Johnson era ends
By Jim den Hollander
For a second straight year, the Reedsburg Area High School Beavers brought the season to a sudden end for the Wisconsin Dells High School varsity football team. This time the game was played in Reedsburg, one of three teams to share the Badger North Conference championship this season and they literally scored early and often against the Chiefs in a 35-0 rout in their first round WIAA Division 3 state playoff game. A year ago, the Chiefs hosted the game after finishing a successful 7-2 campaign, but wound up being little more than a minor speed bump for a Reedsburg team on its way to a berth in the state championship game. The hosts received the opening kickoff and just over a minute later scored its first of four first half touchdowns, quarterback Chad Mazur keeping it himself on the fifth play of the game and turning it into a 38-yard score. The Beavers scored three more first half touchdowns, from one, 11 and three yards out while the Chiefs’ struggled from the start, desperately looking to gain momentum from a couple of relatively nice gains. Both teams turned the ball over frequently, Reedsburg losing twice on five fumbles while the Chiefs turned it over on one of two fumbles and also fell victim to four interceptions. Much of the final quarter was spent on Reedsburg’s side of half, a running clock running down the final minutes quickly while teams turned the ball over again and again. Shane Rockweiler had two of the longest runs of the night, his second a 54-yard touchdown run for the lone second half score. It was a disappointing end to the final season for Bob Johnson who made no secret early on this would be his final campaign. Originally, Johnson planned to end his football coaching tenure at the same time he retired from the school — at the end of the 2008-09 school year — but during the season last year, Johnson decided to give it one more season. "I just thought that it was probably a good decision to stick it out another season," said Johnson moments after the Reedsburg game. "Thinking that the program, there would be some consistency for one more year with the coaches we have and everything. In the best interests of our program and the kids, I just felt it was the thing to do." Adversity was a major factor this season as the team started out losing all four of its non-conference games to start the season after winning all four the previous season. The Chiefs managed to turn it around, taking four of five conference matches, but ultimately faced some more adversity when the flu-related school closure forced them off the field for nearly a week right in the heart of the conference part of its campaign. To a certain extent, the adversity may have worked out well for the team as it forced them to count on each other more as they built off of a ‘Us Against the World,’ type of mentality. "I think we totally believed that we could be a conference champion," said the coach adding, "When we lost to Nekoosa, we knew our next goal was playoffs and we thought we had a chance. "One thing about tonight, you really have to give Reedsburg a lot of credit. They came and really played hard. The quarterback didn’t want to go down. We didn’t tackle very well. I don’t think we played very well defensively as we have all year long, but you’ve got to give them some credit, too." Johnson said he was a little surprised to see he and his players may have been alone in their belief in themselves. "I think there was a lot of people that weren’t giving the Dells probably much of a chance tonight. There was an air about all of that going around, and I think our kids gave a lot of effort, but I don’t know what was going on in their heads either. "I was even asked by someone if we really did want to go on, beyond this game and I can’t even imagine somebody asking me that question, you know. They’re lucky they didn’t get a more strict answer. "Obviously, we wanted to go on, but Reedsburg was tough." Realistically looking at it, Johnson knew the Reedsburg team was the obvious favorite heading into the contest. "But, it’s a football game," said the coach. "You have to believe that you have a chance of winning at any time when you step onto the field. You just never know what is going to happen. There was some emotion after the game, in particular for a solid group of seniors that played their last game on the grid iron wearing the Columbia Blue. Bobby Blaschke played 30 straight varsity games for the Chiefs and wraps up an amazing high school career with well over 200 tackles, including an amazing 149 in his senior year alone. He finishes an awesome three year varsity run with 272 tackles, exactly 50 of them solo efforts, 10.5 sacks. Jordan Hinze, an emotional leader for the team all season played a part in a team high 19 tackles in the final game adding to his total of exactly 100 on the season heading into the contest. Another senior, Kyle Stowers also topped 102 tackles on the season before the playoff contest. Kit Conrad, Nate Gibson and Alex Kahler made up an imposing trio in particular on the defensive line for the Chiefs this year. Josh Elftmann, Jacob Schwartzer and Logan Thorp all came into their own and made the most of their opportunities this season. Cody Powell and Jacob Eckert came out for the first time in their senior years and played a part in a Dells team that made history – the first team ever to make the WIAA post season three straight years. Johnson said after the game he hadn’t had a chance to think much about this being his last game. "I think there will be more reflecting after today," said Johnson. "We’re too focused. We’ve got too much to do to think about the game so, I think that will come after tonight." With the win, Reedsburg advanced to the WIAA Division 3 second round and was scheduled to play in Pewaukee today. REEDSBURG 35, WISCONSIN DELLS 0 Reedsburg 14 14 7 0 — 35 Wisconsin Dells 0 0 0 0 — 0 R - R - R - R - R - TEAM STATS R WD First downs. . . . . . 23 6 Rushes-yards . . . . 56-430 19-82 Passing. . . . . . . . . .3 54 Comp-Att-Int. . . . .1-2-0 5-15-4 Penalties-Yards. . .4-20 5-11 Fumbles-Lost. . . . 5-2 2-1 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING Wisconsin Dells Tackles