The Newsroom

News Item    

2007 High School Football Awards Banquet
12/8/07

On Thursday November 22, the last chapter would be written for the 2007 football season. No, it wasn't documented at a football field, but rather at Serb Hall, which is where the 2007 Greendale High School Football Awards Banquet was held. This would be the last time this year that the players and coaches would be together to be recognized for their accomplishments this season.

As you walked in the main room, a row of tables were lined up against a wall displaying a picture board, cakes, and many prizes that would be raffled off during the course of the evening. In another corner of the room, there was a projector and sound system playing a photomontage of the varsity season that was put together by Chuck Cairns, who does just about all of the photography work for the team. Up front was the head table that had nine chairs to accommodate the nine coaches that make up the staff for Greendale High School. Balloons and miniature goal posts adorned the white linen covered round tables that were scatter throughout the room.

Running back Dan Prindiville standing in
front of his offensive line.
(L to R) Vince Sciano, Jordan Campbell,
Joe Hansen, Andrew Thompson and
Lucas Pohlmann.

After an opening social hour, the program finally started as Coach Keith Ringelberg opened the ceremony with some comments about the Greendale Panther Touchdown Club and the effort they are putting in regarding a new artificial playing surface that will hopefully be installed in time for the start of next season. Then Head Coach Rob Stoltz grabbed the microphone and took control. "First came 'Reg-u-late', then 'Finish' and now 'Trust'," said Stoltz as he opened with a very detailed explanation of the meaning of "Trust". This was the keyword that the team used this year. This would be the third word that would complete a triangle as represented by touching the tips of your thumbs together from both hands, and tilting the rest of your close fingers in such a way that your index fingers touch as well. Each corner of this triangle also represents the three consecutive Woodland Conference Championships that Greendale now holds as they went undefeated for a third year in a row. "Winning three in a row now qualifies as a Dynasty," Stoltz said. "This is something that doesn't happen often, but because you trusted the system, the coaches and most of all, each other, you made it possible and were able to walk away victorious again."

Banquet organizer, Melissa Bychinski
working on selling raffle tickets.

Greendale statistician, Dan Koth snares
the coveted prize of the night during
the raffle.

After he finished his lengthy definition of "Trust", he worked his way over to recognizing and thanking all of the people that helped out in one way, shape, or form. This would include everyone from the four game statisticians, to the game announcers. The list was long and true and would be just to long to list here. Of course, the last person of whom he thanked would be our host for the evening, Melissa Bychinski, who was the lead person in putting everything together. Dinner then followed. There were salads, breads, mashed and French fried potatoes, vegetables, chicken, and beef-tips.

Coach Gary Jagodzinski getting hustled
for some raffle tickets.

After the meal was finished, coaches Chris Muench, Dan Rogaczewski and Shawn Casper started the awards portion of the night with a few comments about the Freshmen Team and their undefeated 7-0 season. Following their comments, they then introduced the players and presented them with their awards.

Mike Picciolo loading up his plate
during dinner.

Immediately after that, it was the Varsity Reserve's turn. Coaches Keith Ringelberg, Tim Gavinski, Jermaine Murry, and Mike Weyer all came up front and center. One key point that Coach Ringelberg pointed out was how this team is put together. "We don't have the luxury of working all week together as a unit," Ringelberg explained. "These guys are part of the varsity and are more or less the whipping boys so that there are enough bodies for the varsity to practice against during the course of the week. That being said, my hat goes off to these guys because when it was their turn to play their game, they would all come together and do a little whipping of their own against the other teams. For the short amount of work that we can do as a complete unit, going 6-2 tells you just how good they are. We as coaches are really excited about next year." The one very obvious thing was just how small the coaches looked compared to these players as they were handing out the awards. These guys diffidently have the frames so now it's just a matter of them working together during the off-season to become even faster and stronger.

Senior quarterback Mike Hennessy
shaking hands with Coach Murry as he
receives his letter and captains star.

