Pius XI Stuns Greendale

According to Greendale’s website, they have 228 players and 31 coaches in their program and they hold a record-high 28 consecutive game winning streak in the Woodland conference. Greendale finished the season with a 50-7 blowout win and were healthy and ready for the playoffs.

On the other hand, the Popes came limping into this game as they had lost several players in the last 2 conference games of the season due to injury. It took a last minute drive against Kettle Moraine to pull out the game and earn a playoff berth. With only 39 players on the Varsity squad and no JV team, Coach Koch does not have the luxury of backups for some of injured players. As a result, a few players have been asked to play both offense and defense for the first time all year… in the biggest game in many years for the Popes. To make matters worse, the Popes’ NT was injured this week during practice. So Coach Koch had 2 offensive linemen alternate at the NT position throughout the game.

My sources tell me that for the all-conference balloting, Greendale’s Head Coach, Rob Stoltz, submitted comments that this was the best team he has ever coached… even better than his 2006 team that played in the State Championship. He also said that his QB is the best he ever had, his RB is the best he ever had, his WR is the best he ever had, his Kicker is the best he ever had, and his LB is the best he ever had.

The Popes must not have gotten the memo because they weren’t intimidated by Greendale’s impressive lineup. The Popes had played 6 playoff teams during the season and they were battle-tested. The Popes scored on a 78-yd TD run on the second play of the game and led 19-7 by halftime. But Greendale had too much pride to just fade away in the second half and they fought their way back into the game. The Popes offense never really got on track because their QB was hesitant to run the ball due to a painful hip-pointer. Basically, Pius was playing with 10 players on offense. On short critical short-yardage plays, the QB was on the sideline and the RB took the snap from the shotgun position. Defensively, the Pope’s OL-turned-NT did such a good job at penetrating Greendale’s line, he actually created a big hole for Greendale’s RB. That wouldn’t have been a problem if the hole was quickly filled by the LB… but that didn’t happen often enough.

The game came down to a 2-point conversion attempt by Greendale to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Popes called the right defensive play and the NT sacked the QB and basically ended Greendale’s season. Greendale walked off the field stunned by the loss. This was suppose to their year and Pius XI was just a bump in the road to the Camp Randall. But instead of running over a speed bump, Greendale ran right into a brick wall.

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