A berth in the Division Four State Football Championship Game is on the line tonight at Appleton East High School as undefeated Kiel and 10-2 Wrightstown battle at the home of the Patriots in a state semifinal which is unchartered territory for the Eastern Wisconsin Conference Champion Raiders.
Kiel has reached Level Four for the first time in program history while the Wrightstown Tigers of the Northeast Conference have qualified for the postseason 25 consecutive years winning three state championships, the last coming in 2011.
Although different in their postseason history these two programs got here in very similar styles—running the ball.
Kiel is led by Senior quarterback Mitch Mahler who’s accounted for more than 1800 yards of offense and 33 touchdowns and senior running back Alex Kleinhans, who has run for more than a thousand yards and eight scores.
Wrightstown’s single-wing offense is led by Ben Jaeger who’s run for nearly one-thousand yards and 13 touchdowns. Where Kiel may have an edge is on defense where Coach Mike Dressler’s team has allowed only 94 points all year and just 14 this postseason.
Tonight’s game kicks at 7 p.m. with local radio coverage beginning at 6:40 on AM 980 WCUB and www.cubradio.com.
