Slinger claims Division 2 state title on late heroics, Muskego and Catholic Memorial come up short
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- On the final day of the high school football season, three southeast Wisconsin teams hoped to bring home some hardware.
On Thursday, Nov. 22, Racine Saint Catherine's and Lomira won state titles.
High drama was the theme of the Division 1 championship game. Muskego amassed just 20 yards in the first half and trailed 19-0. Then the second half started. Two second half touchdowns from Jackson Niemiec and a 33-yard field goal from Gabe Walden gave the Warriors a chance down 25-18 with 1:07 to play. But after a sack set Muskego back, they could not get the tying score. Muskego fell to Bay Port 25-18 in the Division 1 state title game.
In Division 2, Slinger took on last year's Division 3 champion, Rice Lake. The Owls trailed for most of the game until 3:29 to play in the fourth Michael Thiede scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown, one of his three on the day, to give Slinger a 31-30 lead following an extra point.
From there, the Owls forced a Warriors turnover on downs and ran out the clock. Slinger wins its first state title since 1998 with a 31-30 win over Rice Lake. It's just the fourth championship overall in Slinger's history and the second fall season in a row the Owls bring home hardware. The girls cross country team did the same in 2023.
Catholic Memorial was the first team to step on the field Friday in Division 3 to face Notre Dame out of Green Bay, falling 49-28.
The game featured several record-setting performances on offense. For Catholic Memorial, MJ Mitchell finished with a Division 3 state title game 309 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes. His top target on the day Marvanous Butler-Brown set also set a Division 3 title game record for receiving yards with 160 yards to go with his 2 touchdowns. But it was hard for the Crusaders to contain Tritons running back Christian Collins. The state's rushing leader ran for 408 yards, more than anyone in any Division in a state title game and matches an all-divisions record with 5 touchdowns.