After a disappointing 17-0 shutout loss to Reedsville in the Division 7 State Championship game last season, Coleman came out swinging. The Cougars are an impressive 9-0 and dominated everyone who stepped in-front of them in conference play. Coleman is once again the Northwoods Conference Champions.
The Northwoods Conference has plenty of credible opponents. Crivitz is a Division 6 squad that has a 7-2 overall record and drew a #3 seed in the Division 6 playoffs. Coleman beat Crivitz in the first conference game of the year, 28-6. It’s hard to believe, but that 22-point margin of victory was the closest game Coleman had in the conference. Some of their other wins included a 64-6 blowout over Northland Pines, a 36-0 shutout against Tomahawk, and impressive set of wins over two of the conference’s best teams: Clintonville (42-16) and Crandon (36-12).
3000+ Rushing Yards
Coleman runs the ball, and they run it very well. This is a team that only has 207 passing yards on the season. Teams know what Coleman is going to do, but they still can’t stop them. Oddly enough, in Coleman’s loss to Reedsville in the State Championship game last season, Reedsville didn’t throw the ball a single time. They did to Coleman what Coleman is doing to teams this season.
Last season, Coleman finished with a total of 4928 yards on the ground. They were a 15-1 powerhouse led by Owen Kinzinger and Will Bieber. Coleman returned all four of their top running backs, and those four combined for 3727 of those nearly 5000 yards. Here in 2022, things are a bit different.
Peter Kuchta, who finished third in rushing last season with 562 yards, leads the 2022 season with 68 carries and 707 yards. He’s the only back with over 600 on the season, and he’s got seven touchdowns as well. Ten is the number of touchdowns that Owen Kinzinger has which leads the team. It’s no surprise to see Kinzinger lead in that category as he had a stellar 19 touchdowns last season with 1636 rushing yards. Kinzinger is currently third on the team with 468 yards, however, he leads with an average of 93.6 yards per carry.
Three Coleman Cougars average more than ten yards per carry. That’s an astonishing number to consider when they all have more than 27 attempts on the year. Kutcha and Bieber both have 50+ attempts and their yards per carry still are north of ten.
Eight different players have a rushing touchdown this season, seven of which have three or more. There are seven different Cougars who have 200+ rushing yards on the season. This is one of the most balanced football teams in a long, long time. They have so many different weapons that can strike at any given time.
Both Sides of the Ball
The craziest thing is these guys are playing both sides of the ball. In the lower division schools, that’s the name of the game. The aforementioned Peter Kuchta easily leads the team with 71 total tackles this season, 31 of which are solo tackles which is also good for first place. Will Bieber is right behind with 27 solo tackles, and he finds himself in third with 45 total tackles.
Sawyer Seefeldt, one of the few names without a rushing touchdown on the season, leads the way with ten tackles for loss. Seefeldt is the only Coleman player with more than one sack on the year, and he doesn’t just have more than one, he has six. He’s also one of six players to recover a fumble this season, partly due to Peter Kuchta and his team leading two forced fumbles.
One more name that needs to be brought up is Brady Gross. Brady is second on the team with seven rushing touchdowns, but he leads Coleman with three interceptions. While he’s one of three players to have an interception on the year, the other two, Will Bieber and Micah Kuchta both have pick 6’s.
The Playoffs
Coleman first draws Manawa. That game will take place this Friday, October 21st, at Coleman High School. This’ll be Coleman’s third home game in the past four weeks.
Manawa comes to town with a 5-4 overall record. They struggled in the CWC-Large though, finishing with a 3-4 losing record. Unlike Coleman, Manawa is a much more balanced offense. They have 13 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing. They also come in with just 200 more yards in the air than on the ground. While Manawa technically has won two of their last three games, one of which was a forfeit due to the whole Amherst situation. That forfeit aside, they’ve only won one of their last five even though they started the season 3-1.
With a win, Coleman will either play Cedar Grove-Belgium or Howards Grove. St. Mary Spring’s is the #2 seed on Coleman’s bottom half of the bracket.
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