Onalaska comeback falls short, qualify for playoffs anyway

Hilltoppers qualify despite sub-.500 conference record

The seeds are out for the WIAA football playoffs (below) and the biggest surprise comes in the Division 3 pairings where Onalaska High School has qualified for the playoffs.

Teams with an above-.500 record get automatics bids to the playoffs in Wisconsin. Teams with a .500 record must be voted in. Onalaska finished the season 3-4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference after a 42-34 loss Friday.

Despite that, the Hilltoppers are in. Perhaps it was the 34-point second half, after trailing the Rangers 35-0 at halftime.

West Salem also needed a win Friday for a playoff berth and got just that with a 35-0 victory over Central.

Westby, too, needed a win for the playoffs and did so in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion.

With 39 seconds Shane Gran found Jesse Solberg for a 27-yard touchdown, giving Westby a one-point lead and eventually a 30-27 win over Black River Falls.

OTHER SCORES:
Holmen 41, Sparta 12
Tomah 28, Aquinas 20
Viroqua 22, Onalaska Luther 20
Arcadia 41, G-E-T 0
Blair-Taylor 22, Independence/Gilmanton 6
Melrose-Mindoro 41, Whitehall 13
Bangor 63, Necedah 24

PLAYOFF PAIRINGS
Division One
Group A Seeding
Schools: Appleton North, Appleton West, Bay Port, D. C. Everest, Eau Claire Memorial, Green Bay Preble, Kimberly, Stevens Point

Group B Seeding
Schools: Fond du Lac, Marquette, Milwaukee King, Milwaukee Morse-Marshall/Juneau/Languages/Carmen NW, Milwaukee Riverside, Milwaukee Vincent/Destiny, Milwaukee Washington/Science/Collegiate, Neenah

Group C Seeding
Schools: Arrowhead, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Middleton, Oconomowoc, Sun Prairie, Verona

Group D Seeding
Schools: Franklin, Janesville Parker, Kenosha Indian Trail, Milwaukee Bradley/Carmen South, Milwaukee Hamilton, Muskego, Oak Creek, Racine Horlick

Division Two
Group A Seeding
Schools: Ashwaubenon, Chippewa Falls, De Pere, Green Bay Southwest, Hortonville, Menasha, Menomonie, Superior

Group B Seeding
Schools: Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Cedarburg, Germantown, Homestead, Oshkosh North, Slinger, Whitefish Bay

Group C Seeding
Schools: Badger, DeForest, Holmen, Milton, Oregon, Tomah, Watertown, Waunakee

Group D Seeding
Schools: Greendale, Greenfield, Milwaukee Bay View/Lifelong, Union Grove, Waterford, Waukesha West, Wauwatosa West, Wilmot Union

Division Three
Group A Seeding
Schools: Antigo, Hayward/Lac Courte Oreilles, Medford, Merrill, Mosinee, New Richmond, Rice Lake, Waupaca

Group B Seeding
Schools: Luxemburg-Casco, New Berlin Eisenhower, Notre Dame, Plymouth, Seymour, West De Pere, Wisconsin Lutheran, Xavier

Group C Seeding
Schools: Edgewood, Jefferson, La Crosse Logan, Monona Grove, Mount Horeb/Barneveld, Onalaska, Reedsburg, West Salem

Group D Seeding
Schools: Catholic Memorial, Cudahy, Delavan-Darien, Evansville/Albany, Kewaskum, Pewaukee, Saint Francis, Whitnall

Division Four
Group A Seeding
Schools: Altoona, Black River Falls, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, Northwestern, Osceola, Saint Croix Central, Somerset, Tomahawk

Group B Seeding
Schools: Fox Valley Lutheran, Freedom, Kiel, Kohler/Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian, Little Chute, Sheboygan Falls, Two Rivers, Wrightstown

Group C Seeding
Schools: Adams-Friendship, Berlin, Mauston, Montello/Princeton/Green Lake, Nekoosa, Omro, Wautoma, Winneconne

Group D Seeding
Schools: Big Foot, Brodhead/Juda, Columbus, East Troy, Lodi, Platteville, River Valley, Turner

Division Five
Group A Seeding
Schools: Arcadia, Bloomer, Cameron, Durand, Elk Mound, Ladysmith, Saint Croix Falls, Stanley-Boyd

Group B Seeding
Schools: Amherst, Bonduel, Kewaunee, New Holstein, Oostburg, Peshtigo, Southern Door, Winnebago Lutheran

Group C Seeding
Schools: Colby, Lancaster, New Glarus/Monticello, Prairie du Chien, Spencer/Columbus Catholic, Stratford, Waterloo, Westby

Group D Seeding
Schools: Brookfield Academy, Cedar Grove-Belgium, Clinton, Kenosha St. Joseph, Marshall, Racine St. Catherines, Shoreland Lutheran, University School

Division Six
Group A Seeding
Schools: Abbotsford, Chetek-Weyerhaueser, Elmwood/Plum City, Fall Creek, Grantsburg, Mondovi, Regis, Unity

Group B Seeding
Schools: Crandon, Crivitz, Edgar, Iola-Scandinavia, Marathon, Niagara/Goodman/Pembine, Saint Mary’s Springs, Shiocton

Group C Seeding
Schools: Brookwood, Cochrane-Fountain City, Iowa-Grant, Kickapoo/LaFarge, Markesan, Melrose-Mindoro, Pecatonica/Argyle, Whitehall

Group D Seeding
Schools: Cambridge, Cuba City, Darlington, Dodgeland, Lake Country Lutheran, Mineral Point, Ozaukee, Pardeeville

Division Seven
Group A Seeding
Schools: Clayton, Eleva-Strum, Flambeau, Hurley, McDonell Central, Owen-Withee, Pepin/Alma, Spring Valley

Group B Seeding
Schools: Almond-Bancroft, Assumption, Athens, Coleman, Gillett, Hilbert/Stockbridge, Loyal, Port Edwards

Group C Seeding
Schools: Bangor, Cashton, De Soto, Highland, Hillsboro, Ithaca, Weston, Wild Rose

Group D Seeding
Schools: Black Hawk, Cambria-Friesland, Cassville, Catholic Central, Johnson Creek, Potosi, Randolph, Rio