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When Reedsburg left the Division 3 seeding meeting they were not happy.
The Beavers were forced to settle for the sixth seed and with that came what they considered a touch of disrespect. Since that moment the Beavers have gone all Rodney Dangerfield on their opponents undoubtedly carrying with them the slogan "I get no respect."
That has changed with all the makings of someone poking a sleeping giant. The Beavers have cruised past a number three seed (Elkhorn), a number two seed (Monona Grove) which also just happened to be the defending state champion, and a number one seed (Mount Horeb/Barneveld).
That gives Reedsburg another number one seed to conquer when they head to Watertown to face Wisconsin Lutheran Friday at 7 p.m. The winner will vault into the state title game where they will face either Rice Lake or West DePere at Camp Randall.
The win over MHB may have been the shocker among the three wins, not because the Beavers won but how they did it.
Reedsburg won a good old-fashioned shoot-out 56-42 in a game that saw them score the first six times they had the football, never punting until the second half, forcing a key fumble then run 16 plays that ate up seven minutes and resulted in a touchdown with six seconds left in the game.
While MHB gunslinger quarterback Max Meylor may have had enough in his arm to pick up a desperation score, it was virtually impossible to strike twice in the alloted time left. But Meylor's deep heave never found a receiver and Reedsburg set up the advancement to Friday night.
"Both offenses were clicking on all cylinders at the end of the season and everyone was healthy for both teams," said MHB coach Travis Rohrer.
Friday's game had its share of highs and lows for the Vikings. With Reedsburg running back Lucas Muchow showcasing his speed the first two times the Beavers scored and adding another long scoring run before halftime the visitors rolled to a 41-28 halftime lead. Muchow scored on runs of 26, 35 and 17 for half the first half six pointers. Bruising fullback Dustin Tourdot also got in for the Beavers with a 53 yard run. Quarterback Austin Schyvinck snuck in from the one and Nick Hasler took a 46 yard aerial from Schyvinck for the other three scores. Mitch Halbach kicked five of six extra points with the Vikings blocking the other one.
The Vikings refused to hang their heads, instead putting their heads together to fight back. Two minutes after Reedsburg's opening touchdown the Vikings used a Meylor to Nathaniel Osterloo pass to put up six then took a short lead when Meylor passed to Riley Coon for a two point conversion.
After Muchow struck again, Meylor carried the football himself and scored with 2:10 left in the first quarter. The game was tied at 14 at the end of the frame.
Eight seconds into the second quarter Tourdot, who returned to the fullback spot earlier in the season, sprinted 53 yards to score and Halbach kicked the conversion.
Muchow put some distance between the two teams with a 17 yard touchdown run to make it 27-14.
It only took a few seconds for the Vikings to make their next statement when Matt Blome took the kickoff and rolled up 75 yards quickly to make it 27-20.
The last four minutes were as interesting as the first 20. Schyvinck scored on a sneak and Halbach kicked the conversion, then two minutes later Schyvinck threw a 46 yards strike to Nich Hasler. Halbach's kick made it 41-20.
Knowing they needed to send the signal there was no quit in their minds the Vikings used a Meylor to Tarek Nesheim pass to get back on the board and the same two got the conversion as the half ended 41-28.
MHB's kickoff to start the second half squibbed in between a couple Reedsburg players and the Vikings got the ball. At 10:49 Wyatt Thompson ran 10 yards to score, making it 41-34. With 6:08 to play a halfback option pass, Thompson to Coon, made it 41-40 and a Meylor to Coon conversion pass gave MHB the lead at 42-41 going into the final frame.
"After our goal line stand and were leading 42-41, I really thought it was ours to finish off," said Rohrer. "We had all the momentum and didn't think they could stop us on offense. Unfortunately, we had a drive killing penalty and never found the end zone again."
But a fumble and touchdowns by Schyvinck and Tourdot sandwiched around a 16 play drive that took seven minutes off the clock gave Reedsburg the 56-42 win. Muchow added a two point conversion on the first score and Halbach kicked it on the second score.
"The turning point was losing the fumble at midfield and not being able to win first down from that point on which allowed them to use all four downs," Rohrer said. "Reedsburg's offense is built for those situations, give them credit, they executed their slow down offense when they needed to the most."
Reedsburg's defense against the run took most of that game away from the Vikings as they were only able to gain 44 yards on 20 tries. Thompson had half the carries and earned 30 yards with Blome getting six in two lugs and Meylor eight in eight.
The passing routes gave the Vikings 291 yards with Meylor and Thompson both throwing touchdown passes. Meylor was 14 for 23 for 260 yards with Thompson hitting his only try for 22.
Osterloo had six catches for 104 yards while Coon had three catches for 80. Nesheim caught four for 90 and Cole Breuer hauled in two for 17.
The Vikings fumbled three times and lost two of them.
Schyvinck threw only three times for the Beavers, completing two with both counting big. One set up a score and the other ended up in the end zone.
The Beavers had a corner on the run game market and rolled for 416 yards on 65 plays. Tourdot had 29 carries for 153 yards, Schyvinck 14 for 126 and Muchow rolled up 96 more on 12 attempts.
Even though the Vikings ran out of time the team refused to give in to the Beavers.
"Our kids always believe they are in every ball game as long as there is time left on the clock," Rohrer said. "It is something we pride ourselves on ... MHB Heart."
Rohrer reflected on this season and gave a preview of coming attractions.
"It was a special year in that we were able to capture the program's only second conference title, the first being in 2002, and tied the record for the most wins in a season (10)," he said. "There were a lot of goals going into this year and our young men met most of them, however, it wasn't without also learning a tough lesson along the way. This group of seniors were a close knit group that worked very hard in the off season and loved playing the game of football. They came to practice every day with great attitudes and continued to get better each and every day."
"Next year we will return a number of players who experienced Friday night lights, along with a number of them who had a very successful JV season going 8 and 1, with their only loss coming against a very talented Waunakee team," Rohrer said. "The Badger North will be loaded once again, so all of us have our work cut out for us this off season but it is always exciting to get back to work and start making memories for the 2015 season."