Last but not least, it was the Varsity's turn. Head coach Rob Stoltz, along with assistants Scott Bond, Gary Jagodzinski, Keith Ringelberg, Jermaine Murry, Tim Gavinski, Matt Susek and Mike Weyer formed a line as the players were introduced and given their letters. There were special team awards that were given out too. "The Pride of the Panther Coach's Award" was given to junior Kyle Nethery. The Scout Offensive Player of the Year was given to senior Nick Ericksen. "The Scout Defensive Player of the Year" was given to sophomore Cordney Wren. "The Most Improved Player of the Year" was given to both junior Ben Ericksen and junior Andrew Thompson. "The Special Teams Player of the Year" was presented to senior Jason Markham. "The Lineman of the Year" was given to senior Vince Sciano. "The Defensive Player of the Year" was given to senior Nate Heinen. "The Offensive Player of the Year" was given to senior Kyle Mabry and the "Most Valuable Player of the Year" was presented to senior Mike Hennessy. Captain stars were also awarded to seniors Dan Prindiville, Mike Hennessy, Nate Heinen, Brennen Bychinski, and Vince Sciano.

As sad as it is to see another year come and go, it's even sadder to say good-bye to this year's seniors. This bunch includes Joey Bartman, Brennen Bychinski, Nick Ericksen, Robert Getschow, Zach Gilbert, Nate Heinen, Mike Hennessy, Brandon Henry, Chris Kubczak, Kyle Mabry, Jason Markham, Nico Miselem, Dan Prindiville, Matt Schuerman, and Vince Sciano. The one thing that these guys can say is that they have not lost a varsity conference game in three years. There aren't to many high school football players that can say that. - ram

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Special    

2007 Woodland All-Conference Selections

News    

2007 State Playoff Brackets And Results

Below are the final brackets going into the state finals. The championship game results are listed below.

D1  D2  D3  D4  D5  D6  D7

Championship Games

Division 1
Arrowhead 31
Homestead 7

Division 2
Kimberly 20
DeForest 7

Division 3
Wisconsin Lutheran 49
New London 6

Division 4
West Salem 52
Kettle Moraine Lutheran 14

Division 5
LaCross Aquinas 27
Kewaunee 0

Division 6
Stratford 28
Iola-Scandinavia 7

Division 7
Eleva-Strum 41
Southwestern 6

Varsity    

Game... Set... Match!
by R. A. Mattrisch - 10/28/07

I realize that tennis doesn't really have anything to do with football, but I could make a case when you put two powerful offensive football teams like Wisconsin Lutheran and Greendale on the same field. What separates these two teams, however, is the way their offense's work. WISCO has a very strong and dominating run attack, and Greendale has a very potent passing attack. Both styles will get the job done. The problem now comes in with the defenses. Greendale was very concerned about stopping the run, and WISCO was very concerned about stopping the pass. When this situation occurs, you end up with a tennis match. Back and forth… back and forth until one of the teams manages to break serve. That's what happened Saturday afternoon at one of the most entertaining high school football games of the year.

It was a beautiful autumn afternoon. The temperature was in the mid 50's with plenty of sunshine. This game was labeled the "Game of the week" by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and rightfully so. Number #1 seeded Greendale was hosting #4 seeded Wisconsin Lutheran in the second round of the WIAA Division 3 Playoffs. People were saying that the winner of this game would win the state title. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen. The real question that many people had was, why are these two teams meeting so early? It's a long story full of twists and turns, so I will just not go down that road. In the end, these two teams would have to play each other anyway so what's the difference, I guess. When it was all said and done, the WISCO Vikings defeated the Greendale Panthers 48-27 in one heck of a ball game. The game was a lot closer than the score for it was loaded with plenty of offense. How much offense? Try 925 yards worth. Greendale would now turn in their equipment, while WISCO moves on to play a Level 3 game against Brown Deer next weekend. Brown Deer ended up destroying the once #1 state ranked New Berlin Eisenhower Lions 41-0 at Eisenhower.  WOW!

Greendale would take the opening kick to start the game. As soon as the Panthers came up to the line of scrimmage, they would find WISCO playing a tight bump, man-to-man coverage, which is just what Coach Rob Stoltz was hoping for. Everyone has tried this in the past, but no one ever could successfully cover Greendale that way. Chances were very good that WISCO wouldn't be able to either. On the Panther's third play of their opening drive, quarterback Mike Hennessy would hook up with Ben Ericksen down the left side line for a nice 25-yard pass completion. On the very next play however, Hennessy would roll right and throw an ill-advised pass, which was intercepted by WISCO. On their very first play, WISCO would score as running back Jesse Muldrow would run it in from 25-yards out. The kick was good and just like that, the Vikings were up 7-0 with 10:40 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers would answer back with an 8-play 98-yard drive of their own as Hennessy found Ericksen in the end zone for a 25-yard pass play. Travis Kahl would miss the point after, making the score 7-6 in favor of WISCO with 9:10 remaining in the first quarter.

