MADISON – The Green Bay Notre Dame football team left no doubt.
From the first day of the season to the last, it was the best Division 3 program in the state.
Notre Dame beat Waukesha Catholic Memorial 49-28 in the WIAA D3 title game Friday at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, putting the exclamation point on a perfect season.
The Tritons finished 14-0 for the second time since joining the WIAA in 2000 and captured the program’s third state championship and fourth overall after winning a WISAA D1 title in 1992.
They did so in memorable fashion behind a record-breaking performance from star running back Christian Collins, who rushed 39 times for 408 yards and five touchdowns.
It’s the first time a running back has topped the 400-yard mark in any division since the WIAA started sponsoring title games in 1976. It’s the most yards in Green Bay metro history for a single game.
But there is more. Much more.
Collins broke the D3 state title game record with his five TDs and tied the overall record, which he shares with Brookfield East’s Sam Santiago-Lloyd (D2, 2016) and Edgar’s Karter Butt (D7, 2023).
His 39 carries set the D3 title game record. Collins finished the season with 3,084 yards and is only the second runner in state history to break 3,000 for a season. Former Kenosha St. Joseph star Adrian Davis had 3,422 in 2001.
Notre Dame rushed for 436 yards and six TDs against the Crusaders while averaging 9.9 yards per carry. It outgained Catholic Memorial in total yards 459-346.
The defense had four sacks, including two from University of Notre Dame recruit James Flanigan.
“This is awesome,” Notre Dame coach Michael Rader said. “We were a good team. We knew we were a good team all year. But good teams don’t always win every game. We were able to work all the way through there. This is a special group of seniors, especially for me with a kid in the class (Andrew Rader). I’ve been coaching some of these kids since second grade in youth basketball and soccer and all that stuff.
“To see it all the way come through to Camp Randall and win is awesome.”
Notre Dame jumps out to fast start against Catholic Memorial
The Tritons could not have scripted a much better start than they had against the Crusaders.
Notre Dame’s first 15 plays were on the ground, with 14 coming on rushes from its all-state running back.
Collins rushed four times for 48 yards to put Notre Dame up 7-0 with 8 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter, highlighted by a nifty 25-yard TD in which he went up the middle and then bounced outside to make something big out of almost nothing.
When the Crusaders tied the score on the ensuing drive after a 4-yard TD pass from MJ Mitchell to Jake Berkholtz, Notre Dame went right back to Collins.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior had six straight carries, which included two third-down conversions on runs of 18 and 29 yards.
Collins gave way to his twin brother, Jack, to cap the drive and give Notre Dame a 14-7 advantage after Jack – the older brother by 7 minutes – rushed for an 8-yard TD.
It got even better for Notre Dame a few moments later, when Tritons senior cornerback Cayden Kiefert jumped a pass attempt from quarterback MJ Mitchell to Marvanous Butler-Brown and returned it 35 yards for a pick-six and a 21-7 advantage with 2:41 left in the first quarter.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be that smooth the entire game.
Notre Dame’s season hasn’t been without adversity despite its sparkling record, and it faced some against the Crusaders and the threat Mitchell presents with both his arm and legs.
Catholic Memorial cut the lead to seven points when Mitchell connected with Butler-Brown on an 87-yard TD after Butler-Brown got behind two Notre Dame defenders and outraced both to the end zone.
Mitchell followed by engineering a nine-play, 84-yard drive, finding Berkholtz for an 11-yard TD to tie the score for the second time with 2:57 left in the half.
Mitchell completed 15 of 26 passes and set a D3 state title game record with 309 yards, which included 219 in the first half. Butler-Brown had eight receptions and set a D3 record with 160 yards.
It was notable considering Mitchell only had thrown for 200 or more yards three times combined the past two seasons, which included his previous career-high 291 yards as a junior.
It was even more impressive considering Notre Dame only allowed two teams to throw for 200 yards this season when Kaukauna had 229 in Week 1 and Oshkosh North 231 in Week 9.
The Tritons barely allowed 100 passing yards per game in the playoffs, permitting 448 total to Pewaukee, Port Washington, Grafton and La Crosse Logan on the way to the title game.
“We knew that they were good,” Rader said. “We knew that they were going to be able to air it out. They have athletes that we don’t see every day. They went up and got some balls. We were in pretty good position, and they went and caught the ball.
“We just knew we had to limit that and get a good pass rush on them, which I think we did. Make him kind of scramble to get the plays. We knew they are going to break one every once in a while, so we had to keep the foot on the gas on offense.”
Green Bay Notre Dame takes control
The message after the Crusaders tied the score was simple: Just keep doing what you are doing. Notre Dame only needs one or two plays to rip the momentum right back.
Which is what it did.
The Tritons took another lead before halftime on a 41-yard run from Collins and appeared like they might score again before the Crusaders intercepted a pass in the end zone with 14 seconds left after Notre Dame reached the Catholic Memorial 14.
Notre Dame led the rest of the way.
It needed one play to go up 35-21 in the final minutes of the third quarter on a 65-yard TD run from Collins.
When the Crusaders again got to within a TD on a 16-yard reception from Butler-Brown, Notre Dame again needed one play to go back up 14 after Collins broke free for a 73-yard score.
He finished the scoring with a 7-yard run with 4:38 remaining.
It was clear by that point what the big difference was between the teams. One had Collins and the other didn’t.
“I’ve said a million times, we are a brotherhood,” said Collins, who is the fifth all-time leading rusher in state history with 6,560 yards. “We really bonded throughout the season, and it’s something that is super special to all of us. We really wanted to get that state title and just kind of finish it off in a perfect way.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Notre Dame completes undefeated season with state title
