Ryan Heiman celebrates a kick return touchdown late in the D1 title game
Capping off a highly competitive 2025 football state championships, Arrowhead scored a thrilling 18-15 victory over Bay Port to claim the Division 1 state title on Friday night at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
The Division 1 state title game was never separated by more than six points, and ended in thrilling fashion, with a pair of touchdowns in the final minute plus a potential game-winning pass that fell incomplete in the end zone.
Special teams played a key role, both good and bad, for Arrowhead. The Warhawks missed two field goals, two extra points, and failed on a two-point conversion, but the biggest special teams play came after Bay Port’s Brady Moon caught an 11-yard touchdown from Matt Stevens to put the Pirates up 15-12 following a conversion with just 46 seconds remaining.
Bay Port attempted a squib kick, but state track champion sprinter Ryan Heiman caught it on the run and raced 76 yards for a touchdown with 35 seconds left to put Arrowhead ahead.
Amazingly, Bay Port was able to get in scoring position after a key pass interference penalty and a 31-yard completion from Matt Stevens to Jackson Otradovec down the right sideline set them up at the 11-yard line with one second left. Eschewing a potential game-tying field goal that could send the game into overtime, Bay Port head coach Steven Jorgensen chose to go for the win, but Stevens’ pass in the end zone fell incomplete, giving Arrowhead an 18-15 victory and the school’s first state title since 2012.
It was a defensive battle, with Bay Port holding a significant advantage in total yards (347-198), first downs (20-12), and time of possession (27:30-20:30), but four turnovers by the Pirates helped to be their undoing.
Nolan Hanson threw for 88 yards and a touchdown for Arrowhead, with Harper Hughes catching four passes for 66 yards and a score. Jebari Craig led the Warhawks with 62 rushing yards. All-State linebacker Branden Foley had 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack on defense.
Matt Stevens threw for 133 yards and rushed for 128, but lost a pair of fumbles and threw an interception. Brady Moon ran for 78 yards and also caught three passes for 22 yards with a touchdown. All-State linebacker Brock Gauthier came up big defensively, with 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble.
Bay Port follows up last year’s Division 1 state title with a runner-up trophy, as the Pirates were also the state runners-up in 2019.
Arrowhead wins its seventh state championship in its 14th finals appearance.
Travis Wilson serves as the Bound Wisconsin Manager. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisBound or reach him at [email protected].