Baldwin-Woodville had a program-defining year in 2023, reaching the state semifinals where it fell to eventual Division-4 champion Lodi.

A special senior class made up the entire starting offensive line that powered an explosive offense featuring dual-threat quarterback Cal Smith, who re-wrote the Blackhawks’ record books.

It had the look of lightning in a bottle for Baldwin-Woodville — the perfect storm of a group of kids coming together at the right time to produce a season that wouldn’t soon be replicated.

And certainly not topped the following fall. Not by a team with five new starters up front. Not with a quarterback who had barely ever played the position.

“I think a lot of people didn’t think we were going to be able to live up to the expectations that last year’s team set,” said senior Sam Aho, the lone returning offensive lineman to see significant playing time in 2023.

Let alone exceed them. Right, Coach?

“I’m always optimistic,” Baldwin-Woodville coach Dan Keefer said. “But if you held a gun to my head and said, ‘Hey, are you going to make it to a state championship with this group?’ I would’ve been surprised. I don’t know that anybody could see (this coming).”

This being a state championship game berth — Baldwin-Woodville’s first in 30 years. The Blackhawks take on Racine St. Catherine’s at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Division-4 final at Camp Randall in Madison, aiming for the program’s first state title since 1992.

“I think that we all knew what we were capable of very early on,” Aho said. “So I think it was just showing everyone else what we knew, and proving that to the state.”

Fellow senior Gavin Sell noted he’d always dreamed of playing at state, so he “knew” that would come to fruition this season. But he probably didn’t envision it being with him taking the snaps. Not prior to this season, anyway.

The North Dakota State commit is a supreme athlete who’s beyond gifted with the ball in his hands. But his only extensive signal calling experience came in eighth grade. He was on the receiving end of Smith’s passes a year ago, finishing with 982 yards and 11 scores as a junior.

Sell has been at the front of the attack, though he admitted he figured when he was named quarterback he would throw more, given the program’s recent history of aerial attacks.

That is not this year’s team. That’s not to say the Blackhawks don’t throw. Sell has 1,258 yards and 15 scores through the air.

But these Blackhawks strike from the ground. Entering the season, the program’s single-season rushing record was set in 2010, when Riley Anderson ran for 1,503 yards.

Two players have eclipsed that mark this fall. Sell has 1,559 yards and 24 touchdowns rushing. He is not the school record holder. That distinction belongs to running back Taden Holldorf, who’s tallied 2,102 yards and 29 scores with a game to play.

“Our run game is so special, so it’s just really cool to see,” Sell said. “We have to give all that credit to the offensive line. They are some dogs, for sure.”

Underdogs.

That unit, Keefer noted, is the story of the season. Undersized, but athletic. Aho is listed at 220 pounds. Baldwin-Woodville’s offensive front uses speed and movement to generate lanes. It attacks with tempo, both during and in-between plays.