WAUNAKEE — Jake Irwin was watching his teammates go through a special teams drill earlier this week when the 6-foot-4, 243-pound Waunakee senior lineman took a moment to reflect on his football family.

“I’m not going to forget these guys. ... It’s actually kind of sad to think that (today) is going to be our last game together,” Irwin said. “But if we’re going to go out, this is the way to do it at state.’’

Waunakee (12-1) will play two-time defending state champion Kimberly (12-1) for the WIAA Division 2 title at 1 p.m. today at Camp Randall Stadium.

In his third year as a starting offensive tackle and first at defensive end for the Warriors, Irwin is right where he and his teammates dreamed they would be four years ago when they watched Ashwaubenon beat Waunakee 19-0 in the Division 2 state final.

Waunakee finished 11-1 in each of the past two seasons, winning the Northern Badger Conference title twice and advancing to the third round of the Division 2 playoffs both years.

But that wasn’t going to be enough for Irwin his senior year.

“Coming out of the tunnel before the game, it’s going to be awesome,” Irwin said. “I remember sitting in the stands with Darren Anderson and Ben Goetsch when we were in eighth grade and projecting our starting lineup for when we were seniors and going to Camp Randall and winning state.”

So how did Irwin and his friends do predicting the Warriors’ 2009 starting lineup?

“We probably called it pretty good, but there were some guys who stepped it up through the years and did what they needed to do to start, that we didn’t expect,” Irwin said.

He said that group included Kassy McCarthy, the first girl to play football for the Warriors, who has emerged as one of the best kickers in the state.

“When we saw her kick, it was like ‘Wow, she can actually play.’ We were happy knowing that we were going to have a good kicker when we got up to high school,” Irwin said.

That was just one of the many pieces, Irwin said, that needed to fall into place to enable the Warriors to contend for their first state championship since winning the 2002 Division 3 title.

“We’ve been disappointed the last couple of years because we thought we had teams that could get there,” Irwin said. “But it’s great that my senior year we finally did what we wanted to do.”

Irwin is the first Waunakee player in coach Pat Rice’s 18-year tenure to earn a University of Wisconsin scholarship to play football.

“(Irwin’s) versatility is what they like,” Rice said. “They could see him play defensive end or defensive tackle or as an offensive center or guard.”

Irwin said he had plenty of positive role models in the program to emulate on his way to become a three-year starter, two-time co-captain and two-way starter — all rarities in one of the state’s elite prep football programs.

“The big guy we always watched was Nick Clemens. We also looked up to Chris Canto and Matt Lunder and Chris Schwartz,” Irwin said. “When you see them when you’re in seventh and eighth grade, they look just huge and they’re tearing it up on the football field. You want to be like them when you’re older.”

Irwin saved his love, though, for his “brothers” on the offensive line, affectionately dubbed the “Hogs.”

That group includes guards Eric Alfson and Josh Ripp, center John Oyer, tackles Devon Greiber and Mitch Severson, and tight ends Austin Maly and Austin Prusha.

“At Waunakee, everybody respects the ‘Hogs,’ ” he said. “They play a big part in our success.”

Irwin couldn’t imagine a better way to end his prep football career.

“We’re just a close group of friends,” he said. “There is not a member of the team that I couldn’t see me hanging with outside of football. It’s going to be sad to see the season end.”

Related

• Tenacity nets title: Acker, Waunakee unseat Kimberly
• UW football 2010 recruit profile: Jake Irwin

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