This story is sponsored by: American Family Insurance-Randy LeMoine Agency
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – On the long list of impact players on the Stratford football team that could have played a pivotal role in winning a state championship, a foreign exchange student from Germany probably was pretty far down.
As it turns out, Laurenz Plattner will be a name that will never be forgotten from a game that will go down as one of the most memorable in an already illustrious history among Stratford football faithful.
Plattner, who had a 25-yard field goal blocked in the final minute, drilled a 32-yarder on an untimed down to cap off a wild finish and a 10-7 win for Stratford over Darlington in the Division 6 championship game at the 2023 WIAA State Football Championships at Camp Randall Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
The Tigers win their ninth state title and second in a row, tying Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs for the most in WIAA football history.
“After I kicked the first one, I felt depressed a little, sad – when we lose this game, I’m the idiot,” Plattner said, laughing. “I’m good at making extra-point kicks but I never attempted a field goal, so I’m very happy to make it.
“Before the game, I never thought I’m going to attempt a winning field goal. The first half was a little rough for us, but the coaches had a great speech in the locker room. We went out there and had an amazing second half, that’s what I’m so happy about. They played so good…me, I did not do that much. The other guys are the heroes.”
Plattner’s game-winner was the end to a stunning win for the Tigers, who appeared headed to overtime despite an epic drive that finished with no points.
“It’s storybook, you couldn’t write it any better,” Stratford head coach Jason Tubbs said. “It’s just unbelievable. Emotional up, emotional down. I’m super proud of these guys. They played like champions.”
Tubbs said the team was confident in giving Plattner another shot.
“Our guys said ‘We’re kicking it, Coach. He can make it, he made them all year,” Tubbs said. “Most of the time I go with the guys, if they say it’s there, it usually is.”
Stratford took the opening possession of the game and put together a typical drive for them, running 10 plays, eight on the ground, while picking up two third-down attempts and another on fourth down to reach the Darlington 33.
However, a negative running play and an incomplete pass stalled the drive and Tigers’ quarterback Jack Tubbs was sacked on fourth-and-13, turning the ball over on downs to Darlington after running off the first 8:35 of the game.
After the opening drive, Stratford didn’t do much with the ball and the Redbirds were able to put together their lone scoring drive.
Darlington drove 53 yards in 11 plays, all on the ground, with Reagan Jackson finishing it off with a 5-yard touchdown run and the Redbirds led 7-0.
Following a three-and-out by the Tigers, Darlington reached the Stratford 24 before a Cole Tichy interception of a Breylin Goebel pass in the end zone with 13 seconds left before halftime.
Tubbs threw an interception on the final play of the half and the teams went into intermission with Darlington holding on to its 7-0 lead.
“After the first quarter, I’m like ‘This is going to be a tight one,’” Jason Tubbs said. “They were stopping (running backs) Koehler (Kilty) and Gavin (Leonhardt) pretty good. Overall, I thought our guys gritted it out. We fought through penalties. The philosophy of our guys is to never look back, just keep going forward no matter what happens.”
Stratford got the break it needed to gain some momentum right out of the gate.
Goebel fumbled on a first-down play and Landon Zawislan recovered at the Redbirds’ 29. Five plays later, Koehler Kilty ran around right end for a 9-yard touchdown and Plattner’s extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 8:05 left in the third quarter.
The defenses held for the rest of the quarter and Darlington punted on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Tigers the ball at their own 4.
In what has become a staple of Stratford teams in recent years, the Tigers used a pounding running game to keep the chains moving and the clock running.
Stratford took over with 11:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and drove to the Darlington 7, running the ball on 20 of 21 plays, with the lone pass going for 11 yards on fourth-and-6 from Tubbs to Leonhardt to keep the drive alive. Kilty ran 13 times and Tubbs six on the long drive to set up a field goal attempt.
Plattner and the kicking team came in with 30 seconds to go following a Darlington timeout to try to win it. However, Redbirds’ lineman Ross Crist got a hand on the kick to block it at the line of scrimmage and Darlington took over with 23 seconds remaining.
However, instead of running out the clock and heading to overtime, Darlington tried to pop a big play. An 8-yard run was nearly negated by a false start penalty before the next snap. After an incomplete pass, the Redbirds turned to Jackson, who fumbled and the loose ball landed in Stratford defensive back Alex Chapel’s arms. He returned it seven yards to the 25 and the Tigers took over with six seconds to go.
Out of field goal range, Stratford attempted a pass play that Chapel caught. As he raced toward the end zone, a Darlington defender tripped him up at the 3 as time expired. However, Darlington was called for defensive holding on the play as Chapel and a Redbirds’ defensive back collided before the pass was thrown. After a review to see if there was any time left when Chapel was tackled, it was ruled there was not, so the Tigers accepted the penalty, moved up to the 15, and were given one untimed down.
Enter Plattner, who calmly nailed home the 32-yard field goal to secure another state championship for Stratford.
“Everyone came up to me and said ‘Laurenz, you can make it, you can make it. Do just like you do in practice,’” Plattner said.
Kilty finished with 85 yards rushing as Stratford totaled 195 total yards, while holding Darlington to just 102 yards and eight first downs.
The Tigers (13-1) finish the season on a 12-game winning streak following a Week 2 loss to Edgar, who won the Division 7 state final Thursday prior to Stratford’s victory.
“As a coach, being here six times as an assistant, and lose the first two as a head coach, then win the next two, call me Even Steven I guess,” Jason Tubbs said.
Tigers 10, Redbirds 7
Stratford 0 0 7 3 – 10
Darlington 0 7 0 0 – 7
Second Quarter
D – Reagan Jackson 5 run (Denilo Ramos-Godoy kick), 5:01.
Third Quarter
S – Koehler Kilty 9 run (Laurenz Plattner kick), 8:05.
Fourth Quarter
S – Plattner 32 field goal, 0:00.
Team Statistics
First downs: Stratford 13; Darlington 8.
Rushing (att-yards): S 44-151; D 38-102.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): S 5-7-44-1; D 0-2-0-1.
Total yards: S 195; D 102.
Fumbles (total-lost): S 0-0; D 3-2.
Penalties (no.-yards): S 7-50; D 2-15.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: S, Koehler Kilty 25-85, Jack Tubbs 12-45, Gavin Leonhardt 5-22, Jett Schoenherr 2-minus 1. D, Reagan Jackson 9-43, Breylin Goebel 13-29, Tye Crist 12-23, Maddox Goebel 4-7.
Passing: S, Tubbs 5-7-44-1. D, B. Goebel 0-2-0-1.
Receiving: S, Schoenherr 3-21, Leonhardt 2-23.
Fumble recoveries (defense): S, Landon Zawislan, Alec Chapel.
Interceptions (defense): S, Cole Tichy. D, Roger Vokening III.
Records: Stratford 13-1; Darlington 12-2.
2023 WIAA State Football Championships
Nov. 16-17, at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison
Thursday, Nov. 16
Division 7: Edgar (13-1) 36, Black Hawk/Warren (Ill.) (12-2) 6
Division 6: Stratford (13-1) 10, Darlington (12-2) 7
Division 5: La Crosse Aquinas (13-1) 32, Wrightstown (11-3) 13
Division 4: Lodi (14-0) 38, Luxemburg-Casco (12-2) 13
Friday, Nov. 17
Division 3: Rice Lake (13-1) 28, Grafton (11-3) 20
Division 2: Lake Geneva Badger (14-0) 34, Waunakee (13-1) 33
Division 1: Milwaukee Marquette (12-2) 27, Franklin (13-1) 10