MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 21–28)
WIAA D4 FOOTBALL: No. 6 Platteville 37, No. 3 Lodi 30
By Steve Prestegard, The Platteville Journal
Oh, what a night: Late October here in '25, Hillmen score 30 points in the 4th to stay alive
LODI — The Platteville football team has already had a season full of memorable games — games with 96 total points, four games decided by a touchdown or fewer points, and winning the last two games they needed to get into the playoffs.
All of that, however, may have been topped by what happened in Lodi Stadium Friday night.
A 7–7 tie exploded into a fourth quarter of controversial calls, home-run scoring plays and game-saving turnovers, ending with sixth-seeded Platteville beating third-seed Lodi 37–30 in their Level 1 playoff game.
Tyler Sasse’s one-yard touchdown run with 48.4 seconds left and Eli Opgenorth’s interception with 9.4 seconds left allowed the Hillmen (6–4) to end a four-postseason-game losing streak against the Blue Devils.
Platteville (6–4) goes to undefeated second-seed Baldwin–Woodville (10–0) for Level 2 Friday at 7 p.m.
“We stuck to our process and continued to believe,” said Hillmen coach Isaiah Altfillisch, whose team scored 30 points in the last 8½ minutes of the game. “Our offensive line played great all game, and in the fourth quarter that really started to show — it opened up some explosive plays and gave us a spark when we needed it most.”
The ironic part of the comeback is that it started with a negative — the call of a muffed punt recovered in the end zone by Lodi’s Hayden Struse-Clark for a touchdown with 8:32 left in the game to give Lodi a 14–7 lead.
The officials initially ruled the punt a touchback. Several minutes of discussion and coach and player lobbying later, the officials reversed themselves. The Lodi School District’s video of the game appeared to show that the ball did not touch Platteville punt returner Myron Reuter before going into the end zone.
“We focus on the controllables,” said Altfillisch. “Calls like that are out of our hands, and our job is to respond. Our kids did a great job keeping their composure and continuing to compete regardless of the situation.”
The response was for quarterback Brody Digman to dial up receiver Jauron Blevins for a 70-yard touchdown pass — a play similar to Blevins’ game-winning touchdown over Lancaster — on the first play after the ensuing kickoff to cut the lead to 14–13. Platteville lined up for an extra point, only to have holder Digman get up and throw a two-point conversion pass to Will Zielinski to give the Hillmen a 15–14 lead with 8:15 left.
The Hillmen held thanks in large part to a dead-ball personal foul, and took over at the 28. Sasse, who had been bottled up much of the night by, ran through the Blue Devil defense for a 72-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 22–14 with 6:20 left.
That lead lasted exactly 14 seconds. On the first play after the kickoff Lodi backup quarterback Reece Schreiber, who came in because starter Alex Breunig was injured on the previous extra point, threw a 59-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Grayson Koeppen. Schreiber’s two-point pass to Kyle Kurt tied the game at 22–22 with 6:06 left.
On the second playoff after the kickoff Digman went deep again to Blevins, who was tackled at the Lodi 15-yard line. A Sasse 11-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-6 gave Platteville a 29–22 lead with 4:36 left.
One play after the kickoff Schreiber found Bennett Nyquist for a 56-yard pass to the Platteville 12-yard line. Jack Bogacki ran it in from the 6 on fourth-and-4 to cut the lead to 29–28. Schreiber and Kurt connected on another two-point pass to give Lodi a 30–29 lead with 3 minutes left.
Sasse started the eight-play 58-yard game-winning drive with a 29-yard run to the Lodi 29. On fourth and 3 from the Lodi 22 Digman ran for a first down to the 4-yard line, and a facemask penalty moved to the ball to the 2, from where Sasse scored with 48.4 seconds left.
“Our kids never flinched,” said Altfillisch. “When Lodi took the lead, there was complete belief on our sideline. The poise our offense showed on that final drive speaks to their preparation and trust in one another.”
That didn’t end the drama. Schreiber found Bogacki for a nine-yard pass and a first down to the Platteville 44 with 22.2 seconds left. One incomplete pass later, Opgenorth intercepted a Schreiber pass to seal the win with 9.4 seconds left.
“We did a great job of pressuring the quarterback, and Eli stepped up and made a huge play when the opportunity came,” said Altfillisch. “I’m really proud of everyone’s fight and resilience — it was a perfect example of 11 guys doing their job, just like they did all night.”
Sasse ran for 174 yards and four touchdowns, the first tying the game at 7–7 with 5:23 left in the third to end a 15-play 78-yard scoring drive. Digman was 8 of 18 for 204 yards, and added 45 yards rushing, putting him 67 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards to go with his 1,838 passing yards. Blevins caught three passes for 172 yards, and added a red-zone interception at the Platteville 5 that ended a potential scoring drive.
Platteville will play second-seed Baldwin–Woodville (10–0), champions of the Middle Border Conference, Friday at 7 p.m. The Blackhawks beat seventh-seed Ashland 57–12 in Level 1. They are led by quarterback Joe Jensen, who has thrown for 1,560 yards and 18 touchdowns, and running back Dane Veenendall, who has run for 997 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“We’re honored to still be playing football,” said Altfillisch. It’s not easy to win playoff games, and our kids earned another opportunity to compete. Our focus this week will be on us and our process — continuing to prepare the right way and control what we can control.”
WIAA Division 4 Level 1 playoff
No. 6 Platteville 37, No. 3 Lodi 30
(from Friday, Oct. 24 @ Lodi)
Platteville....0 0 7 30 — 37
Lodi...............0 7 0 23 — 30
Second quarter
BJ: Kyle Kurt 11 pass from Alex Breunig (Bennett Nyquist kick), 6:46
Third quarter
P: Tyler Sasse 3 run (Sasse kick), 5:23
Fourth quarter
L: Hayden Struse-Clark fumble recovered in the end zone (Nyquist kick), 8:32
P: Jauron Blevins 70 pass from Brody Digman (Zielinski pass from Digman), 8:15
P: Tyler Saase 72 run (Sasse kick), 6:20
L: Grayson Koeppen 59 pass from Reece Schreiber (Kurt pass from Schreiber), 6:06
P: Saase 11 run (Sasse kick), 4:36
L: Jack Bozacki 6 run (Kurt pass from Schreiber), 3:00
P: Sasse 1 run (Digman run), 0:43
Team Statistics
First downs — P 16, L 18. Passing (comp-att-int, yds) — P 8-18-0, 204; L 8-17-0, 53. Rushing — P 33-226, L 27-190. Fumbles–lost — P 1-1, L 0-0. Penalties-yards — P 7-37, L 7-42.
Individual Leaders
Passing — P: Brody Digman 8-18-0, 204; L: . Rushing — P: Tyler Sasse 22-174, Brody Digman 9-45, Briggs Weigel 2-7. Receiving — P: Jauron Blevins 3-172, Myron Reuter 4-29, Will Zielinski 1-3. Tackles — P: Reuter 13, Briggs Weigel 10 (1 TFL), Digman 7, Cam Moore 6, Gage Kastner 4. Interceptions — P: Blevins, Eli Opgenorth.
