After their 23-16 comeback win against Monroe, Stoughton Football is ready to charge into the division three conference semi-finals against Grafton at Waukesha West High School. The Vikings finished the regular season with a record of 5-7 and a conference record of 3-4, while Grafton holds a 10-2 overall record and a 6-1 conference record. Despite the difference in wins, Head Coach Jason Becker is confident in his teams’ ability to advance to the State Finals.
“It’s important to know that the win-loss record doesn’t always tell the whole story,” Becker said. “Within our conference, we play divisions one or two schools. We played Sun Prarie East, Monona Grove, and Deforest, who are all much larger schools, so [considering the overall record], it makes a big difference.”
One of the Vikings’ strengths this season would be their mental determination. Becker believes this crucial aspect is commonly overlooked, while most fans focus on the “X’s and O’s of a game,” such as whether it was the correct play or if the right player was on the field.
“One of the things this team does really well is handle the positive and negative, and they’re able to stay even-keeled,” Becker said.
Two players that exemplified this all season long are Defensive Lineman of The Year Ben Harman and Defensive Player of The Year Beckett Spilde, who Becker states have both had phenomenal seasons. Spilde has racked up an impressive 81 tackles this season, while Harman follows with 74.
Coming into the semi-final game, Becker claims their biggest strength is their defense.
“Our defensive line has been that spark we’ve relied on all season,” Becker said. “Just last week, even though we were down 0-16 at halftime, they came out to start the second half, stopped that early drive, and got offense the ball back. They created that positive momentum for us and have led us on this postseason charge.”
Another part of this defensive group includes linebackers Joe Wahlin, Cole Sarbacker, and defensive back LeShawn Brown, who Becker claims were key players this season.
Two kickers will be stepping up to replace kicker and defensive back Casey Quam, who was recently injured during the game against Waterford. Prior to his injury, Quam was second in the state for interceptions, racking up ten at the time of his season-ending injury.
The team’s replacement kickers are Jayce Turner, who had a crucial performance in the Monroe game, and Elijah Hartberg, a soccer-style kicker who was voted as an all-conference soccer player earlier this fall. Becker has coached Elijah before in previous wrestling and track seasons and is excited to work with him again.
“We know [Hartberg] is more than capable of helping us, but at the same time, Turner did a fantastic job for us last week,” Becker said. “Whoever it is that kicks for us on Friday night, I’m sure they’ll step up and continue to do us well.”
While Stoughton High School has shown full support for their football team through pep rallies and high stadium attendance, Becker hopes that the Stoughton community can be just as involved.
“I think that this playoff run has shown that when a group of people come together and unite in a belief, there’s a tremendous amount of strength in that, and you can accomplish a lot of great things,” Becker said.