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Jefferson football caps championship

JEFFERSON — You could not have blamed Whitewater High's football team if it had boarded the bus at halftime instead of returning to the muddy Jefferson football field.

To their credit, the flu-stricken Whippets stuck it out in the cold and rain and took their lumps against title-bound Jefferson.

Jefferson's Pete Linse ran for 161 yards and three touchdowns, while the defense took care of the rest to help the Eagles (8-1, 6-1) clinch a share of the Rock Valley North championship with a 47-0 victory over Whitewater (5-4, 4-3) here Thursday night.

Jefferson, which last won a conference championship in 1997 as a member of the Southern Lakes, shares the Rock title with McFarland (8-1, 6-1). The Eagles handed the Spartans their only defeat, 21-12, and lost only to unbeaten Rock South champion Walworth Big Foot, 14-7.

"This group of seniors is a really special group," Jefferson coach Steve Gee said. "These seniors were freshmen when I started as a brand new coach here, and I taught them this offense, and they embraced it and have done a great job. Tonight, it all looked pretty darn good."

The Eagles showed off their offensive capabilities early in the first quarter.

After a botched Whippet snap on a punt resulted in a turnover on downs at the Whitewater 18, the Eagles needed just two plays to score. Linse capped the short drive with a 14-yard touchdown run to put Jefferson up 7-0.

Whitewater continued to struggle with the snap from center and quickly punted again on the ensuing possession.

Two plays later, Linse burst through the Whippet defense and sprinted 72 yards for another touchdown run to build the lead to 13-0 late in the first quarter.

It only got worse for the Whippets.

Another botched snap on the ensuing Whitewater possession gave the Eagles the ball at the Whippet 35. Just four plays later, Mike Stellmacher made it 19-0 with a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:00 left in the first quarter.

"There are a few things that we can't do in weather like this, but there are a lot things that we can do," Gee said. "And the guys were confident in what we could do."

Running the ball was one thing Jefferson did the whole game—and the whole season.

Linse closed out the first half with a 7-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles in control, 25-0.

Stellmacher and Tyler Tomczak chipped in third quarter touchdown runs of 5 and 20 respectively, while Jake Wayland added the final score with a 31-yard touchdown run.

Linse finished the night with 170 yards in 12 carries as both teams look ahead to next week's WIAA playoffs.

JEFFERSON 47, WHITEWATER 0

Whitewater 0 0 0 0—0

Jefferson 19 6 22 0—47

Scoring summary: J—Pete Linse, 14 run (Tyler Tomczak kick). J—Linse, 72 run (kick failed). J—Mike Stellmacher, 5 run (run failed). J—Linse, 7 run (kick failed). J—Stellmacher, 5 run (Linse run). J—Tomczak, 20 run (Tomczak kick). J—Jake Wayland, 33 run (Tomczak kick).

Statistics: First downs—W 1, J 9. Rushing—W 27-0, J 35-337. Yards passing—W 0, J 0. Passes—W 3-0-1, J 1-0-0. Fumbles—W 7-3, J 2-2. Penalties—W 3-15, J 1-15.