Halftime story: Defenses standing tall

After the first 24 minutes ended, two defenses showed why they are in the state title game.

At halftime, the score was 0-0.

The deepest drive was for the Raiders, who came up short on a fourth-and-10 on a pass play from Cort Halbur to Zach Campbell.

Halbur threw between two Kenosha Bradford defenders but the ball to Campbell was low and incomplete. Wisconsin Rapids pushed to the Bradford 28-yard line but could not manage another first down.

Bradford found the same stubbornness with the Raiders defense. The Red Devils drove to the Wisconsin Rapids 30 yard line but a Tyler Tesch sack on fourth down gave the ball back to the Raiders on its own 39.

Wisconsin Rapids rushed for 37 yards in the first half and managed two first downs while the Red Devils found more success, especially with two big plays, and had 74 yards rushing and 24 yards passing.

Bradford ran a reverse, in which Danny Lira rushed for 25 yards back around toward the Bradford bench.

The other big play was also a 25 yard gain — a pass from Draven LaFayette to Lira.