Fans Who Left Waukesha West Game At Halftime Forced To Explain Themselves After Comeback Win

WAUKESHA — Waukesha West High School's football team trailed La Crosse Central 14-0 at halftime Saturday, a margin that prompted an estimated 60 to 80 fans to leave the stadium before the Wolverines scored 24 unanswered points to win 24-20 and advance to the WIAA state semifinals.

Attendance figures are informal, based on a headcount taken by concession stand worker Travis Kowalczyk, 22, who said the exit mostly happened in a single wave right after the second-quarter clock hit zero. 'It was like someone opened a drain,' Kowalczyk said. 'I had four people in line for nacho cheese and then I had zero.'

Among those who left was Russ Pilarski, 48, who told his teenage son they would 'beat the traffic' by heading to the car during the halftime band performance. Pilarski said he turned the radio to the local sports broadcast somewhere around the Sunset Drive stoplight and heard the Wolverines had scored twice before he reached the Piggly Wiggly on his way home.

'I pulled into the parking lot and just sat there with the engine running,' Pilarski said. 'My wife asked what I was doing and I said I was listening to a football game I had personally witnessed the first half of.'

The Booster Club Weighs In

Denise Albrecht, 54, president of the Wolverines booster club, said she stayed through the final whistle and has since fielded 11 separate text messages from fellow boosters asking her to confirm, in detail, exactly what they missed.

"I've now personally narrated this game to more people than actually watched it live. At some point I should just charge for the service."

— Denise Albrecht, Waukesha West booster club president

Albrecht said the booster club does not track attendance by quarter, but estimated that the bleachers were 'about two-thirds full' by the time the Wolverines took their first lead late in the fourth quarter. She described the final minutes as 'the loudest two-thirds of a crowd I've ever heard.'

A Defense That Found Fumbles, And A Fan Base That Found Excuses

West's defense recovered three fumbles in the second half, two of which were forced inside La Crosse Central's own territory, according to the team's official game recap. Head coach Mike Teller's postgame comments, distributed through the school's athletic department, credited the defense's 'resilience and poise under pressure' and called the comeback 'rare at this level.'

Pilarski said he has since watched a replay of the fourth quarter on his phone, twice, 'to feel something close to what everyone else felt live.' He said he plans to stay for the full game next weekend 'regardless of score, weather, or bladder situation.'

Kowalczyk said concession sales actually ticked upward after the exodus, since the smaller remaining crowd ordered more per person. He sold out of soft pretzels with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, a development he called 'the real upset of the night.'

What's Next

The Wolverines advance to a WIAA Regional championship game next weekend against an opponent to be determined, marking West's first state-playoff advancement since 2021. Albrecht said the booster club is discussing whether to install a scoreboard-visible clock in the parking lot so departing fans can track the game from their cars, though she acknowledged the proposal 'sort of defeats the point of coming at all.'

Pilarski said he has not told his son's grandparents, who also left at halftime, that the team won. 'I'm letting them find out from someone else,' he said. 'I don't have it in me today.'