SUAMICO (NBC 26) — On Friday, the Bay Port Pirates (11-2) will be back in the Division 1 state title game taking on Arrowhead (12-1).
After the feeling of hoisting up the gold ball last year, coming away with silver this season is not something they would be happy with.
“Made it this far, you gotta finish the job," Pirates offensive lineman, a Badgers recruit, Aiden Dirksen said. "You can’t be happy with just being there."
While they have a stellar team all around, senior quarterback Matt Stevens and senior running back Brady Moon steer the ship that guides the Pirates.
“I just see monster plays,” Dirksen said about the duo he loves blocking for.
As a leader of the offense, Stevens has had a great year guiding the offense and racking up yards. He’s completing 69% of his passes for almost 2,000 yards with 23 touchdowns through the air. On the ground he’s hard to stop as well, with 874 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns.
“We like to call him ‘Matty Ice’ because he has ice in his veins and he can make big plays in big moments,” said Moon about his quarterback.
“Matt, if he’s not throwing dots, he’s putting his shoulder down and leveling somebody," Dirksen said.
Putting up video game-like numbers, Moon is one of the best backs in the state. This season, he has 39 total touchdowns and has racked up more than 2,500 total yards.
“Brady is as elusive as anything; he can juke anybody out,” Dirksen said.
Taking over the program before the 2024 season, Steven Jorgensen has now led the team to back-to-back title appearances as head coach. His squad can’t say enough good things about him.
“I think I spend more time with him than I do my own dad,” said Dirksen. “He’s a great guy, a great coach to be around. He’s always pushing us. I would love to win another one with him.”
Jorgensen said he knows they aren’t going to win warm-ups; Arrowhead has a much bigger squad, but if they can come together as a collective unit like they have all season, they can get the job done.
“We have to out-team them,” said Jorgensen. “I believe they have a ton of great individual talent everywhere, and it’s got to be a collective effort.”
Kickoff between Bay Port and Arrowhead for the D1 title will be at 4 p.m. Friday at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
