Passini plays hero for Middleton
Patrick Passini couldn’t move his right arm laterally.
He borrowed a brace from an injured teammate to help with the stability — as well as the pain.
And for most of the night, in one of the biggest games of his life, Passini played with just one arm.
Imagine what he could have done with two!
Passini, a senior cornerback for Middleton’s football team, had a night for the ages last Saturday. Passini, a one-armed bandit in this game, had three interceptions, returned one for a touchdown and lifted the host Cardinals to a 23-14 win over perennial power Verona.
Passini dislocated his shoulder on Verona’s second offensive series. But the medical staff popped it back in, then Passini iced it up, found a brace, and came back to record one of the more memorable performances in school history.
“My arm doesn't go up a lot right now,” Passini said afterwards. “So it was hard playing with this. But I just iced it, and I just had to tell a trainer, I'm playing in this game.”
Fortunately for the Cardinals he did.
It’s believed this is the first time a Middleton player has recorded three interceptions in a single game in at least 30 years.
And Passini’s heroics helped the Cardinals accomplish two things.
First, Middleton improved to 5-1 overall and moved into first place in the Big Eight Conference at 4-0. Verona fell to 3-3, 3-1.
The Cardinals, who are chasing their first conference title since 2015, also defeated Verona for the first time since 2021. Not only had the Wildcats dominated this rivalry in recent years, Verona also used it as a springboard to win three straight Big 8 titles.
“We haven't won this game in four years,” said MHS standout linebacker Tyler Vogt, who led the Cardinals with seven tackles and a tackle for loss. “I haven’t beat them since back to freshman year. It's definitely not just another game, so this was huge.”
Fortunately for the Cardinals, they had Passini on their side.
On just the second play of the game, Passini showed that this could be a special night.
Passini jumped a quick hitch intended for Verona standout receiver Jackson Connor and intercepted Verona quarterback Landon Lassahn at the Wildcats’ 32-yard line. There was no one between Passini and the endzone, and the standout corner raced to paydirt to give Middleton a 7-0 lead just 48 seconds into the game.
“I know they like hitches, like comebacks, and we were sure prepared,” Passini said. “It was remarkable. I mean, I don't think I've ever had that experience ever in my life, and I think it's one of the best I've ever had.”
Passini was just getting started.
Early in the fourth quarter, with Middleton clinging to a 20-14 lead, Verona faced a fourth-and-8 from the Cardinals’ 43. Passini, playing the “field” corner, was left alone on the wide side with the dangerous Connor.
No. 2 quarterback Emmitt Vukobrat, who entered the game after Lassahn was injured late in the first half, underthrew his pass for Connor and Passini intercepted again. Passini then returned the pick 47 yards from the MHS 33 to the Verona 20.
“I saw the quarterback's eyes move to (Connor) and I just ran right under it and was able to get there,” Passini said. “I was on an island multiple times, but I think the defense put trust in me and I put trust in them.”
With good reason.
Passini, who also plays hockey and lacrosse, showed his toughness by battling through injury. He also displayed his tremendous skill by making a bevy of enormous plays.
“He's got a lot of confidence in himself and in our scheme,” Middleton co-coach Tim Simon said of Passini. “And you know, he just let his talent take over.”
Passini’s second interception led to a Middleton field goal that gave the Cardinals a 23-14 lead with 6:14 left.
Then, Passini might have saved his best for last.
With just under 5 minutes left, the 5-foot-9 Passini was again left on an island with the 6-foot-4 Connor. Vukobrat threw a jump ball for Connor, but amazingly, Passini went up and stole it, then secured the ball with his left arm — which on this night was his good arm.
“After the second pick, I went over to Patrick and I go, ‘Patrick, you are so amazing,’ ” Vogt said. “Then, he gets a third one and I ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. I was like, ‘Pat, what is going on with you tonight.’ It was incredible.”
Quarterback Joey Passaglia was left speechless by Passini’s enormous night.
“I mean, I don't even know what to say,” Passaglia said. “I don't have words, just unbelievably awesome. He did an awesome job.”
Passini’s night was so impressive that Middleton defensive end/running back Reed Falk lost track of how many interceptions his teammate had.
“It was three? Three?” Falk said. “That's insane. That's definitely going to make the coaches happy, yeah.”
There was a lot to be happy about on this night for the Cardinals.
Passaglia, one of the state’s top quarterbacks, was sharp throughout, completing 22-of-28 passes for 183 yards. Verona did a terrific job taking away the deep ball, so Passaglia picked apart the Wildcats with short- and intermediate passes.
“This whole week, me and my coaches thought we could take advantage of the short stuff,” Passaglia said. “It helped us with our run game and all of our other stuff, marching it down the field. We had some long drives and took advantage of that.”
Middleton’s run game certainly wasn’t dynamic. But the Cardinals did enough to keep the Wildcats honest, rushing for 108 yards on 34 carries ( 3.2 average).
And Middleton’s defense, which allowed a pair of touchdowns late in the first half, held Verona to just two first downs and 47 total yards in the second half.
