Grafton drops defensive playoff rematch

It was a familiar place and a familiar feeling for the Grafton High School football team last Friday at West De Pere.

The No. 4-seeded Black Hawks were edged by the No. 1-seeded Phantoms in a Division 2 first-round playoff game, 7-3.

The Hawks finished the Covid-19-shortened season 5-2.

In what Grafton coach Jim Norris called a “heavyweight fist fight,” the Phantoms made just a few more plays than the Hawks to pull out the victory.

“When you get a game like that with two pretty good teams, it’s going to come down to a couple of plays,” Norris said.

Last year, the Phantoms ended the Hawks’ playoff run with a 56-17 beat down in the second round.

This year’s physical battle remained scoreless until Hawk kicker Silvio Lanza booted a 20-yard field goal in the third quarter.

The Phantoms later got the offense going and scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-4 play in the final quarter.

The Hawks tried to answer but were turned away.

“We were able to move the ball intermittently throughout the night. They did a good job covering up Dom (wide receiver Dominic Voiland),” Norris said.

“We were able to run the ball pretty efficiently but it seemed like after a big play or we got to the red zone, we kind of beat ourselves at times.”

The Hawks’ defense was sharp nearly all night.

“Our defensive coordinator Russell Cross put together an outstanding defensive game plan,” Norris said. “Kenny Likins, one of our captains, and Andrew Ovsepyan had a really good game. To hold West De Pere to seven points, it’s a good effort.”

The WIAA split playoffs into four-team pods with just a two-week postseason due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Hawks had the option to try and schedule another game but Norris decided against it.

“For everyone at some point in time, football ends,” he said. “We wanted to play playoff style. If we win, we’re going to play. If we lose, we’re out. Even though it’s emotional — we lost and our season is done — we have to have that emotional closure and that moment with our seniors and teammates.”

West De Pere (4-1) on Friday is scheduled to host No. 3-seeded Luxemburg-Casco (6-1), which beat No. 2-seeded Plymouth, 30-20.

Grafton’s loss doesn’t overshadow what the Hawks have accomplished this season and in the last three years.

The Hawks, after not making the playoffs since 1997 and not winning a postseason game since 1995, stopped both streaks in 2018, advancing to the second level. They matched the feat last season and again made the playoffs this year. That all happened in Norris’ first three years as coach.

This year’s seniors, Norris said, went 3-6 as freshmen. Likins, Voiland and lineman J.P. Benzschawel started on varsity as sophomores as the program began to rebuild.

“That was a class that really began the foundational change of the program. Their junior year they improved again, and this year they improved again,” Norris said.

Norris wasn’t satisfied with just having a season during the pandemic.

“We climbed the ranks as one of the top programs in the state,” he said.

The Hawks were supposed to compete in the Woodland Conference this season, making the switch from the North Shore. But the Woodland Conference teams took the WIAA option to play an alternate fall season in spring. Grafton ended up competing in the Parkland Conference and will face Woodland teams next year.