Kimberly wins national-best 70th straight game, 5th state title in a row

Video: Preview of Kimberly vs. Sun Prairie
Kimberly entered Friday's state championship game with nation's best win streak at 69 games.

It was all supposed to end Friday night in Madison, Wi.

The football team at Kimberly (Wis.), winners of a national best 69 straight games and four consecutive state championships, faced a bigger, taller Sun Prairie (Wis.) with an equal 13-0 record.

The Papermakers, who returned just five players from last years team, struggled by their standards just to reach Friday's state Division I title game.

Kimberly fell behind 7-0, but slowly methodically took control with its running game to post a 27-7 victory at Camp Randall Stadium to win their 70th straight game and fifth straight title.



A 50-yard touchdown keeper by quarterback Alec Rosner gave the Papermakers (14-0) their first lead 14-7 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

Just before the end of the quarter, DJ Stewart capped a 78-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown scamper, and Kimberly took control, leading 21-7 heading into the fourth. That TD was set up on a 35-yard run by Johnathan Nett, who started Kimberly's scoring with a 30-yard TD run.

Stewart added a second TD run, this one from 4 yards out in the final two minutes to ice the game.

According to the Post-Crescent newspaper, Stewart came into the game with 1,853 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. Rosner entered with 1,984 passing yards and 24 more scores.

Kimberly's defense stepped up to the challenge against a team that had outscored opponents 512-99 entering the game. The Pacemakers had three games this season winning by a touchdown or less.

The next longest win streak in the nation is 59 by Soldotna (AK), but the Pacemakers are well off the national record of 151 by De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).



"It's been an incredible journey," Kimberly coach Steve Jones told the Post-Crescent before the game. "You see it (growth from players) all over the place, so I think that's the most rewarding part of coaching to see that growth both as football players and people."