By,
Rob Reischel
Middleton Times-Tribune
Kurt Gundlach expected a topsy-turvy, down to the wire Big Eight Conference football
race this fall.
But the Middleton football coach didn't expect to see such craziness this soon.
After Madison La Follette stunned the football world on Sept. 8 with its 20-12 win over
Sun Prairie, parity prevailed, for the time being, in the Big Eight. Janesville Craig,
Janesville Parker, Middleton, Madison La Follette and Sun Prairie all found themselves
tied for first in the league with 2-1 conference and overall records.
And while the season is just one-third of the way through, it's become apparent the
league race probably won't be settled until the final night of the year.
''I really did think it would be more balanced,'' Gundlach said. ''But I didn't think it would
be like this so quick.''
What the Sun Prairie loss did was give Middleton, as well as a handful of other schools,
hope that a Big Eight title was possible. The Cardinals, who head to Janesville Craig's
Monterey Stadium Friday night for a 7:30 kickoff, certainly got a spark when they saw
Sun Prairie lost. Now Gundlach just hopes his troops can capitalize on it.
''What something like that does is give our guys an adrenaline boost,'' Gundlach said.
''But we can't talk about winning the conference. What we're talking about is Craig.''
Good thing.
Middleton, which was ranked No. 9 in this week's Associated Press Division 1 poll,
realizes how talented the Cougars are. Craig, which features a deadly backfield
combination of tailback A.J. Fuelleman and fullback Jim Scalissi, can kill a team with its
speed.
And Middleton wants to make sure it isn't the Cougars' next victim.
''They've got great speed on the perimeter and can kill you that way,'' Gundlach said.
If the Cardinals can get past Craig, the road to repeating as Big Eight champs doesn't
look overly bumpy. Middleton's final four league games include tilts with Madison
Memorial, Madison West and Beloit Memorial, a threesome that currently has a .167
Big Eight winning percentage (1-5). Only a trip to Janesville Parker on Oct. 6 looms as
a possible stumbling block.
''We've just got to focus on Craig, though,'' Gundlach said. ''La Follette did a lot of teams
a favor last week. But for that to matter, we've got to take care of our business.''