It was an offensive outburst for Kenosha St. Joseph as the Lancers took home gold for the first time in the programs’ history. Quarterback Zach Rizzo and receiver Dominic Rinaldi set state tournament records as Kenosha St. Joseph rolled to a 35-19 victory over Edgar.
Rizzo got it going early on for St. Joes, completing four passes on the opening drive, culminating in an eleven yard touchdown pass to Tomas Baez to put the Lancers up 7-0 with 3:31 left in the first quarter.
Cochrane-Fountain answered with a quick scoring drive the following possession as the Pirates drove 75 yards in five plays and junior Aidan Lisowski broke out for a 44-yard scoring run that pulled the score even with 4:39 left in the first frame.
A mixture of an efficient pass game via Rizzo and junior running back Christopher Kenesie getting chunk yards on the ground led to Lancers’ touchdowns on the final three possessions of their first half.
St. Joes went into the half up 28-7 without a single punt or turnover on downs in the first half.
Cochrane-Fountain City’s defense came out to play in the second half however, forcing a turnover on downs in St. Joes’ first two possessions of the third quarter but a fumble in the red zone halfway through the third staunched a Pirate scoring drive.
Despite all that, CFC got life after junior linebacker forced, scooped, and scored off a fumble on the second-to-last play of the third quarter that cut it to a two-possession game at 28-13.
St. Joes answered with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Rizzo to Rinaldi on a possession that lasted 1:41 and put the Lancers ahead 35-13 with 10 minutes to.
Cochrane-Fountain City drove the next possession but it halted after an interception. The Pirates found life late again however after a 41-yard pass from junior quarterback Parker Kujak to senior tight end Stevie Meyer. The score stood at 35-19 with 1:25 left in the game.
The Pirates lined up for an onside but St. Joes recovered. Though upon review it did seem the Lancer receiver never did fully recover it before the Pirates jumped on it.
For Kenosha St. Joseph, it is the first state championship in the program’s second appearance.
Quarterback Zach Rizzo, son of head coach Matt Rizzo and a UW-Parkside baseball commit, finished the day 15 of 18 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. The yardage set a new Division 7 state record, while the completions and touchdowns tied the record.
Dominic Rinaldi hauled in ten catches for 177 yards and two scores for the Lancers. His 177 yards set a state record regardless of division while his receptions set a new Division 7 record and his touchdowns tied it in the division. He added two pass break ups on defense.
Junior running Christopher Kenesie, another talented multi-sport athlete at St. Joes, set the tone on the ground. He finished with 177 yards on 9 carries, finding the end zone once.
For the Pirates, it was their first football state championship appearance and they’ll go home with a silver ball.
Lisowski led the team with 81 yards and a touchdown on the ground while Kujak finished with 176 yards through the air on 13 of 25 passing and one score. Both Meyer and Tucker Bambenek had double-digit tackles for CFC.
Colton Wilson serves a contributor and member of Bound Wisconsin. Wilson has worked in high school sports for 10 years, covering the state of Wisconsin in various sports. He has had roles in content creation, boys basketball coverage, director of events, and data management. Wilson is a graduate of Richland Center High School where he will currently serves as the Varsity Reserve boys basketball coach, entering his eleventh year coaching at the high school level. Wilson also has officiated basketball and organized youth tournaments for multiple years. You can follow him on Twitter at @ColtonWilson23 or reach him at [email protected].