The record book has been updated with, of course, some new additions as well as a few new categories.
11-Player Stats
Leading the way is Colton Brunell of Columbus, the new state all-time leading rusher with 7,416 yards. His 106 career rushing touchdowns places him in second place, behind Random Lake’s Luke Hagel (1995-99) who scored 112 times (All rushing). Colton had 109 overall touchdowns in his career and places in the fourth spot on the career list with 656 points. Burnell fits into multiple spots on the records lists among them was his becoming only the second player to ever gain 2,000-yards in each of his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He ties the effort of Mike Firkus of Hilbert (2000-02).
To me, one of the quietist careers was that of Two Rivers star Chase Matthis who didn’t get as much attention as Burnell but put up some terrific numbers. Chase gained 5,991 career yards (7th all-time) and scored 90 touchdowns on the ground and 103 overall and 631 overall career points (5th place).
Senior Demetrius Bergmann of Pepin/Alma put up some great numbers in 2022 and 2023 as he gained 3,171 yards out of his 3,862 career yards as well as 72 of his career 83 touchdowns. In 2023 he ran for 20 of his career 26 two-point conversions to place 4th in single season conversions. He tied with two others for the single game record of five two-pointers. The other two, Ezra Hitz of Milwaukee Ronald Reagan and Trenton Owens of Mount Horeb/Barneveld each had five conversions this year.
Two-point conversions were “the thing” this year. In the records category of “Most 2-Point Conversions in a Single Game”, out of the now 24 mentions, 14 occurred this season. 10 teams converted 25+ conversion runs and five passed for two points.
Passing seemed to be down as well as receptions and yardage. Onalaska’s Adam Skifton was the only quarterback to make the single season passing list and his top receiver, Brodie Mickschl, led the state with receptions )86). Skifton passed for 39 touchdowns and 2,944 yards. Besides Skifton, Duke Shovald of West DePere were also the only passers to make the career passing yardage list with 5,635 yards as well as tossing for 69 touchdowns for Skifton and 6,128 yards for Shovald.
Sean West of Homestead tied for second on the “Most Field Goals In A Season” with a kicking performance of 15 field goals made out of 19 attempts. Racine Lutheran freshman Max Contreras kicked 10 extra points out of 12 attempts in an 82-22 win over Dominican. He’s one of nine players to kick 10 or more extra points ever in a game. Max was 28-35 on the season and he has three more seasons to go.
Keagen Jirschele of Mosinee put together a fabulous 2023 season and career. Keagan was a top receiver as well as a defensive back. Check here for a recap:
If the last name Jirschele sounds familiar his father is the Jeremy Jirschele, the head baseball coach at UW-Stevens Point and his grandfather is Mike Jirschele who was profiled in my blogs on Clintonville…A MULTI-SPORT FAMILY OF STARS…PART 1 (wihifootball.com) and A MULTI-SPORT FAMILY OF STARS…PART 2 (wihifootball.com). And like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather his favorite sport is baseball and is a college and MLB prospect.
There are several additions to some of the lists of yearly leaders, mainly the older years so check those out. One new category is “Longest Run from Scrimmage”. Reed Shepard of De Pere ran 100 yards for a score in 1899 (The field at that time was 110-yards long). Among the newly created categories is the season leaders by class…the most yards by a freshman, sophomore, etc. This is only in the 11-player record book for now, but I’ll be working on it for the 8-player for next time.
8-Player Stats
Several quarterbacks made some noise this past season. Jared Kaufman of Three Lakes/Phelps tossed for 5,071 career yards and ran for 1,879 more for a career total of 6,950 and 103 total scores, both career totals are all-time 8-player records. Another one was Denzel Sutton of Thorp who passed for 1,823 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 1,178 yards and 18 more scores. 3,001 total yards.
Among some of the top quarterbacks are four additional to note. Moving up the career passing charts is junior Grant Smiskey of Chippewa Falls McDonell who in three seasons has 4,697 yards and 54 touchdowns and he has one more season to go. He has only run for 305 career yards but has crossed the goal line 14 times. Jesse DeBauch of Gillett also has one more season to go and has 4,025 career yards. Jared Schultz of Northwood/Solon Springs has piled up a lot of yards. In 2023 he passed for 1,323 yards and ran for 1,695. He led the state in rushing this past year. So far, after two seasons and one more to go Jared has 2,730 yards passing and 2,947 yards on the ground for 5,677. He has thrown for 36 td’s and run for 43 with more coming next year. Junior Braden Kita of Gibraltar had a big game against Wausaukee where he threw for 461 yards and seven touchdowns. He also was a junior and has 2,452 career passing yards and 43 touchdowns and has run for 957 yards and 14 more touchdowns. Look for good things for these players in 2025.
