Football Cardinals win Big 8 title
MADISON — Tyler Vogt, Middleton’s personable and remarkably gifted linebacker, was recently given a saying from his father, Kevin.
Vogt passed that on his coaches, who then shared it with the Cardinals.
The passage read: “Mediocre teams have rules. Great teams set standards.”
Middleton has certainly done that throughout a memorable 2025 campaign. And it’s paid off in spades.
The Cardinals routed host Madison West, 38-9, on Oct. 16 and clinched their first Big Eight Conference championship since 2015 — when Vogt and the current senior class were just second graders.
Middleton won its eighth straight game, finished the Big Eight season a perfect 7-0 and improved to 8-1 overall. The Cardinals then received a No. 3 seed in the WIAA Division 1 playoffs and will open the postseason by hosting sixth-seeded Milwaukee Hamilton/Audubon in a Level 1 game Friday at 7 p.m.
“Since the start of the season, our goal was to win conference,” Middleton senior running back Elijah Jackson said. “And we took it one week at a time, and we were able to win it undefeated. And it's great knowing that all the hard work paid off.”
Middleton co-coach Joe Poehls agreed with his standout running back.
“I told them in the locker room before the game that I don't know how this story’s going to end up writing itself, but what’s been super special is watching how connected these guys are,” Poehls said. “Like they love each other. They pick each other up. They stay together. I’ve never been around that before. The connectedness that these guys have is special.”
The Cardinals’ bond this fall has been special indeed.
It started with a terrific offseason, where Middleton made immense strides in in the weight room, identified its leaders and formed the type of culture it wanted to maintain all season. It’s paid off on the field, too, where the Cardinals have developed a multi-dimensional offense, a defense that’s strong at all three levels and a connection that extends beyond football.
“We’ve just trusted each other so much throughout this process,” Middleton senior quarterback Joey Passaglia said. “And like, through the offseason, we just worked our butts off and just built that chemistry throughout the team.
“I think it really comes down to trust and love. Like we've trusted each other, the whole offense trusts the defense, the defense trusts the offense. It's just one big family, and we all love each other and want what's best for each other.”
What Middleton wanted more than anything against the Regents was to assert its dominance early and take away any hope the Regents (5-4, 4-3) had of pulling an upset. In 2024, West hung with the Cardinals throughout before succumbing, 7-3.
This time, Middleton extinguished any and all upset hopes the Regents might have had with a dominant first half.
Middleton’s seven first half drives yielded five touchdowns, a field goal and just one punt.
Passaglia had three touchdown passes — a 23-yarder to running back Elijah Jackson, a 16-yarder to wideout Chase Rogers and a 1-yard flip to Jackson Guerrero.
Jackson had a 32-yard TD run right up the gut, and Passaglia had a 1-yard TD run when he was initially stopped, but his second effort off left tackle helped him find the endzone.
West, meanwhile, had just two first downs and 66 yards of total offense in the first half.
“Oh my gosh, I thought we played amazing,” said Vogt, who finished the night with eight tackles and a tackle for loss. “I mean, we played together. Like, we always tell the guys you’ve got to play together, and that's how we're going to win ball games.
“You know, like, no matter our size, no matter our speed, if we play together, we're going to win ball games. And that's basically our mentality.”
It certainly held true on this night.
Middleton began the game with a seven-play, 50-yard drive that Passaglia capped with a 1-yard touchdown run. Passaglia opened the night with consecutive completions to Jackson for 30 yards, quickly taking the Cardinals to the West 20-yard line.
“EJ is just such a weapon, either running the ball, and then we have that option out of empty (backfield), where he's swinging around, or even running routes,” Passaglia said of Jackson. “I mean, he can kind of do it all for the offense. He just such a good weapon.”
Passaglia then found Rogers for 14 yards to the West 6. Four plays later, Passaglia finished the march with a 1-yard TD run that gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead just 4 minutes into the game.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter when on a third-and-14 from the 16, Passaglia escaped trouble. Passaglia then found Rogers free in the middle of the endzone, and the senior wideout made a shoestring catch that extended Middleton’s lead to 14-0.
After West went three-and-out, Middleton began at its own 49 and needed just three plays to find the endzone again. Two running plays produced 17 yards, then Jackson shot up the middle and broke three tackles on his way to a 32-yard TD that made it 21-0.
“I just saw my line give me some room,” Jackson said of the TD run. “They were able to make a gap for me, and after I get through that first line, it's on me to make the play, and I was able to make it.”
Middleton’s line of (from left) Brayden Booth, Collin Walser, Braden Poehls, Jaxon Hodges and Clark Cox has grown from an unknown unit to a winning quintet this fall and helped the Cardinals rack up 268 yards of first half offense against West.
