The Kewaunee Storm capped off their regular season with a statement win Friday night, defeating Marinette 42-21 in a dual for the Packerland Conference championship.

Marinette struck first after forcing a turnover on downs on Kewaunee’s opening possession. Senior quarterback Chase MacGregor connected on a short touchdown pass to put the Marines ahead 7-0. The Storm responded quickly, leaning on the ground game led by Waylon Delain and quarterback Brett Paulsen. Paulsen capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Connor Kilgore to even the score at 7-7.

After recovering a fumbled snap just before the first-quarter break, Kewaunee took its first lead on a 19-yard touchdown run from Paulsen, fighting through multiple tackles to make it 14-7.

A Kilgore interception late in the second quarter set up another scoring opportunity, and Paulsen found Dane Harrell from 21 yards out for the touchdown. The Storm added one more score before halftime with another Paulsen rushing touchdown to take a 26-7 lead at the break.

Marinette opened the second half with a big play from MacGregor, breaking loose for a 73-yard run before Mason Hofherr punched it in from 11 yards out to cut the deficit to 26-14. But Kewaunee’s offense stayed in rhythm. Paulsen added a nine-yard touchdown run before a fumbled handoff recovered by Harrell set up a 20-yard reverse touchdown from Kilgore to stretch the lead to 42-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Marinette’s Cooper Smith scored late in the fourth, but it was too little too late as the Storm closed out the 42-21 win.

Paulsen finished with three rushing touchdowns and two passing scores, leading Kewaunee to a perfect 6-0 record in conference play and 8-1 overall. Marinette drops to 6-3 (5-1), suffering its first conference loss of the season.

The Storm will now turn their attention to the postseason, looking to carry their strong finish and balanced offensive attack into the playoffs.