The Vikings would now come back with a 13-play 75-yards drive of their own, as Muldrow would carry it in again from 5-yards out. They would miss the extra point kick making the score 13-6 with 4:04 still in the first quarter.

It was now Greendale's turn to serve as everyone's heads moved from left, to right, and back to left. The Panthers answered that drive with a 13-play 70-yard scoring drive of their own, as running back Dan Prindiville carried it in from 7-yards out. Kahl's kick was blocked making the score 13-12 in favor of WISCO with 6 seconds left in the first quarter.

WISCO would now bring it back with a 6-play 79-yard scoring drive as quarterback John Klein would sneak it in from 1-yard out. The extra point try was good making the score 20-12 with 10:08 now in the second quarter.

Greendale would ace WISCO with their next drive, as Hennessy found Ericksen behind a Viking defender screaming down the right side line for a 1-play 66-yard touchdown pass. The Panthers would line up for two and convert, as Prindiville carried it in. We were now at deuce with a score of 20 apiece with 9:52 left in the first half.

It was now WISCO’s turn to serve. They served up a dandy as they scored in three plays, as Klein would hook up with Evan Jozefacki for a 75-yards touchdown pass. The point after try was good and it was advantage WISCO by a score of 27-20 with 8:24 remaining in the first half.

Greendale now had the ball, but WISCO would break their serve as they intercepted a Hennessy pass on the Panther's 43-yard line. Eight plays later the Vikings would score as Klein took it in on another 1-yard sneak. The extra point kick was good, taking the score up to 34-20 with 3:34 left in the half.

Wisconsin Lutheran would break serve again forcing the Panthers to punt after only three plays. They now had the ball at midfield with just over 2 minutes left in the half. They would manage to get into field goal territory, but would miss, leaving the score at 34-20 WISCO, at the half.

Disaster would strike just like two years ago when these teams played. WISCO's Chris Echols would return the opening kickoff all the way to the house for another Viking touchdown. The extra point was good making the score 41-20 with only 15 seconds missing from the clock. Greendale was now in a little trouble, but they are very capable of striking back fast.

As Greendale lined up on offense for their first possession of the half, they noticed that WISCO made a huge adjustment on defense.  They went back to a more traditional cover-two style zone. This was probably because the man-to-man idea wasn't working to good with Greendale's sure handed fast receivers. All that would do is force Greendale to change what plays they would now run. Greendale would march deep into Viking territory, but they were intercepted again giving Lutheran the ball on their own 36-yard line.

Greendale would force the Vikings to punt for the first time after just three plays. The Panthers would put an 11-play 54-yard scoring drive together as Hennessy carried it if from 1-yard out. The point after was good making the score 41-27 with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

The Vikings would now start a drive on their own 28-yard line. They would take it all the way to Greendale's 28 before the Panther defense stopped them on downs. Greendale now had the ball, as the fourth quarter would begin. They would manage to put together a 9-play drive that included Ericksen having a rare drop in the end zone, but they would give it up on downs back to the Vikings.

WISCO would now come back up field with a time consuming 13-play 82-yard scoring drive, as Echols would get loose from 32-yards out and score. The point after was good, now putting the Panthers in deep trouble.

The Panthers had a drive going, but Hennessy was picked off for the 4th time thus ending any possible chance of making it interesting. WISCO would just keep it on the ground to chew up the remainder of the clock. Before the scoreboard would be shutdown for the year, it would read 48-27 in favor of the Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings.

In the end, Greendale needed to make every possession count and they could not turn the ball over. "When you throw that many times, things like that will happen," said a disappointed Stoltz. "I think what really hurt us the most was our poor tackling on defense. They have some horses for running backs and you need to get a lot of helmets on them. One or two won't do it. It will take a big team to stop them but quite honestly, I really don't see anybody beating them. They're good!"

For game stats and summary, click here.

For game pictures, click here.

For game highlight video, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Varsity    

Peaks And Valleys
by R. A. Mattrisch - 10/24/07

The best part about football games is that you never can predict what is going to happen, especially in the playoffs! You just have to sit there and watch. That can be nerve racking sometimes. You also have to be patient of which I will be the first to admit, I am not. Needless to say, whoever made it to Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial Field this past Tuesday to watch the game between Catholic Memorial and Greendale, probably felt as if they were on a 2-1/2 hour roller-coaster ride. In the end, the Panthers did manage to put the Crusaders away by a score of 35-28 in this, the first round of the WIAA Division 3 playoffs. Greendale will now move to round 2.

