Parks shines, but MHS falls to Oconomowoc

OCONOMOWOC — Grant Parks ripped off the No. 2 on his chest and replaced it with the letter ‘S.’

Middleton’s freshman quarterback, making his first career start, threw four touchdown passes, ran for a fifth and did everything he could to keep the Cardinals close in their WIAA Division 1 playoff opener at Oconomowoc on Oct. 23.

But when Middleton’s defense couldn't stop the host Raccoons, Oconomowoc stopped the Cardinals’ season.

Raccoons junior running back Damian Bartolotta rushed for 205 yards and five touchdowns, while Oconomowoc piled up 567 yards of total offense and toppled the Cardinals, 52-35.

Sixth-seeded Middleton ended the year 5-5, its most losses in a season since 2003 when that team went 5-5 in Kurt Gundlach’s final season as the Cardinals’ head coach. Third-seeded Oconomowoc improved to 7-3 and travels to second-seeded Arrowhead for a Level 2 game Friday.

“I'm not sure if we — or I — are ever OK with things at the end of a season,” Middleton co-coach Joe Poehls said. “We had some good moments and we definitely have some things to clean up and change this offseason. Will I make peace with it? Yes, eventually.”

While the Cardinals exited Oconomowoc’s Ed Rux Stadium filled with disappointment, there was also hope as they knew they’d found their quarterback of the future.

Parks put on his ‘Superman’ cape and did everything in his power to keep the Cardinals close in a game where the Raccoons never punted and averaged a whopping 10.7 yards per play.

Parks completed 18-of-30 passes for 316 yards and led a big-strike offensive attack that had the Raccoons on their heels throughout. Parks threw touchdown passes of 79 and 46 yards to junior wideout Isaiah Nehring, he found his brother — junior tight end Carter Parks — for a 21-yard TD pass, and he hit senior wideout Eli Anderson for a 15-yard TD.

Grant Parks also led Middleton with 58 rushing yards that included a 19-yard TD run. In all, Grant Parks accounted for 374 total yards and five total touchdowns.

“Grant played mature beyond his years,” Poehls said. “Many coaches, if they watch film from the game, will have a difficult time believing he is a freshman. He is a skilled, versatile athlete who can make plays with his arm and his feet and has fantastic vision and decision-making abilities.”

What killed the Cardinals, though, was a defense that couldn’t get stops.

Oconomowoc did fumble the ball three times, and lost all three. Aside from that, though, Oconomowoc’s eight other drives produced seven touchdowns and a field goal.

Bartolotta was a wrecking ball, eclipsing 200 yards for the fourth time this season while averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Senior quarterback Austin Munzel — a three-year starter — completed 20 of 29 passes for 268 yards and had one TD pass.

Dynamic junior wideout Famous Smith had 176 all-purpose yards, finishing with six receptions for 123 yards and also rushing for 53 yards. And senior wideout Tyler Masta had five catches for 54 yards and a TD.

“Oconomowoc has a big, strong, physical offensive line,” Poehls said. “On film they seemed to lean more on their run game, but against us they were able to keep a balance of running and passing to move the ball. 

“We knew we were going to have to fight, scratch, and claw to stay in the game. We were able to get some turnovers, which helped.”

It also helped having Grant Parks firing lasers across the field all night.

Trailing, 7-0, early, Grant Parks rolled to his left, spotted Nehring behind two defenders and launched a strike that carried 51 yards through the air. The pass hit Nehring in stride, and he pulled away from the two Raccoons defensive backs for a 79-yard touchdown that tied the game, 7-7.

Bartolotta quickly answered with his second TD run of the game to give Oconomowoc a 14-7 lead. But Grant Parks countered with touchdown passes of 15 yards to Anderson and a 21-yard TD strike to Carter Parks to give MHS a 21-14 lead in the second quarter.

“I feel that (offensive coordinator Zach) Rast had an offensive game plan set up for Oconomowoc,” Poehls said. “They (Oconomowoc) have a good defense, and they have some excellent players on the defensive side of the ball, so we wanted to find advantages.

“The ‘training wheels’ were on per se, as (Grant Parks) is still learning the varsity playbook and concepts, and coach Rast did an excellent job of focusing on things he was familiar with and he could pick up on quickly.”

Bartolotta had his third rushing touchdown of the first half, and the teams were knotted, 21-21, at the break. On Middleton’s opening drive of the second half, though, Grant Parks ripped off a 19-yard touchdown run off right tackle in which he broke a tackle at the goal line and gave a MHS a 28-21 lead.

The game changed, though, as Oconomowoc ripped off the next 21 points — two TD runs from Bartolotta and a 7-yard scoring pass from Munzel to Masta — and the Racons surged to a 42-28 advantage.

