Football Cardinals receive No. 5 seed
If Middleton’s football team hopes to make a deep playoff run, they’ll have to be road warriors.
The Cardinals received a No. 5 seed — lower than many projected — and will face fourth-seeded Milwaukee Marshall for a WIAA Division 1 first round playoff game Friday at 7 p.m. at Milwaukee Custer Stadium.
Middleton, which defeated Madison East, 52-20 in its season finale on Oct. 14, finished the regular season 6-3 overall and took second place in the Big Eight Conference at 6-1.
The Cardinals had identical records in both the league and overall last year and received a No. 3 seed. Middleton then won a pair of playoff games and advanced to Level 3 of the postseason.
This time, though, the WIAA gave Middleton a No. 5 seed, meaning the Cardinals won’t have a home game unless there are upsets throughout the bracket.
“I’m surprised. We were all surprised,” Middleton coach Jason Pertzborn said. “I feel kind of bad because I told the kids (before the seeding) that they’d probably have a home game.
“Officially, we have a 1-0 mindset now. Nothing else matters.”
The WIAA began using computerized seeding for the playoffs in 2021, going to an electronic auto-seeding format instead of having coaches meeting to vote.
Among the criteria the formula considered included win percentage, opponent win percentage, defeated opponent win percentage and defeated opponents’ opponent's win percentage. What percentage each of those variables accounted for, though, is unclear.
The WIAA also included historical conference playoff win percentage, historical team playoff win percentage and strength of loss game value, all of which takes into account each of the previous three seasons.
But there were several inexplicable seeds across the state, including Middleton’s.
Waunakee was the No. 1 seed in the bracket, followed by Neenah, Kimberly, Milwaukee Marshall, Middleton, Fond du Lac, Brookfield East and Sheboygan North.
If Middleton wins at Marshall (6-3), it would likely travel to top-seeded Waunakee (9-0) on Oct. 28 for a Level 2 game. Those teams met in Week 2 and the Warriors emerged with a 17-14 win.
Middleton was optimistic it would receive a first round home game after playing the toughest non-conference schedule in the state.
Both Bay Port and Waunakee — teams that defeated the Cardinals in non-conference games — finished the regular season with unbeaten records and earned No. 1 seeds in Division 1. Middleton’s other loss came to Big Eight Conference champion Verona (8-1), which received a No. 2 seed.
Although Bay Port defeated Middleton handily in Week 1, 38-21, the Cardinals played both Verona and Waunakee within one score. But Middleton clearly wasn’t rewarded for its meat-grinder of a schedule when it came to postseason seedings.
“Playing those teams got us prepared for the type of competition we’ll see in the playoffs,” Pertzborn said. “But it definitely didn't help us with our seed. If anything, it hurt us.”
Another head scratcher came when the WIAA gave Madison Memorial a No. 4 seed — one spot higher than the Cardinals.
Middleton routed the Spartans, 45-21, in Week 5 and finished ahead of Madison Memorial in the Big Eight. Yet somehow, someway, the Spartans will be playing at home in Level 1 and Middleton will be making the 90-mile trek to Milwaukee Marshall.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Pertzborn said. “There’s definitely a problem with whatever algorithm they’re using.”
Marshall went 6-1 in the Richardson Division of the Milwaukee City Conference and tied for first place in its league. But the Eagles lost their two non-conference games to Greendale and Racine Horlick by a combined score of 90-6.
So the good news for the Cardinals is even though they have to travel to Milwaukee, they’ll be heavy favorites.
“Maybe,” Pertzborn said. “But we should have definitely had a home game.”
Instead, the Cardinals’ final home game of 2022 likely came last Friday during their win over Madison East (0-9, 0-7).
Junior Bryce Falk continued his brilliant season with 14 carries for 131 yards and four touchdowns. Junior quarterback Gabe Passini threw two touchdowns and completed five of seven passes for 100 yards.
Carter Kadow and Dayton Devine both had touchdown grabs. And while Middleton didn't play its best game of the year, it was plenty good to roll past the Purgolders.
“I thought we played well,” Pertzborn said. “Homecoming week is always full of distractions and craziness and there’s always stuff going on. So it’s kind of a grinder of a week.
“We were a little flat from the start, but I saw a lot of good things. I was pretty pleased with what we did.”
Now, Pertzborn and the Cardinals hope they’re just as pleased late Friday night after their first round playoff game concludes.
“We know we’re good enough to go win each week now,” Pertzborn said. “We’re battle- tested and we know we can play with these teams.
“We’re a different team today than we were at the start of the year. The goal all along was to get to Camp Randall (for the state finals) and that’s still the goal. So we’ll start going after it Friday.”
Oct. 7
Middleton 52, Madison East 20
Madison East ………. 0 7 6 7 — 20
Middleton …………. 14 14 16 8 — 52
M – Bryce Falk, 11, run (Owen Halverson kick)
M – Falk, 9, run (Halverson kick)
ME — Aiden Tuinstra, 9, pass from Damien Hansbro (kick was good)
M – Carter Kadow, 30, pass from Gabe Passini (Halverson kick)
M – Falk, 9, run (Halverson kick)
ME — Demond Laongeon, 18, pass from Hansbro (kick failed)
M — Dayton Devine, 50, pass from Passini (Passini run)
M – Falk, 32, run (Wenning run)
ME — Tucker, 73, pass from Hansbro (kick was good)
M — Tyler Mayhew, 5, run (Teff run)
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – M 8, ME 9. Rushing (Att-Yds) – M 23-192, ME 26-30. Passing yards – M 89, ME 126. Passing (Att.-Comp.-Int.) – M 11-5-1. ME 20-11-1. Total plays-yards – M – 34-281, ME – 37-156. Fumbles-lost – M 0-0, ME 0-0.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: M – Bryce Falk 14-131. ME – Demond Laongeon 10-30. Passing: M – Gabe Passini 7-5-1, Troy Teff 4-0-0. ME – Damien Hansbro 20-11-1. Receiving: M – Dayton Devine 1-50, Carter Kadow 1-30. ME – Aiden Tuinstra 4-28.
