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No playoffs for Parker

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Parker vs. Middleton Football

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JANESVILLE — Much like death and taxes, one thing in life you could always count on was Janesville Parker qualifying for the WIAA football playoffs.

But while the Grim Reaper and the IRS are always lurking, the Vikings won’t be this year.

Brooks Braga rushed for 226 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Middleton to a convincing 43-7 win over Parker in a Big Eight Conference and regular-season finale here Wednesday night at Monterey Stadium.

The victory gave the Cardinals an 8-1 conference and season record and a tie with Verona for the Big Eight title. With the loss, the Vikings finished 4-5 overall and 4-5 in the conference in failing to advance to the postseason for the first time in 13 years.

“In a nutshell, I thank our kids for their effort tonight because I really think they were ready to play,” Parker coach Joe Dye said. “We just lost to a better team who is very deserving of being conference champions.

“We’ve certainly got a lot of work to do if we want to get back to where we want and expect to be, but I know the kids we have coming back will work very hard to get that done.”

Parker came out of the gate ready to make a statement but was silenced after that. Senior tailback LaVell Hewlett, who finished with 131 yards, picked up 81 on Parker’s first drive—including a 2-yard touchdown run that put the Vikings up 7-0 less than two minutes in the game.

Behind the legs of Braga, Middleton answered immediately with an 89-yard drive. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior capped it off with a 1-yard burst off tackle for a tying touchdown.

Braga, who led the conference in rushing and scoring, said Middleton’s first drive was an important one.

“Parker surprised us a little bit with that first drive, but we knew if we stuck to our bread and butter, we’d be able to move the ball,” Braga said.

“My (offensive) line has done a great job all year, and once we got rolling tonight, we were able to really pile up the yards.”

Middleton’s bread and butter is to run behind massive 300-pound tackle Ryan Groy. The senior and University of Wisconsin recruit constantly bowled over anybody in his path as Braga ran play after play over his right tackle.

The Cardinals took the lead for good at 9-7 with a safety after Parker snapped the ball out of the end zone on a punt. They pushed it to 16-7 on Braga’s 31-yard run with 2:14 left in the opening quarter.

After an impressive opening drive, Parker got nothing going offensively. The Vikings finished with only five first downs and did not complete a pass. Six Parker fumbles and lack of execution on special teams added to what turned into a long night for the Vikings.

“We got up on them early, and they didn’t flinch. They came back and responded, and that’s how champions compete,” Dye said.

“The bottom line is that 4-5 is not where you want to be. And it means that we’ve got plenty of work in front of us.”

MIDDLETON 43, PARKER 7

Middleton 16 7 7 13—43

Janesville Parker 7 0 0 0—7

Scoring summary: JP—LaVell Hewlett, 2 run (Joe Allen kick). M—Brooks Braga, 1 run (Tom Huepenbecker kick). M—Safety, ball snapped out of bounds on punt. M—Braga, 31 run (Huepenbecker kick). M—Braga, 29 run (Huepenbecker kick). M—Ben Mathias, 8 run (Huepenbecker kick). M—Braga, 4 run (Huepenbecker kick). M—Andrew Zimmerman, 12 run (kick failed).

Statistics: First downs—M 20, JP 5. Rushing—M 48-306, JP 35-168. Yards passing—M 55, JP 0. Passes—M 9-3-0, JP 8-0-0. Fumbles—M 2-0, JP 6-3. Penalties—M 6-49, JP 3-15.