We asked, you voted, and Notre Dame at Grafton has been selected as the Kwik Trip and Wisconsin Dairy Game of the Week for Level 3 of the high school football season. A total of 6,088 votes were cast, as this one received 1,848 of those votes.
The Kwik Trip & Wisconsin Dairy Game of the Week allows you, the fans, to pick what you feel is the biggest high school football game in the state each week. Not only will that game get featured on WisSports.net, but our WSN staff will make it our destination that week, with updates, photos, videos, and stories from the big game.
And of course, no trip to a big game in Wisconsin would be complete without a stop or two at Kwik Trip and a chocolate milk!!
Notre Dame was ranked number one all year and Grafton spent a good portion of the season in the top three of the Coaches Poll as well, and these are two of the top five teams in D3 by almost any estimation, but meet in Level 3. Grafton is coming off a 35-13 win over Port Washington, while Grafton downed Plymouth 31-21.
Notre Dame is undefeated this season after entering the year number one in our WSN Preseason Rankings for Division 3.
"We are pleased with our performance throughout the regular season," said head coach Mike Rader. "We were consistent and had several players step up throughout the season."
The Tritons played the first two games of the year without the state's leading rusher from a year ago, Christian Collins, but were still able to get impressive non-conference wins over Kaukauna and De Pere. Collins is back from that early injury and certainly made up for lost time, averaging better than 200 yards per game, including an average of 283 yards over the last four games.
Grafton dropped a tough 21-20 decision to Cedarburg to open the year, but has rattled off ten straight wins since then.
"Week 1 was a gut check and probably the best thing that happened for us," said head coach Jim Norris. "From that point forward there has been constant improvement and the mentality to get better each day. We have faced adversity in game situations and understand how to respond in critical situations. I am very proud of this group's blue collar mentality and the ability to attack each day."
These are two of the best teams in Division 3, the two best in my opinion, and this should be an outstanding matchup in the sectional championship.
"We are looking forward to the challenge that comes with playing a good football program deep into the playoffs," added Rader.
"Our mindset is to control what we can control," explained Norris. "Do your job to the best of your ability. Communicate. Out-work and out-effort the opponent each play. Don't overthink, just fly. Both teams can score. Both teams play great defense. The little things will matter."
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