It was probably a fitting way to end a crazy night of football in the Coulee Region.
Onalaska High School senior Ian Kowal running with the ball and everything on the line for his Hilltoppers.
It was something no one anticipated, but also a memorable way to complete a series of victories no one could have expected to see.
Onalaska, Logan and Central drew WIAA first-round opponents that started the night with 153 combined postseason victories. The impressive part about the way the night unfolded was they didn’t add to that total.
Menomonie, Wisconsin Lutheran and Menasha didn’t play well enough to earn home games in the first round, but the history of their programs make them formidable opponents in any situation.
The Hilltoppers, Rangers and RiverHawks had dangerous draws, and the thought of all three winning was difficult to entertain when they were playing schools with a combined 10 state championships.
So when Kowal, whose 17 previous carries this season lost 30 yards, ran for a 6-yard touchdown as 11 seconds remained to give Onalaska a 34-31 win over Menomonie (78 playoff wins), it was a sign of big things happening in the area.
Three miles away, Logan was beating Wisconsin Lutheran (48 playoff wins) 42-19, and less than two miles away from that gathering, Central was completing a 38-20 win over Menasha (27 playoff wins) at UW-La Crosse.
“Those are all teams that have been in and won state titles,” Onalaska coach Tom Yashinsky said. “I think we’re starting to get more respect.
“For a long time, things didn’t go our way, but it’s starting to go the other direction.”
It’s not like the area hasn’t enjoyed football success.
Aquinas has won four Division 5 championships since 2007. West Salem has played in four Division 4 championship games since 2002 and won one in 2007. None of that is ancient history.
Now the bigger schools are shooting for the same success and starting to get some of the victories that will help them not only now but in the future.
All three teams have more difficult games awaiting on Friday.
The second-seeded Hilltoppers (8-2) are the only team playing at home, but they host a sixth-seeded Pewaukee (5-5) that played a brutal schedule and made its postseason debut with a 31-10 win at third-seeded Sauk Prairie.
The teams that beat the Pirates had a combined 37-13 record, and only one was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
The Rangers (7-3) travel to top-seeded Waukesha Catholic Memorial (9-1) and RiverHawks (7-3) to top-seeded River Falls (9-1). The Crusaders are considered one of the top teams in the state regardless of division, and the Wildcats have been held under 40 points twice all season.
