TOMAH, Wis. — A 4-yard touchdown run by Peter Flemming with 2:24 remaining is what sent Central High School’s football team to the playoffs with a 34-32 win over Tomah.
The Red Raiders came into the regular-season finale needing a win to guarantee a postseason berth
Tomah did get into Red Raiders territory on the ensuing possession before, finally, turning it over on downs.
The win gave Central a 4-3 record in the Mississippi Valley Conference, guaranteeing a spot in the playoffs, which require at least a .500 record.
Tomah did look like it was going to play spoilers on Central when Kyle Kroener scored on an 84-yard touchdown pass from Peter Brey midway through the fourth quarter.
MVC THREE-WAY
West Salem came into Friday night’s regular-season finale needing a win to guarantee the MVC title outright. Onalaska had other things in mind.
The Hilltoppers destroyed the Panthers 42-21 in a game that was over by halftime.
That left the log jam at the top of the MVC standings up to Holmen, which also easily won at home against Sparta, 45-23.
Holmen, Onalaska and West Salem all ended the season with 6-1 records in conference.
ARA PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS
Playoff seedings won’t be known until Saturday evening but the WIAA did announce who is in and from the area it looks like this:
- DIVISION 2: Holmen (7-2, 6-1) and Central (5-4, 4-3)
- DIVISION 3: Onalaska (8-1, 6-1) and West Salem (7-2, 6-1)
- DIVISION 4: Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (9-0, 5-0)
- DIVISION 5: Westby (5-4, 4-1) and Prairie du Chien (7-2, 3-2)
- DIVISION 6: Melrose-Mindoro (8-1, 6-0) and Brookwood (7-2, 5-1)
- DIVISION 7: Bangor (9-0, 6-0) and De Soto (6-3, 4-2)