The final game of the Thursday night slate turned out to be filled with the most dramatics, and it wasn’t even close.

The Wolves of Winneconne erased a nine point, fourth quarter deficit and came away with a 28-22 victory over Little Chute to capture the second state crown in the program’s second state championship appearance.

This one had a few incredible plays, top tier individual performances, and late game drama that anyone would want in their state championship game.

The first quarter brought plenty to talk about with a few big chunk plays. Little Chute got on the board first with an eight play, 66-yard drive that Reece Joten finished with a 24 yard rush, but a failed two-point conversion.

Winneconne senior quarterback/defensive back and Iowa commit showed why he’s one of the top players in the state on the Camp Randall field. He made plays all day from his quarterback position, both with his arm, and his legs, including a 2-yard touchdown that capped off a 12-play, five minute and 39 second drive.

Little Chute answered in quick succession, as Tyler Hietpas found the end zone from 63 yards out to give the Mustangs a 14-7 lead going into the second quarter.

The second quarter was dominated by a twelve play Little Chute drive that went just 34 yards, but took up 5:47 of the clock resulting in no points. Neither team got on the board in this frame and Little Chute went into half holding the 14-7 lead.

The two teams traded scores to start the third quarter. Winneconne Karter Hawthorne had the early favorite for catch of the weekend when he hauled in a 31-yard toss from Schaffer. The ball was slightly under thrown and Hawthorne had to come back and snag the ball from over a defensive back.

Up just one, Little Chute again marched down the field with a double-digit possession that resulted in a touchdown, another rushing score by Joten. That put Little Chute up 22-13 with 2:25 left in the third.

Schaffer threw an interception on the first play of Winneconne’s next possession to Ryan Quigley who returned the ball to the Wolves 36 yards going into the fourth quarter.

Two plays into the fourth Little Chute quarterback didn’t look off Schaffer on a third and nine play. The Iowa commit intercepted the pass in the end zone, returned it to the 31-yard line and set the Wolves up with the ball down nine with ten minutes to go.

Winneconne drove the field and Schaffer found Hawthorne again for a touchdown and within 22-20 with under six minutes to play.

The following Little Chute possession is where the craziness began.

On the Mustangs’ first down play, quarterback Jaden Hermsen fumbled it, but it was seemingly recovered by a teammate. A second down play was then ran, but following it a booth review was initiated.

From the press box there was confusion as it did look like a facemask penalty was missed on the second down play and there was a wonder if that was being reviewed. After a lengthy wait, it was revealed the first down play was being reviewed. The recovered fumble stood, and the play following was nullified, bringing it back to second and thirteen.

The Wolves defense stood, forcing a punt from the Mustang 49-yard line. A bad snap sent the punter scrambling backwards after the ball and falling on it. Winneconne took over at the Little Chute 22-yard line down two with 2:43 left in the game.

Winneconne’s Mason Mathe got into the end zone with 1:20 left on the score clock to go ahead 26-22. A little trickery and a two-point conversion run from offensive lineman Hudson Samolinski extended the lead to six.

Once again the Winneconne defense held in the fourth quarter, completing a shutout in the final frame and securing the 28-22 victory.

Schaffer was all over the field on both sides of the ball in this one. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 149 yards and 2 scores and adding 123 yards and a score on the ground. He added two tackles and the clutch interception on defense.

Junior Reece Joten had a great game for Little Chute that likely won’t be talked about enough due to Schaffer’s brilliance. He finished with 21 carries for 118 yards and two scores. Defensively he had eight total tackles, including a few in the open field on Schaffer, as he was seemingly in spy coverage at certain times throughout the contest.

Little Chute was playing in its second state championship game in program history, resulting in a second silver ball.