By Robert Whitmire

The 2016 football season continues Friday night for the SPASH Panthers when they welcome Hudson to Goerke Park for a WIAA Level two playoff game.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

The Raiders come in as the #3 seeded team in the sectional fresh off a 19-14 win over Chippewa Falls in the Level I playoff.  The Raiders finished second in the Big Rivers Conference with a 5-2 record and bring an 8-2 record overall into Friday night’s game.

Quarterback Keyser Helterbrand leads the team with 466 yds. through the air during the regular season including five touchdown passes. He also rushed for 166 yards on 33 attempts.

Aaron Squires rang up 344 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Jagger Marvin carried the ball for 314 yards and three touchdowns and Max Stubbendick crossed the goal line three times for the Raiders. Hudson scored 14 rushing TDs and averaged 124.3 yards per game. They scored seven times through the air.

SPASH, the #2 seed, takes the field on the heels of a 31-14 win over Green Bay Preble. The Panthers finished atop the Valley Football Association South Division.

They bring an 8-1 overall record to the game having outscored opponents 320-95. SPASH has rolled up 1,278 yards through the air including 19 touchdowns and 2,232 rushing yards lighting up the board with 26 touchdowns.

Quarterback Beau Rosenthal leads the passing attack with 1072 yards. Running back Gus Turner-Zick has rushed for 1,118 yards and 14 touchdowns.  He has caught the ball for 238 yards and 4 TDs.  Joey Hauser leads the Receiver corps with 296 yards including seven touchdowns.

Senior Joey Roth has been a force at Defensive Back chalking up 68 total tackles, 2 fumble recoveries and 3 interceptions. Linebacker Keon’te Williams leads the team with 5 interceptions.

The kicking game belongs to Senior Joey Dorgan who has split the uprights 5 times on 5 Field Goal attempts and is a perfect 40 for 40 on extra points.

The Winner of Friday night’s game will square off with the winner of the Bay Port D.C. Everest game. That game is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 pm Friday night at #1 seed Bay Port.

The bottom half of the bracket features #1 Kimberly, a 78-0 winner over Milwaukee Vincent hosting #4 Appleton West and #3 seed Milwaukee King at #2 Fond du Lac.

The WIAA Division I Championship game is scheduled for November 18 with a 4 pm kick off at Camp Randall Stadium on the UW-Madison Campus.