D-7 state title

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Butt scored his first of five touchdown runs early in the first quarter against Black Hawk/Warren Edgar’s offensive line did such a great job blocking that once Butt got to the edge of the defense, there were no defenders even close to him during his 42-yard touchdown run. Senior Kohlbe Weisenberger ran in the two-point conversion to give the Wildcats an 8-0 lead against the Warriors. Butt plunged into the end zone for a four-yard touchdown near the end of the opening quarter. Black Hawk/Warren stopped him short of the end zone in his twopoint conversion run attempt. Edgar still led, 14-0, at the end of the first quarter.

Black Hawk/Warren gained some momentum right before halftime when junior quarterback Eli Schliem completed a five-yard touchdown pass to senior Lane Marty. Edgar’s defense prevented Marty from scoring the two-point conversion run. The Wildcats still held a 14-6 halftime advantage against the Warriors.

Butt scored three more rushing touchdowns in the second half while Edgar’s defense held Black Hawk/Warren scoreless the rest of the game. Butt ran for a 29-yard touchdown slightly over four minutes into the third quarter and senior quarterback Teegan Streit ran for the two-point conversion to give Edgar a 22-6 lead. Butt rushed for a 20-yard touchdown toward the end of the third quarter and senior Harrison Graveen kicked the extra point to help Edgar extend its lead to 29-6. Butt ran for a four-yard touchdown three minutes, 50 seconds into the fourth quarter and Graveen kicked the extra point to seal Edgar’s Division 7 state championship win.

Edgar senior defensive end Brett Baumgartner recorded the second-most tackles in the game, 10, behind Butt with 15. Weisenberger, a linebacker, had the third-most tackles of nine among both teams in the state championship. He also recovered Schliem’s fumble for a 19-yard return near the end of the third quarter. Sophomore defensive back Tucker Streit intercepted Schliem’s pass for a 13-yard return midway through the third quarter. Junior linebacker Ty Schnelle had a quarterback hurry. The Wildcats conclude this season with a 13-1 record. Edgar won 13 consecutive games since losing its season opener, 8-6, to Division 4 Ellsworth at home. This season Edgar’s football team won its 29th Marawood Conference championship under Coach Sinz.