The Oakfield Oaks and Gilman Pirates will face off for a trip to the WIAA 8-Player State Championship Game on Friday. We give you a preview of both teams heading into that game.
Oakfield Oaks
10-1 1st place in the Southest-8 Conference
Playoff Wins 55-0 vs Williams Bay, 32-26 vs Belmont, 38-0 vs Sevastopol
Losses: 34-22 vs Algoma
The Oakfield Oaks are looking to punch their first ticket to the WIAA 8-Player State Championship and their first football championship game appearance since 1988. The Oaks are appearing in their second 8-player state semifinal. The last time Oakfield made it this far was 2023, when they lost to Florence.
Oakfield presents a balanced attack with both a 1000-yard passer and a 1000-yard rusher. Austin Harmsen leads the passing attack, completing 65.6% of his passes for 1470 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. His primary target is Brayden Glugla, who has caught 39 passes for 843 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Lennon Rauls leads the rushing attack with 1031 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. James Kautzer will get carries as well, rushing for 383 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Gilman Pirates
11-0 1st place in the North Central East-8 Conference
Playoff Wins: 66-0 vs Siren, 55-8 vs Owen-Withee, 36-0 vs North Crawford
Losses: None
The Gilman Pirates are also looking to punch their first ticket to the WIAA 8-Player State Championship Game. The Pirates have 3 11-player state football titles in 4 trips to the championship game, the last title coming in 2010. Gilman’s last trip to the state semifinals was in 2021 when they lost to eventual champion Newman Catholic.
The Gilman Pirates are led by a very balanced rushing attack with 8 different players with at least 140 yards and 4 different players with double-digit touchdowns. This stable of rushers is led by Tony Syryczuk, who has run for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns; quarterback Logan Halida has run for 527 yards and 14 touchdowns, and fullback Kolby Keepers has run for 536 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Pirates do not put the ball in the air much, but when they do, they are successful as well, with quarterback Logan Halida completing 71.1% of his passes for 629 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. His primary target this year has been Sawyer Winger with 12 catches for 198 yards and 4 touchdowns.
You can watch Oakfield and Gilman battle for a trip to the WIAA 8-Player State Football Championships live here:
