Cubans roll Norse in playoff opener

The Whitehall football team went on a run to qualify for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs, but their season ended last Friday in Level One against Cuba City.

Whitehall won its last four games to qualify for the playoffs and were awarded the sixth seed. The matchup, however, was a balanced Cuba City team that came into the game with a 7-2 record and took control in the first half before winning 42-8.

The loss put Whitehall’s final regular season record at 5-4. They entered the season with hopes of winning the Dairyland Conference, but COVID-19 factors and some quality opponents had them at 0-3 in DC play. They rallied to get into the playoffs, but that’s as far as they managed.

Cuba City will go on to host (7) Lancaster, which upset (2) Onalaska Luther, 26-16, in the playoffs. 

Cuba City 42 Whitehall 8

The Cubans ran down the field and passed to score touchdowns as they took a big lead early.

Cuba City’s first touchdown was a nine-yard run by Chase Barth and the point after put them ahead 7-0 two minutes into the game.

Whitehall’s defense held for the rest of the first quarter and the beginning of the second before Cuba City took control with three touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the first half.

Beau Kopp hit Carter Olson for a 16-yard touchdown before the point after made the score 14-0. The duo hooked up again about two minutes later, this time for a 39-yard touchdown that, with the point after, made the score 21-0.

As Whitehall’s offense struggled to get momentum, Cuba City’s took over the game as Kopp and Olson connected for a third time in the quarter for a 43-yard touchdown pass. The point after made the score 28-0 with 1:47 left in the first half.

Kopp and Olson made it four touchdowns early in the third quarter as a 25-yard strike helped put the Cubans ahead 35-0 with 9:32 left in the third.

Cuba City’s last score came after a promising Whitehall drive ended with a fumble. Carter Niles scooped up the loose ball and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown. The point after made the score 42-0 with 5:28 remaining.

Whitehall’s offense finally got going on the next possession as Jonathan Thorn broke free for a 38-yard touchdown run. Aidan Sonsalla passed to Isaac Skoyen for the two-point conversion.

Kopp completed eight of 13 passes for the Cubans, four of which were touchdowns to Olson. The four touchdowns were the only catches Olson had as he managed 123 yards.

The Cubans controlled the game on the ground, rushing for 235 yards. Barth had 138 yards on 13 carries and Cael Donar added 74 on 11 rushes as they averaged 7.8 yards per carry.

                         WHS          CC

Rushing            33/119     30/235

Passing             17/119     13/171

Total                   50/238    43/406

Whitehall — 

Rushing (att./yds.) — Thorn 13/54 Kleinhans 8/34 Skoyen 3/26 McCune 3/23 Sonsalla 6/-18

Receiving (rec./yds.) — McCune 4/66 Kulig 2/34 Thorn 1/22 Skoyen 1/-3

Passing (comp./att./yds.) — Sonsalla 7/14/101 McCune 1/3/18