MADISON (NBC 26) — Winneconne quarterback and Iowa commit Brody Schaffer led a fourth-quarter comeback Friday at Camp Randall Stadium as the Wolves defeated Little Chute 28–22 to win the WIAA Division 4 state championship — the program’s first state title since 2013.
“This is awesome," Winneconne Head Coach Ryan Krings said. "It's 12 years in the making since the last one. It's a great journey and it was a good way to finish for these senior guys that have put a lot of time and effort into this.”
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Schaffer said his team had been driven by last year’s postseason loss.
“It's amazing. Ever since last year, when we lost in level four, we wanted to get to this point, and that's what we preached in our preparation, and we did it,” Schaffer said.
Schaffer finished with 149 passing yards and two touchdowns and added 123 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. After the win, he credited his teammates for their resilience.
“I think it's just faith in my teammates, faith in my offensive lineman, and faith in my skilled players,” Schaffer said. “They did a heck of a job adjusting when I'm rolling out and stuff like that. I'm just really proud of these dudes.”
Little Chute controlled the first half. On the opening drive, Reece Joten scored on a 24-yard run. Later in the half, Tyler Hietpas broke free for a 63-yard touchdown. The Mustangs rushed for 237 yards and led 14–7 at halftime.
Krings said the early deficit was a concern.
“Unbelievable, it was crazy. First half I was a little worried. They came out and played their butts off. Those linemen they got are big and they can play some ball.”
Winneconne cut the Mustangs’ lead to one in the third quarter when Schaffer connected with Karter Hawthorne for a 31-yard touchdown. But Little Chute answered on Joten’s second touchdown of the night, extending the lead to 22–13.
The Mustangs then intercepted Schaffer and had a chance to widen the margin, but Schaffer responded by intercepting Jaden Hermsen, swinging momentum back to Winneconne.
Schaffer led two scoring drives in the final six minutes to give the Wolves the lead for good.
Krings praised his team’s toughness.
“Our guys turned it around, stuck with it. They've been doing that all along and never gave up.”
Schaffer said the seniors understood the weight of the moment.
“It was our last 48 minutes ever for a lot of us. So we had to leave it all out there and do what we could to get the job done. And we fought and we came together and we did that.”
Despite the loss, first-year Little Chute Head Coach Mark Krommenacker said he was proud of his team’s season.
“Yeah, it's just unfortunate, just some mistakes by us that you just can't have if you're going to win a game like this against a player like number three,” Krommenacker said.
“We'll pick each other up and come back stronger.”
