MAYVILLE – The seniors on the Mayville football team know what it’s like to play in a state championship. They did so as freshmen and lost 22-14 to Aquinas and now have a chance to avenge that loss.
“I think what we learned from that, like what we talked about with the guys was, there’s going to be a lot of excitement going around school. People are celebrating, having a good time, a lot of smiles and what’s important for us is that we have to continue the grind,” Mayville coach Scott Hilber said. “We’ve had a lot of practices with those guys in that year and then that time since, having runs in the playoffs. So these guys, they’re battle tested.”
Mayville will put its undefeated, 13-0 record on the line against Northwestern who’s also undefeated, in the WIAA Division 5 state championship. The game will start at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, and be played at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
It’s the seventh appearance in a state championship for Mayville. In the previous six appearances it has one win, in 1994.
“We got a lot of silver balls in the trophy case. Last time we got a gold one was 1994 and my father was coaching,” Hilber said. “We’d like to bring that back to town. The community has been following this team and rallying around them for a really long time and we would definitely like to give them that.”
Northwestern’s path to the state championship started with a 67-20 win over Prescott in Level 1, then followed that with a 47-20 win over Saint Croix Falls in Level 2, beat Grantsburg 44-16 in Level 3 and beat Stratford 22-13 in Level 4.
Mayville’s path included two one-score games after having just one in the regular season. It beat Chilton 41-0 in Level 1, Winnebago Lutheran 28-21 in Level 2, Amherst 26-21 in Level 3 and Lake Country Lutheran 27-15 in Level 4.
“The kids have been tested and they’ve been put in positions where they really have to lean on each other and they have to trust each other, trust the coaches and that goes vice versa,” Hilber said. “When we find ourselves in tough spots and we’ve been there in the regular season and in the playoffs, the kids, they never get too high, they never get too low. They’re just pretty calm.”
The 4 p.m. kickoff will be the earliest start of a game that Mayville will have played this season and with that comes a different routine.
“When all of a sudden you have to adjust and you’re playing at a different time, the fortunate thing is it’s probably going to be dark shortly after we start so it still feels like a night game,” Hilber said. “You’re getting on a bus at noon, you’re getting over to Camp Randall early and it’s a different schedule, but it’s different for everyone so I guess it’s an even playing field after all.”
Key Players
By the numbers
About the game
Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at BSchultz@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: WIAA Division 5 state championship features undefeated teams, Mayville and Northwestern
Reporting by Ben Schultz, Oshkosh Northwestern / Fond du Lac Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