Brock Naesson of Shell Lake had a great season as the junior carried the ball only 118 times for 1,559 yards, a 13.2 average (#6 on the single season rushing average list). He scored 30 rushing touchdowns. Against Northwoods/Solon Springs in the season opener he carried the ball 24 times for 366 yards, 14th best in single game rushing and eight touchdowns plus 2 2-pt. conversions for 52 points, tied for #4 on the single game scoring list. Naesson led the state with his 30 touchdowns and 11 2-pt conversions for 204 points.
Tryg Mollman of Phillips only carried the ball 59 times in eight games, but he made the most of it. He gained 1,308 yards, scored 23 times for a 22.2 average, a state record for a season with a back gaining 1,000+ in a season. In the season finale he ran for 298 yards on 13 carries for seven touchdowns, caught two 2-pt. conversions for 46 points. The #2 scoring game of the season which places him #6 on the 8-player single game scoring list.
Hunter Sabel of Oakfield scored 18 2-pt. conversions and Andrew Frederick of Bruce scored 17 conversions for 5th and 6th place on the single season 2-pt conversion list. Frederick finished with 31 career conversions for 2nd place on the all-time list and Sabel ended with 30 career conversions tied for 3rd place. Jared Kaufman of Three Lakes/Phelps also ended with 31 career 2-pt. conversions and ties Frederick for 2nd place. Junior Wyatt Fay of Algoma didn’t put up huge reception numbers or yards, but he was very efficient when it came to hauling in 2-pt conversions. Wyatt only caught 17 passes for 126 yards and no touchdowns, but he hauled in a 8-player season high of 12 conversions. Speaking of receiving Braden Sitte of Gibraltar caught 63 passes (9th all-time) for 1,241 yards (4th all-time) and 21 touchdowns. Ayden Phillips of Almond-Bancroft led the state in receptions with 73, good for 3rd (Tied) all-time.
One of WisSports top 100 2024 seniors is an 8-player star, Tyler Janikowski of Three Lakes/Phelps who only played ball briefly in 2020 and then a full season in 2023. But what a season he had in 2023 and he is now in the record book more than any other individual in either the 11-player or the 8-playerrecord book. 19 total notations.
Receiving:
Single Game receiving Yards: vs. White Lake/Echo he caught 5 passes for 219 yards (27th) and 5 scores
Single Game: Touchdowns Caught: 5 (Tied for 3rd)
Single Season Receptions: 60 (Tied for 9th)
Single Season Receiving Yards: 1,419 (2nd)
Most TD’S receiving in a Season: 26 (1st)
Receiving: Career Receptions: 60 (21st)
Career Receiving Yards: 1,419 (15th)
Career Receiving Touchdowns: 26 (Tied for 8th)
Individual Receiving Yardage Leader by Season: 2023 leader with 1,419 yards.
Interceptions:
Most Interceptions in a Game: 3 (Tied for 2nd)
Moist Interception Yards in a Game: 164 yards (1st)
Moist Interceptions returned for a Touchdown in a Game: 2 (1st)
Most Interceptions in a Season: 12 (1st)
Most Interception Yards in a Season: 419 yards (1st)
Most Interceptions returned for a Touchdown in a Season: 4 (Tied for 2nd)
Most Interceptions in a Career: 14 (2nd)
Most Interception Yards in a Career: 501 yards (1st)
Most Interceptions returned for a Touchdown in a Career: 5 (1st) (1 in 2020 and 4 in 2023)
Longest Return of an Interception: 103-yards (Vs. Wild Rose)
Luke Lawton of Flambeau had a great season as he set the single game tackles record with 34 against Siren. He also had games of 21 and 20 and now has three of the top single game efforts.
There are lots of new listings and the records will be posted soon so check them out… State Records (wifca.org). Thanks.