By John Kemmeter

The Amherst High School football team will look to win its third State Title in a row when it plays in the WIAA Division 5 State Championship Game Thursday, Nov. 16.

The back-to-back defending State Champion Falcons (12-1) won 35-6 over Division 6 second-ranked Grantsburg (12-1) in the State Semifinals Friday, Nov. 10, to advance to the State Championship Game for the fourth year in a row and fifth time in six years, where they will play sixth-ranked Lake Country Lutheran (13-0) at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The 2017 Amherst High School football team earned the program’s fourth consecutive trip to the WIAA Division 5 State Championship Game with a 35-6 win over Grantsburg in a State Semifinal at Stanley-Boyd Friday, Nov. 10.
(John Kemmeter photo)

“I’m so grateful that we can go down there one more time,” said senior wide receiver/cornerback/kicker Carter Zblewski. “And especially senior year, to finish it off.”

“It’s exciting that we’ve got a chance to go for three in a row,” said Amherst football head coach Mark Lusic. “It’s a credit to these seniors; this is their fourth time being there in a row, and just to this team as a whole.

“We’ve had a lot of different guys step up this season, and we’re excited for the opportunity to play,” he said.

Amherst will be without senior Bryce Holderman, a starter at running back (744 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns on 106 carries) and the 2017 Central Wisconsin Conference (CWC) Large Defensive Player of the Year and a Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) Honorable Mention All-State selection at linebacker (team-high 97 tackles and five sacks), after he suffered a concussion in the third quarter of the team’s win over Grantsburg in the State Semifinals.

Senior Chandler Benn, who started at running back last year and in the first two games this season before he was lost with what was thought to be a season-ending injury against Fond du Lac St. Mary Springs Aug. 25, suited up last week and may return to the field for the State Championship Game, where junior Josh Rieck (369 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on 67 carries) is expected to get the start at running back, with sophomore Aidan Elwood also in the mix.

“Bryce is obviously disappointed, and I feel terrible for him, just because you don’t want any guy that’s a senior to not be able to play in the last game of his high school career,” said Lusic. “It’s part of the game and we’re going to miss him, but we’re going to do everything we can to replace him.

“Josh will start, Aidan will get a chance, and Chandler will get a chance to compete a little bit,” he said. “I don’t know what he can do, he hasn’t been out there for 12 games basically, so it will kind of be running-back-by-committee, and just see how everything else is going.

“But we’ve had that mentality since I’ve been here, ‘the next man up,’” he said. “I wish I could go into the State Championship healthy, but it looks like that’s not in our cards, the second out of five times that we’ve lost a major, major piece going into our State Title Game (after All-State quarterback Chris Zblewski was lost to an injury in the 2012 State Semifinals).”

A varsity program since 2004, Lake Country Lutheran opened the playoffs this year as the second-seeded team in its Region, and then won 44-14 over seventh-seeded Kenosha St. Joseph in Level 1, 44-6 over sixth-seeded Westby in Level 2, and 17-14 over third-ranked and top-seeded Clinton (11-1) in Level 3 on a game-winning 41-yard field with eight seconds left.

Last week, Lake Country used a 34-yard field goal with 3:52 remaining to provide the difference in a 16-14 win over ninth-ranked and reigning State Runner-up Cedar Grove-Belgium (11-2) in the State Semifinals to advance to the State Championship Game for the first time.

“They run the ball a little bit more than they throw it, but they’re pretty much a balanced team, and they’ve got some nice players,” said Lusic. “On film, they kind of look like us when it comes to size and things like that.

“They run a lot of different formations, but they’re more of an I-formation team offensively, with a little spread package,” he said.

Lake Country is averaging 40.7 points per game this season and is led by junior running back Dane Vance (1,631 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns on 203 carries, 8.0 yards per carry), junior quarterback Ethan Wilkins (97-of-170 for 1,505 yards, with 22 touchdowns and four interceptions), junior wide receiver Bryce Hertle (31 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns), senior wide receiver Michael Schumacher (23 catches for 382 yards and seven touchdowns) and senior wide receiver/defensive back John Hewitt (10 catches for 304 yards and nine touchdowns).

Defensively, Lake Country is allowing 8.5 points per game this season, led by junior middle linebacker Isaac Simons (112 tackles and eight sacks), sophomore outside linebacker Jack Leverenz (112 tackles and eight sacks) and sophomore defensive tackle Peter Vande Zande (59 tackles and seven sacks).

“They’re a 4-3 and do some nice things,” said Lusic. “So, we’re going to have to be well prepared to get the job done on Thursday.”

Amherst comes into Thursday averaging 44 points per game, and has been led on offense by WFCA Honorable Mention All-State senior quarterback and Central Wisconsin Conference (CWC) Large Offensive Player of the Year Marcus Glodowski (1,890 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns on 168 carries, 11.3 yards per carry, 72-of-153 passing for 1,149 yards, with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions), First Team All-CWC Large wide receiver Carter Zblewski (26 catches for 550 yards and eight touchdowns, 191 yards rushing and three touchdowns on nine caries) and First Team All-CWC Large senior offensive guard Max Villnow.

Amherst High School senior quarterback Marcus Glodowski (3) raises the Sectional Championship Plaque after the back-to-back defending State Champion Falcons advanced to the WIAA Division 5 State Championship Game with a 35-6 win over Grantsburg in a State Semifinal at Stanley-Boyd Friday, Nov. 10.
(John Kemmeter photo)

“We’re playing as one now,” said Carter Zblewski. “Earlier in the year we were OK, but we weren’t very solid.

“And now we’re coming together, and putting the pieces together,” he said.

The Falcons’ defense has surrendered 8.7 points per game this season, led by the 2017 Central Wisconsin Conference (CWC) Large Defensive Player of the Year and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) Honorable Mention All-State senior linebacker Bryce Holderman (97 tackles, five sacks), First Team All-CWC Large linebacker Villnow (84 tackles), Second Team All-CWC Large senior linebacker Thomas Anderson (66 tackles, two interceptions), First Team All-CWC Large senior safety Cole Van Nuys (63 tackles, two interceptions) and First Team All-CWC Large senior nose tackle Chad Zblewski (36 tackles).

“We’ve been playing at a high level, right now we’re clicking on all cylinders,” said Lusic. “We’re lining up correctly, we’re tackling, our mistakes are down offensively and we’re protecting the ball, so that allows you to play with confidence and to play with momentum.

“We’re peaking at the right time, and we’ve got one more, so hopefully we play our best game of the year,” he said. “And that’s what I told the kids, ‘this whole season, our goal is always, the next game we play our best game,’ and that’s our goal for Thursday, to play our best game.”

The Falcons won the 2012 State Title and finished as the State Runner-up in 2014, before they won back-to-back State Titles in 2015 and 2016.

There have been eight teams in Wisconsin history that won three consecutive State Titles in football, while Amherst will look to become the first team to win three State Titles in a row in Division 5.

“Our goal is just 1-0 every week,” said Anderson. “Just knowing that we have one more to play, my final game, I just want to go out and be 1-0.”

“It’s an opportunity for us to one more time compete as a team in 2017,” said Lusic. “Offensively, we’re going to have to score when we get opportunities, and then of course not turn it over, as usual.

“In the State Championship Game, the margin of error is slim, so we’ve got to make sure we’re fundamentally sound,” he said. “Keep the penalties way down, don’t turn it over, tackle, and we’ll be all right.”