“Everyone knew that this week's practice needed to be perfect,” Falk said. “Everyone needed to do their job, and I think everyone did their part to make this win happen, which is great for the team.”
After Passini’s early pick-six and a Verona punt, the Cardinals took over at their own 8-yard line and put together their best drive of the night.
Middleton marched 92 yards in 16 plays and capped the 8-minute drive with a 1-yard TD run from Falk. The drive featured everything from tremendous execution to trickery.
It started when senior punter Jackson Guerrero ran for 10 yards and a first down on a fake punt from his own 12-yard line. Passaglia hit running back Elijah Jackson for 31- and 11 yard gains to the Verona 1-yard line.
The Cardinals then brought in their ‘Animal’ package and Falk finished the impressive march with a 1-yard TD run off left guard on the first play of the second quarter that gave Middleton a 14-0 lead.
Falk, a running back in middle school and as a freshman, moved to defense full-time as a sophomore last season. But with Jackson battling an injury, Falk has given the Cardinals’ backfield a lift in recent weeks.
“I'm more of the guy if we need like three or four yards,” Falk said. “If we need that, yeah, they can put me in and I think I can almost guarantee I can get that three or four yards.”
Verona answered with a 39-yard TD pass from Lassahn to Connor with 4:58 left in the first half that pulled the Wildcats within 14-7. Connor came right to left on the play, got behind the secondary and Lassahn hit him in stride.
Then after a Middleton punt, the Wildcats put together an 84-yard TD march and tied things just before halftime.
Lassahn was injured on the drive, but on Vukobrat’s first pass, he hit Connor for a 19-yard TD with 33 seconds left in the half to tie things, 14-14.
“I wasn’t worried at all,” Vogt said. “We just talked about playing together and playing our game and we did that.”
They sure did.
Middleton reclaimed the lead with a methodical 10-play, 56-yard drive that Passaglia capped with a 1-yard TD plunge on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Cardinals’ longest gain on the drive was 11 yards on a pass to Chase Rogers, but they went 2-for-2 on third downs.
The extra point attempt failed, though, and the Cardinals’ lead was a tenuous 20-14.
With Passini on their side, though, that lead was more than enough.
“I really thought they weren't going to pass my way after a while,” Passini said. “But like they kept testing me and they found out what happens.”
Now Middleton is in control of the Big Eight race and slayed its main rival for the first time in four seasons.
“We didn't have to point out how big this game was,” Simon said. “We weren't hiding from the fact that it was a big game. Obviously, they knew it, right? We didn't ignore that. We addressed it, and we said we still have to just get better.”
They did, which means the Cardinals can now capture their first conference title in a decade with season-ending wins against Madison East (0-6), Madison La Follette (2-4) and Madison West (4-2).
“I love these boys,” Passaglia said. “Like, we just love each other as a team.
“It was just a killer attitude all the way through. We were like, this is our field. We're winning on our field. We're going to win this week.”
As the Cardinals celebrated afterwards, Vogt reflected back on a demanding offseason, and pointed to those long, laborious months as a major reason why Middleton was reveling in the fun late Saturday night.
“We were all here every morning,” Vogt said. “We call it common sweat, as in sweating our butts off, working hard. You know, when you share that common sweat with your brothers and it turns out to be positive like this, that’s something else. That’s why we were able to get this win.”
That — and a magical night from Passini.
Sept. 26
Middleton 23, Verona 14
Verona .............. 0 14 0 0 — 14
Middleton ........ 7 7 0 9 — 23
Mid — Patrick Passini, 32, INT return (Luke Sheehan kick)
Mid — Reed Falk, 1, run (kick failed)
Verona — Jackson Connor, 39, pass from Landon Lassahn (Evan Bartell kick)
Verona — Jackson Connor, 19, Emmitt Vukobrat (Bartell kick)
Mid — Joey Passaglia, 1, run (kick failed)
Mid — FG, Luke Sheehan, 20
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: M 16, V 9. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — V 21-71, Mid 34-108. Passing yards — V 184, Mid 183. Passing (Comp.-Att.-Int.) — V 11-22-2, Mid 22-28-0. Fumbles-lost – V 0-0, Mid 0-0. Penalties-Yds. — V 5-39, M 7-65.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing (Att.-Yds) — V: Austin Perez 9-29, Jax Wepking 7-21, Landon Lassahn 4-12, Emmitt Vukobrat 1-9. Mid: Elijah Jackson 12-49, Reed Falk 11-33, Joey Passaglia 10-16, Jackson Guerrero 1-10.
Passing (Att.-Comp.-TD-Int.-Yds) -- V: Landon Lassahn 8-13-1-1-138, Emmitt Vukobrat 2-9-1-2-46. Mid: Joey Passaglia 22-28-0-183.
Receiving (Rec.-Yds.) -- V: Jackson Connor 4-82, Dejon Knutson 3-62, Ben Erdman 2-25, Jax Wepking 2-15. Mid: Jackson Guerrero 5-50, Reed Falk 2-16, Chase Rogers 11-59, Elijah Jackson 4-63.
