‘I’m proud’

Friday’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Level One playoff game at Cashton High School would have been a tough test for any football team in Division Seven.

Blair-Taylor coach Andy Nehring let tears well up in his eyes as he hugged his players after the game, one that saw Nehring’s eighth-seeded Wildcats push the No. 1 team in the state to the brink before Cashton held on for a 48-22 win. 

“I told them thank you,” Nehring said of his postgame speech to his team. “It’s hard to…. I’m a dad. It’s my son’s last game. It’s our last kid, his last game. I’m proud of all of them. I’ve known them since they were (motions to the ground) that tall. It’s hard. I’m proud of them.”

The Wildcats shocked the Cashton crowd in the opening drive on Friday, utilizing a pair of long passing plays — including a leaping 22-yard grab in the end zone from sophomore wide receiver CJ Dummer — to claim an 8-0 lead. 

Dummer and Blair-Taylor quarterback Tavian Shramek found each other often on Friday, as the pair combined for seven catches and 86 yards on a night that Shramek, a junior, threw for 280 yards.

Cashton showed why they are one of the strongest teams in Wisconsin after conceding the early lead. The top-seeded Eagles scored two straight touchdowns and appeared to have the momentum back in the second quarter, but Blair-Taylor surprised the hosts again late in the first half. 

This time it was Ethan Kniseley, who turned a screen pass on 4th-and-15 into a 21-yard gain and a first down. The Blair-Taylor junior scored two plays later to tie the game at 14 with 3:46 left in the first half.

Kniseley was busy on Friday. He led Blair-Taylor with 12 catches for 149 yards and continuously beat Cashton’s cornerbacks on deep routes.

Cashton took a 22-14 lead into halftime thanks to a quick score in the final minutes before the break and outscored the Wildcats 26-8 in the second half to hold on for a win. Brett Hemmersbach finished with 225 yards and two scores on the ground for the hosts, and teammate Ethan Klinkner had 100 rushing yards and two more scores.

DaVonne Turner led the Wildcats on defense with a sack, also tying with Jacob Truschka for the team lead in tackles with nine. 

Blair-Taylor ended the game in the red zone, nearly hitting the 30-point mark—the Wildcats’ 22 points combined for more offensive production than Cashton had allowed all season before Friday. 

Friday ended with a loss, but Nehring said his team overcame a lot this season, including an 0-3 start to its schedule. 

“It’s a reflection of who they are and the character they have. We started the season 0-3 and we got shellacked 0-3. We won five of our last six games because they believe in each other and the process. And we know that we can play football, we know that Cashton is a very, very good team. We’re proud of our kids and how they played today.”

Senior Jackson Shramek had the final touchdown for Blair-Taylor, which ended with 430 yards of total offense—also a season high against the Eagles. 

Blair-Taylor’s season ends with a 5-5 record. Despite ending on a round one loss, all the tears from Blair-Taylor on Friday were shed with pride, not disappointment. 

“We brought back two starters from last year, one of which couldn’t play basically because he rolled his ankle, so we had one kid coming back from our playoff game last year and that was (Kniseley). We had a totally new defense and a totally new offense,” Nehring said.

“That’s just a picture of their character and they were willing to work. We were willing to overcome all of the growing pains of a completely new team, basically. And I hope we gained people’s respect by what we did tonight.”

B-T—

Rushing (att./yds.)—T. Shramek 28/115, Kniseley 10/15, J. Shramek 5/12, Turner 1/8.

Receiving (rec./yds.)—Kniseley 12/149, Dummer 7/86, Kelly 3/31, Turner 3/14.

Passing (comp./att./yds.)—T. Shramek 24/36/280.

Tackles (solo/total)—Turner 6/9, Truschka 5/9, Wagner 2/6, Lien 4/5, T. Shramek 3/3, Kling 2/3, Nehring 2/2, Kniseley 2/2, Kelly 1/2, Paulson 1/1, Trapp 0/1, Jahr 0/1.