Franklin is crowned champions of the IFL
August 27 , 2007
On a beautiful sunny day with a temperature of 74 degrees, the Franklin Outlaws met the Muskego Hitmen in Iron Bowl XI. The game was built as possibly being one of the best games in IFL history as both teams had their eyes set on an Iron Bowl championship.
The last time these two teams met was on August 19th of the 2006 regular season where the Outlaws came out on top with a gutsy 36-35 overtime win over the Hitmen. This time both teams met on a much larger stage with a lot more at stake and the game truly lived up to its pregame hype.
In front of a packed crowd at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex in Franklin, both teams laid everything on the line as this heated rivalry reached scorching temperatures. Despite Muskego trailing the Outlaws for three and a half quarters, they finally took the lead on a toss sweep from inside the 20-yard line which made the score 17-14 with just under two minutes on the clock.
Then Franklin quarterback JP Josetti calmly took his team down the field where he threw a 30-yard touchdown strike to one of his receivers giving the Outlaws the lead with just under a minute to go in the game.
Muskego looked to do the same as the their quarterback Derek Daley completed three consecutive passes all the way down to the Franklin 40-yard line. With only 28 seconds left in the game, Daley’s pass was intercepted by the Outlaws secondary to seal a 20-17 victory and the Outlaws first ever Iron Bowl championship.
Here is what Franklin’s head coach Tom Karthausser had to say in a post game interview:
“We were so close last year, this year it had been our one true goal all year long to win the Iron Bowl. I’m so proud of our team for the effort and commitment they had toward accomplishing this goal. Words can’t describe this feeling.”