Kenosha St. Joseph wins its program's first state football title

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) - Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic Academy ended a 24-year absence from the high school state football finals by advancing to state this year. The Lancers have only made the final once before, finishing as a runner-up in Division 5 in 2001. Standing in the way of the school's first title were the Cochrane Fountain City Pirates.

From the Lancers' first possession, their offense was off and running. St. Joe's scored on their first four possessions of the half to lead 28-7 at halftime.

The Lancers added one more second half touchdown to seal the deal and win their program's first title 35-19.

Quarterback Zach Rizzo, the WFCA small school Offensive Player of the Year, went 15-18 for a Division 7 state record with 226 passing yards and three touchdowns in the air, with one more on the ground. Wide receiver Dominic Rinaldi also set a state record, with 10 catches for 177 receiving yards to go with his two touchdowns.

"Just made me so proud," Head Coach Matt Rizzo said. "I don't know, I'm speechless right now, obviously. Proud of him, proud of all the guys," said Rizzo, on his son's performance in the state title. "They saw this thing through and that's a testament to our guys, our program, our school, and they're just trusting it and then sticking with us, and they get to raise a gold ball at the end."

"We worked so hard for this, our whole senior class....17 guys just sticking together. The bond. We made this happen," said Rinaldi.

"I'm sorry, I'm at a loss for words right now. Just feels great. Not a lot of moments like these, so cherish them when you got 'em," said Rizzo. "We had a pretty good turnout; a lot of people made the trip up and I'm just so happy for everybody on this team."

Kenosha St. Joe's finishes the season 14-0.