West Salem, Aquinas roll to state championship games

The top two teams in the Coulee Conference both could be calling themselves state champions by the end of the week.

Neither West Salem nor La Crosse Aquinas had much difficulty advancing to the Wis-consin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championship game last week. 

The Panthers took a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter of their game against Ona-laska in the Division Three Level Three game played at La Crosse Logan on Friday. West Salem broke the game open with three touchdowns in about three minutes of game action as they went on to win 37-14.

With the victory, West Salem avenged its only loss of the season, a 14-13 defeat in the first game of the season. They have since won 12 straight and will play undefeated Monroe in the State Championship Game at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday.

Aquinas is the defending Division Five champions and has a chance for a repeat on Thursday when they play Mayville, a team they defeated 28-26 in the state championship game a year ago. 

The only loss the Blugolds have suffered this season came to West Salem as they scored 20 straight points in the second half to pull away from Kewaunee last Friday in the Level Three game played at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids.

Aquinas led 14-12 at halftime before two scores in the third quarter and another in the fourth put them ahead 34-12. They went on to 2in 44-19.

While they were the third seed in their playoff bracket, Aquinas is the top-ranked team in Division Five, according to the WisSports.net poll. Mayville (13-0) is ranked second and is coming off of a 26-21 win over Prairie du Chien. 

Special Sections

Comment Here