OSHKOSH — A pair of former Hillmen standouts and Platteville head coach Scott Statz helped the Division 4–7 South stars to a 33–13 victory in Saturday’s WFCA small schools all-star game at UW–Oshkosh’s Titan Stadium.
     Running back William Cooley, who will attend UW–Platteville and play football in the fall, also played tight end in the all-star game and caught a team-high five passes for 58 yards — including a 21-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. He rushed for eight yards on three carries.
     Schambow, who will play college football at the University of Dubuque this fall, played defensive back and also returned three punts for 12 yards.
     Statz was an assistant coach for Rodney Wedig’s South team. Wedig’s top-ranked Big Foot team suffered a 7–2 loss to Statz’s Hillmen during the quarterfinals of the 2013 WIAA Division 4 playoffs.
     Platteville (9–5) went on to reach the D4 state championship, losing in the title game to Winneconne, 28–14.
     In Saturday’s small schools all-star game, the South scored 30 straight points to rally from an early 7–0 deficit to cruise to an easy win.
     East Troy quarterback Brandon Matz led the South comeback by completing 9 of 12 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.
     Erik Van Vleet of Gale–Ettrick–Trempealeau rushed for 56 yards on 15 carries, while Racine St. Catherine’s Sean Madden scored a pair of rushing touchdowns.
     It was a complete team effort for the South however, as Logan Peterson of Cedar Grove–Belgium returned an interception for a 14-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter and Big Foot kicker Ian Gallagher connected on a pair of field goals.
     The North team jumped out to a 7–0 lead midway through the opening quarter when Barron’s Jason Balts took a short pass from Black River Falls quarterback Ethan Young, broke a tackle and raced for a 67-yard touchdown.
     The South answered early in the second quarter when Darlington defensive end Michael Ruf deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage and Lodi linebacker Mike Ibarimi made a diving interception at the North 21-yard-line.
     On the very next play, Matz tossed a 21-yard TD pass to Cooley. The extra-point attempt was blocked and the North retained a 7–6 lead.
     The South made two more interceptions in the quarter, Peterson’s pick-six and one from Albany’s Isaiah Shell that led to a 37-yard Gallagher field goal that made it 16–7 at halftime.
     Madden scored from a yard out in the third quarter, then again on a four-yard run early in the fourth to make it 30–7.
     The North did not score again until 4:31 left in the game when Glenwood City’s Isaac Tuttle plunged in from three yards out.
     Gallagher added a 27-yard field goal late in the game to account for the final score.
     Young finished 7 of 13 for 126 yards and a touchdown to lead the North, with Balts hauling in 6 passes for 112 yards and a score.
     Black Hawk’s Tanner Sweeney ran for 21 yards on five carries.
     Other area athletes that played in the game were Belmont’s Lucas Stoney (OL), Iowa–Grant’s Colin Conner (OL), Potosi’s Chase Kruser (WR) and Keegan Brown (LB), Argyle’s Alec Treuthardt (WR), Black Hawk’s Seth Butler (DB), Lancaster’s Brock Snider (OL) and River Valley’s Zach Koch (DT).

WFCA Small Schools All-Star Game
South 33, North 13
(from Saturday, July 19 @ South)
North    7    0    0     6     — 13
South    0    16    7    10     — 33
First quarter
N: Jason Balts 67 pass from Ethan Young (Talon Heinmeyer kick)
Second quarter
S: William Cooley 21 pass from Brandon Matz (kick blocked)
S: Logan Peterson 14 interception return (Ian Gallagher kick)
S: FG Gallagher 37
Third quarter
S: Sean Madden 1 run (Gallagher kick)
Fourth quarter
S: Madden 4 run (Gallagher kick)
N: Isaac Tuttle 3 run (kick failed)
S: FG Gallagher 27
Team Statistics
First downs — N 7, S 18. Rushing — N 21-2, S 52-145. Passing Yards — N 173, S 229. Passing — N 14-24-4, S 13-23-1. Fumbles–lost — N 1-1, S 1-1. Penalties-yards — N 8-55, S 4-30.
Individual Statistics
Rushing — N: Issac Tuttle 6-14, Nathan Peters 6-8, Mason Strum 1-4; S: Erik Van Vleet 15-56, Sean Madden 10-30, Kyle Becker 8-24, Tanner Sweeney 5-21, William Cooley 3-8. Passing — N: Ethan Young 7-13-2, 123, Tyler Sorensen 7-11-2, 47; S: Brandon Matz 9-12-1, 191, Cale Lisoski 3-9-0, 31. Receiving — N: Jason Balts 6-112, Peters 2-18, Colten Seibel 2-17, Nathan Slenczka 2-14; S: Sam Eckert 3-75, Cooley 5-58, Adam Korpela 2-62, Chris Cooper 2-25.