Grant Parks and Nehring weren’t done, as the duo hooked up for a 46-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that pulled the Cardinals within 42-35. On the scoring play, Grant Parks was given a perfect pocket, while Nehring fought off a bump at the line of scrimmage and was left uncovered down the right sideline. Grant Parks dropped a perfect ball to Nehring at the 15-yard line, and the speedy wideout did the rest, pulling the Cardinals within 42-35.

“The quarterback group did a fantastic job of helping (Grant Parks) get prepared and supporting him,” Poehls said. “The future is very bright for Grant.”

Middleton’s offense was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, though. And Oconomowoc struck for 10 points in the final four minutes to pull away.

While Middleton’s season did have some positives, all of the Cardinals were certainly hoping for more than a .500 campaign.

In 2025, Middleton won a Big Eight Conference championship, reached Level 2 of the playoffs and was hoping to build on that. Instead, the Cardinals defeated just one team with a winning record (Madison Memorial) and fell to 12-15 in the postseason since 2011 (.444).

“The moments you have with the players and sharing the joy in a very special game is what I always remember,” said Poehls, who had sons Braden and Bryce on this year’s team. “Every group leaves a unique stamp on my heart and this team is no different. 

“It was a pleasure coaching so many of these kids and watching them positively grow as people. They dealt with adversity, and experienced many ups and downs. 

“It's always sad to see the seniors off, and having known a lot of these seniors since they were little makes it hurt more from my perspective — especially as a dad knowing one of my sons is done with his high school football career.”

Poehls knows, though, that the future could be bright.

Grant Parks is just getting started. There will be a bevy of returning weapons in the passing game, including Carter Parks, Nehring and Brett Henrickson, while sophomore running back Regin Kalscheur had an impressive first year on varsity.

The defense allowed 27.9 points per game, though, the most by an MHS team in at least 30 years. The Cardinals allowed 56 points in a Week 1 loss to Bay Port, took baby steps during the year, then yielded 52 in the season finale.

If the Cardinals can fix the defensive side of the ball, and the young standouts on offense continue to grow, 2027 could be a bounce back year.

“The returning players have great pieces in place to make some waves,” Poehls said. “It is our hope that they approach the offseason seriously, get in the weightroom, better themselves and become the players and team they are capable of.”

Oct. 23

WIAA Division 1 Level 1 playoffs

Oconomowoc 52, Middleton 35

Middleton ………. 7  14  14  0  – 35

Oconomowoc ……… 14  7 21  10 – 52

OCON – Damian Bartolotta, 45, run (Jacob Salas kick)

MIDD – Isaiah Nehring, 79, pass from Grant Parks (Caymus Roberts kick)

OCON — Bartolotta, 12, run (Salas kick)

MIDD — Eli Anderson, 15, pass from Grant Parks (Roberts kick)

MIDD — Carter Parks, 21, pass from Grant Parks (Roberts kick)

OCON — Bartolotta, 3, run (Salas kick)

MIDD — Grant Parks, 19, run (Roberts kick)

OCON — Bartolotta, 5, run (Salas kick)

OCON — Tyler Masta, 7, pass from Austin Munzel (Salas kick)

OCON — Bartolotta, 24, run (Salas kick)

MIDD — Nehring, 46, pass from Grant Parks (Roberts kick)

OCON — FG, Salas, 26

OCON — Brecken Callaghan, 1, run (Salas kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs – M 18, Ocon 21. Rushing (Att-Yds) – M 33-106, Ocon 32-277. Passing yards – M 322, Ocon 290. Passing (Att.-Comp.-Int.) – M 20-33-0, Ocon 21-30-0. Total plays-yards – M – 66-428, Ocon 53-567. Fumbles-lost – M 1-1, Ocon 3-3. Penalties-yards – M 11-110, Ocon 3-30.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: M – Grant Parks 23-58, Derion Hawkins 9-50, Tom Reuter 1-(-2). Ocon — Damian Bartolotta 26-205, Famous Smith 2-53, Brecken Callaghan 4-19. Passing (Comp.-Pass-TD-INT-Yds): M – Grant Parks 18-30-4-0-316, Eli Breunig 1-1-0-0-10, John Rancourt 1-2-0-0-(-4). Ocon — Austin Munzel 20-29-1-0-268, Brecken Callaghan 1-1-0-0-22. Receiving: M – Isaiah Nehring 3-143, Carter Parks 5-72, Eli Anderson 4-38, Ben Lashuk 3-38, Logan Thompson 2-20, Brett Henrickson 1-13, Darion Hawkins 1-2, Tom Reuter 1-(-4). Ocon — Famous Smith 6-123, Tyler Masta 5-54, Cole Mooney 4-46, Colson Bresnehan 2-37, Damian Bartolotta 2-21, Jacob Salas 1-11, Austin Munzel 1-(-2).