Who's next? Meet the Comets
Brady Ambrose/Times Press
Another strong football team will stand in the way of Reedsburg's quest for the school's first-ever football state championship Friday.
The Waupaca Comets, undefeated at 13-0, are the Eastern Valley conference champions and are as impressive on paper as the Wisconsin Lutheran team that the Beavers beat Saturday. Led by quarterback Brock Jensen, the Comets have made short work of their opponents this season, but it may be the Waupaca defense, who like the Reedsburg defense, has slipped under the radar as the season has wore on. "first, they have to be a very good team to get to this level," said Reedsburg coach Brian Pottinger. The coach notes that the Comets defense is a good one. "They play a 4-4 defense and they are really aggressive, they blitz at least one linebacker on every play."
In their 42-0 shellacking of unbeaten Kewaskum Saturday, Waupaca held the Indians, who had outscored their opponents 363-76 in 12 games this season, to just 60 total yards and three first downs. Kewaskum never got across midfield until there were three minutes left in the game, and the 42-0 shutout was Waupaca's eighth of the season as they held Kewaskum quarterback Nick Olla to 38 yards passing. Olla came into the game with 1,248 yards rushing but the Comets held him to minus-23 yards, and Waupaca sacked him six times in the game. Kewaskum ran for 295 yards on 47 attempts in a 33-15 Level 3 victory over Port Washington, with 151 of those yards coming from Olla on 18 carries. In 13 games this season, Waupaca has allowed just 72 points, with 32 of those coming in a 49-32 win over Ripon Sept. 12, and 20 more in the Comets 41-20 win over Mosinee in the second round of the playoffs.
On offense, the Comets feature a quarterback and running back strikingly similar both statistically and physically to Reedsburg's Tyler Mazur and Justin Huinker. Brock Jensen, 6'3, 208 lbs., runs the offense while senior running back Mike Solberg (5'11, 190 pounds) is the workhorse, with 1,287 yards rushing on 155 carries. Jensen is also a threat on the ground, rushing for 1,105 yards on 181 carries, and has also passed for 1,520 yards, completing 103 of 153 pass attempts so far this season. "They run a bunch of formations," said Pottinger, who has had his hands full so far this week with the attention the team and school are getting. "We're trying to keep it business as usual, our focus has really been on keeping our routine the same." With such similarities between Mazur and Jensen, and Huinker and Solberg, the x-factor may be Matt Lennon, who enters the game with a team-leading 21 touchdowns, including three kick off returns for touchdowns, while rushing for 835 yards on the season.
Another threat on offense for the Comets is senior wide receiver Nate Nelson. The 6'0, 180 pound Nelson is the leading receiver in the Eastern Valley Conference, and has 59 catches on the season for 1,100 yards and 17 touchdowns, including three Saturday against Kewaskum.
Waupaca is making it's fourth trip to the WIAA title game, winning in 2006 and placing second in 2002 and 1994. It is the 17th straight season that the Comets have been in the playoffs.