Bay Port secures first ever Division One State Title

The Bay Port Pirates broke free early and never looked back, leaning on their toughness and resilience to claim their first ever state title Friday evening in Madison by defeating the Muskego Warriors 25-18.

 “This is a beautiful team, a beautiful group of coaches, this community of support,” said Pirate Head Coach Steven Jorgensen. “They have wanted this for a long time, we are very happy we were able to get it done today.”

This long season has seen the Pirates prove themselves through trials and tribulations that a lesser team may have not recovered from. But through it all the Pirates have managed to navigate the rough waters of Div. 1 football and finally prove to the world that the Pirates belong amongst the best teams in the state.

“Resilient, resilient, never wavering at all,” said Jorgensen about his team's spirit. “Always keeping their eyes on the prize, even though it was tough, and man we looked bad at times this season. But they took the coaching and we pushed them hard and sometimes it was really hard for them, there is no doubt about that. But they all just kept saying keep coaching us, keep pushing us and they were always resilient, and today they got their prize.”

In his inaugural season as Captain of the Bay Port ship, Head Coach Steven Jorgensen has rallied one tough group of pirates to his crew, and the Warriors of Muskego were left without any gold as the Pirates sailed off into the sunset with the Div. 1 state title ball.

From the get go Bay Port seized the momentum an unleashed a salvo with their most dangerous weapon. On the very first play of the game running back Brady Moon took the handoff and made a cut and saw nothing but daylight as he dashed down field with Warriors on heels. The Warriors weren’t fast enough to catch him, as he went to the house for the 80-yard TD rush and the early lead 7-0.

“I was just so excited,” said Brady Moon about his opening play TD. “Coming into this game I had so much confidence in this team. Even though everyone has doubting us believing we couldn’t get here I just had so much confidence in this team and it was showcased on that play.”

When asked how he felt after Moon’s shocking opening run Jorgensen said, “Joy and happiness, we just believed we could do that. We knew that was a great defense, just looking up there Moon had 241 yards. Everyone always talks about Muskego’s defense being the best in the state, and I tip my hat, they are great, there is no doubt about that. But we believe we are the best offense and have the best offensive line in the state. And I felt like we showed that tonight.”

The Pirates improved that lead a short while later when Moon finished a drive with a four yard goal line breaking jaunt. Increasing the Lead to 14-0.

The Pirate defense got a chance to chip in to the lead near the end of the second quarter. After backing the warriors up with an excellent punt that forced them to start their drive on their own one yard line, the defense held its ground eventually generating a sack for a safety. That safety sack was registered by Max Romenesko after which the score was 16-0.

Just before the end of the half the Pirates’ Beckett Koerten hit a 19 yard field to give the Pirates a first half shut out 19-0.

After the intermission Muskego returned to the field with renewed vigor and proved why they were a state semi finalist. On their first possession of the half they were able to dive the length of the field with some long passing gains. One of which was a 48 yard TD pass from Joey Shaw to Jackson Niemiec. After the TD the Warriors converted their two point conversion, narrowing the lead to 19-8.

Bay Port responded on their ensuing offensive possession with another huge Moon TD run. This time from 67 yards out giving Bay Port the 25-8 lead.

Muskego staged a late game comeback that saw them score on a Niemiec 28-yard rushing TD before kicking a successful onside kick.

The second chance possession generated by the onside kick was stopped in its tracks by the tough Pirate defensive front. But with 3:59 left, the Warriors scored again, this time off a Gabe Walden 33-yard field goal. After the field goal Muskego trailed 25-18.

It all boiled down to a last minute defensive stand by the Pirates as the Warriors had less than two minutes to even the score. Again the Pirates’ defense said no and turned the ball over on downs. After gaining possession the Pirates worked their way forward burning up the rest of the clock and claiming the victory and the D1 title.

When asked about Muskego refusing to give up Jorgensen responded, “Champions don’t die, you can expect that with a championship game, they want it as bad as you do. I know that program works their tail off. They are champions for a reason, and champions don’t die. We had to find a way to take this one away from them and find a way at the end to get that stop, and how fitting that our defense, which has come a long way, found a way to get that stop. What a beautiful finish.”

On the day the Pirates amassed 397 total yards of offense, of which 325 were gained on the ground. Most of those yards were amassed by Moon as he carried the ball 24 times for 241 yards and three TDs. Matt Stevens posted 70 yards on 15 carries.

Through the air Stevens passed his way to 82 yards on a seven of nine showing at QB. Moon caught two passes for 29 yards while Sawyer Torp posted 23 yards on two catches. Anthony LeFebre added up 17 yards on two catches.

Muskego was held to 203 yards on the day. Over the first half the Bay Port defense stopped the Warriors multiple time leaving them with only 22 first half yards.

The warriors Niemiec posted 56 yards on eight carries while Jack Labisch had 36 yards on 15 carries. Through the air Joey Shaw completed five of his 15 passes for 86 yards and one TD. Niemiec pulled down one pass for 48 yards and one TD.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Moon about him and his friends getting to stamp their names on the first ever Bay Port State Football Title. “I’m just speechless right now. I’m just so grateful of all my teammates. I love all of them, I love all the coaches. I want to thank God for this opportunity and getting to make the most of it... It has been amazing. Every week just getting to play with my best friends, there’s nothing better than that.”