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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
The 2022 WIAA football playoffs will continue Friday, Nov. 4, with Level 3 games across seven divisions.
Four games in each division will be played Friday with the winners moving on to the Level 4 divisional semifinals on Nov. 11.
No. 2 seed Stratford will taking a three hour drive northwest to take on No. 1 seed Grantsburg on Friday in hopes of making it back to Level 4 for the third time in the last five seasons.
Click here for the entire WIAA Level 3 playoff matchups
Division 6
No. 2 Stratford Tigers (8-2-1) at No. 1 Grantsburg Pirates (9-2)
When and where: Friday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m., at Grantsburg High School
About the Tigers: Stratford rolled into the Level 3 matchup with its second-straight shutout of the playoffs, a dominating 42-0 win over Cadott on Oct. 28 at Marshfield High School…Senior quarterback Braeden Schueller threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for another 52 yards and a score to lead the way for the Tigers…Sophomore Gavin Leonhardt continued to make his mark on limited touches for Stratford, hauling in an 86-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and returning a punt 47 yards for a score early in the third…Stratford’s defense allowed just 55 total yards in the win.
About the Pirates: Grantsburg, champions of the Lakeland Conference, used a 14-0 third-quarter advantage to down Unity 35-21 in a Level 3 game on Oct. 28…Aaron Burkman had 76 yards rushing and 94 yards passing for the Pirates, who racked up 209 yards in all on the ground…Burkman has passed for 1,284 yards and 15 touchdowns, and run for 320 yards and seven scores to pace the Grantsburg offense that has no player with more than 500 yards rushing, but five with between 300 and 466 yards…Trenton Johnson has been the team’s top pass catcher, with 39 grabs for 647 yards and seven TDs…The Pirates have won eight-straight games since starting the season 1-2…The Pirates reached Level 4 in 2015, 2017, and 2018, but have never advanced all the way to the state finals.
Next up: The winner will play the winner of No. 1 Coleman and No. 2 Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs on Nov. 11. St. Mary’s Springs has reached the state finals four years in a row, including in 2018 when it defeated Stratford in the Division 5 championship. The Ledgers lost to Colby in last year’s Division 6 championship…Coleman lost in last year’s Division 7 championship game to Reedsville.