Marquette (12-2) surged in the second half to post a 27-10 victory over previously undefeated Franklin (13-1) in the Division 1 championship game Friday evening.
Both teams were held scoreless until late in the first quarter. The Hilltoppers scored first at 2:44 on a 44-yard pass completion from Peter McDevitt to Cam Russell, and the Sabers came back to tie the score at 7-7 on their ensuing possession. A Joey Kallay-to-Andrew Human pass and catch covered the final 14 yards of an 80-yard drive with 1:37 to play in the period.
Both teams added field goals in the second quarter to head into halftime with the score knotted at 10-10.
Marquette gained control of the game in the second half on a pair of Tommy Novotny touchdown runs. His 1-yard run at 3:26 of the third quarter led to a 17-10 lead, and his 2-yard carry with 10:54 to play in the game expanded Marquette’s lead to 24-10. Erik Schmidt added his second field goal of the game with 3:32 to play to close out the scoring.
Novotny and McDevitt fueled the Hillstoppers’ offense. Novotny rushed for a game-high 167 yards and two touchdowns, and McDevitt completed 11-of-19 passes for 155 yards and a score. Three different receive caught three passes, including Russell, who led the team in receiving yards with 64. On the defense side of the ball, Marquette limited Franklin to three yards rushing in the game, which is the lowest total recorded in a Division 1 championship game. Mitchell Nigro led the team with eight tackles, and Murphy Montreal intercepted a pass with a 31-yard return.
Kallay led the Sabers’ offense by throwing for 220 yards by completing 20-of-36 passes, which is one short of the Division 1 record for both completions and attempts. Jacques Brooks was the leading receiver in the game with eight catches for 100 yards. Defensively, Immanuel Joseph made a game-high 12 tackles and Talan Summers contributed with 10 stops.
The Hilltoppers win their second State championship in as many State final appearances, and Franklin finishes runner-up in its fifth State experience.
The above story is a news release from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