“I told them, you guys are kind of the no-name offensive line,” Poehls said. “You don’t have blue chip guys on this offensive line. You guys are grit … and you guys are like the seven dwarves out there. You go to work and you get the job done.
“So we raised the challenge. We said give Joey time, block for EJ and I couldn’t be more proud of what the offensive line did. I think they let Joey and EJ and our receivers cook from that perspective.”
Middleton kept cooking throughout a dominant second quarter in which it produced a whopping 31 points.
With 6 minutes left in the half, Passaglia hit Jackson in the left flat and the gifted running back went 23 yards for a TD to make it 28-0.
“Yeah, that was a little orbit motion and the receivers pretty much blocked me into the endzone,” Jackson said. “It was almost a walk in. Pretty easy.”
A West fumble — forced by Reed Falk and recovered by Oliver Wenning — led to a 36-yard Luke Sheehan field goal with 2:18 left in the half as the Cardinals’ lead grew to 31-0.
Then after West failed to convert a fourth down from its own 28, Middleton started with a short field. It took the Cardinals just three plays to cover 27 yards, then Passaglia hit Guerrero with a 1-yard TD to make it 38-0 with 30 seconds left in the half.
Middleton scored on its final five drives of the half. And Guerrero’s TD ensured the second half would begin with a running clock.
“We just wanted to score every drive and set that standard for ourselves,” Passaglia said. “So yeah, five scoring drives in a row. Not bad.”
Middleton’s defense wasn’t too shabby itself during an impressive first half.
West averaged just 2.3 yards per play, didn't cross midfield, and 21 of the Regents’ 28 plays went for 2 yards, or fewer.
“I mean, yeah, we were super strong up front,” said Wenning, who led the Cardinals with nine tackles and two tackles for loss. “Like, all the credit goes to (nose tackle) Breon (Gazaway). He was demanding double teams, just opening stuff up for me all night and I truly couldn't have done it without him and the guys up front.”
With the clock running, the second half zipped by.
Middleton was able to get many of its reserves playing time. And after West scored nine points in the final minute, the Cardinals could celebrate their first league title in a decade.
“I think especially with coming off this win, we're coming into the playoffs hot,” Vogt said. “We’re going to celebrate this win and hopefully move on and keep it going.”
Poehls agreed.
“Every team kind of leaves their stamp on my heart,” Poehls said. “But when I think about what I’m going to remember from this you’ve got leaders like Tyler (Vogt) and some of these other guys.
“What you see is what you get from these kids. This is who they are and this is what they mean to us — and they mean a lot. It’s just a special group.”
One that can now call themselves Big Eight champions.
Oct. 16
Middleton 38, Madison West 9
Middleton ............... 7 31 0 0 — 38
Madison West ...... 0 0 0 9 — 9
Mid — Joey Passaglia, 1, run (Luke Sheehan kick)
Mid — Chase Rogers, 16, pass from Passaglia (Sheehan kick)
Mid — Elijah Jackson, 32, run (Sheehan kick)
Mid — Jackson, 23, pass from Passaglia (Sheehan kick)
Mid — FG, Sheehan, 36
Mid — Jackson Guerrero, 2, pass from Passaglia (Sheehan kick)
MW — FG, Cotton Gael, 30
MW — Michael Suominen, 11, run
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: M 12, MW 6. Rushing (Att.-Yds.) — Mid 23-101, MW 13-61. Passing yards — Mid 162, MW 93. Passing (Comp.-Att.-TD-Int.) — Mid 19-25-3-0, MW — 13-28-0-0. Fumbles-lost – Mid 1-1, MW 1-1. Penalties-Yds. — M 6-45, ME 3-20.
MIDDLETON LEADERS
Rushing (Att.-Yds) — Mid: Elijah Jackson 10-109, Reed Falk 5-16; MW: Lucas Wiercioch 2-31, Michael Suominen 3-16, Kamaria Carter 8-14.
Passing (Att.-Comp.-TD-Int.-Yds) — Mid: Joey Passaglia 15-19-3-0-143, Jackson Guerrero 1-1-0-0-9; MW: Michael Suominen 13-28-0-0-98.
Receiving (Rec.-Yds.-TD) — Mid: Luke Sheehan 2-47-0, Jackson Guerrero 9-37-1, Chase Rogers 2-31-1, Elijah Jackson 2-28-0, Derion Hawkins 3-10, Joey Passaglia 1-9 MW: Quincy Mosley 6-48, Sam Olson 3-10, Jack McDonald 2-22.