Greendale would get the ball first on offense to start the game. Memorial would end up forcing them to put after only three plays. The Crusaders would come back with an eleven play 58-yard scoring drive as Memorial's Rayn Baez would take it in from 3-yards out. The extra point try was good making the score 7-0 with 5:58 left in the first quarter.

Greendale would take the ensuing kickoff and would have to start their drive from their own 16-yard line. On the very first play, Panther running back Dan Prindiville would fumble, giving the ball back to the Crusaders. The Panther defense managed to hold and forced Memorial to try for a field goal. The kick was no good so Greendale would dodge a bullet and get the ball back on their own 20-yard line.

The Panthers went three and out again. The Crusaders would get the ball back but would fumble on their third play of which Greendale's Dan Dacquisto would recover, giving it right back to the Panther's offense with better field position than they had before.

The Panthers would fail to get a first down and were forced to punt again. This was now the fourth time they have touched the ball and have not gotten a first down. Three plays later, Memorial would fumble again only this time, Greendale's Nate Heinen would fall on it giving it back to Greendale in great field position. With the ball now resting on the Memorial 33-yard line, Greendale would march down to the 2, but failed to score and ended up giving the ball to Memorial on downs  It was now the Crusader's ball, first and ten from their own 2-yard line.

The defense kept them pinned and forced them to punt in three. The Panthers would start again with great field position as the punt was returned to the Crusader 34-yard line. On the very first play, Greendale's quarterback, Mike Hennessy would finally connect with Ben Ericksen down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Travis Kahl's kick was good tying the score at 7's with 6:20 left in the first half.

Greendale would eventually force the Crusaders to punt on their next position. Greendale would take control of the ball on their own 20-yard line. Six plays later, Hennessy would find Kyle Mabry on a skinny post route for a 24-yards scoring strike. Kahl's kick was good and just like that, Greendale was on top 14-7 with 1:33 left in the first half.

Memorial would put a nice drive together after the ensuing kickoff, but the clock would eventually run out on them.

The Crusaders would get the ball first to start the second half. They were in the middle of a nice drive, but on the seventh play, Dan Dacquisto caught a fumble in mid air and returned it to the Crusader 47-yard line. Nine plays later, Hennessy found Mabry in the end zone again for another Panther touchdown. The point after was good making the score 21-7 with 4:00 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers would force Memorial into a punting situation after only five plays. This time the punter muffed the snap forcing him to fall on it on Memorial's 45-yard line.

Eight plays later, Hennessy, would this time, find Mike Picciolo in the end zone for a 20-yard scoring strike. The point after was true again and just like that, Greendale seemed to be on a roll, ripping off 28 straight points after Memorial's first touchdown. It was obvious that Catholic Memorial's turnovers where costing them the game. Greendale on the other hand, started out very slow and now seemed to be running on all cylinders once again.

It was now the fourth quarter and Greendale forced Memorial to punt again. Memorial then forced Greendale to three and out. It would be this punt that the momentum would change again. Memorial's Mike Jankowski would return this punt, 78-yards for a Crusader touchdown. The kick after was good making the score 28-14 with 10:20 left in the game.

Greendale would go three and out again. This time Memorial came down and scored in seven plays. They would convert on the extra point moving the score to 28-21 with now 6:39 left in the game.

Things look to be going down hill for Greendale as they were forced to punt in three again. This time, the Crusaders were pinned deep at their end of the field. On the third play of this position, Panther safety, Kyle Mabry, would intercept a pass and take it to the house for a 29-yard touchdown return. The extra point was good giving the Panthers a little breathing room by a score of 35-21 with 3:14 left in the game.

The Crusaders would not give up as they came back with a nine play 80-yards scoring drive of their own. The kick was good and now they were only one touchdown behind the Panthers with 1:51 left in the game.

Everybody and their grandma knew what was coming up next. It would be the infamous on-side kick attempt. Well, with the whistle of an official, the kick went off and the Crusaders would get the ball back after it bounced off some Panther hands. With 1:48 remaining in the game, the Crusaders were seven points away from tying this game up. Four plays later, however, Greendale's Cordney Wren would intercept a pass in the end zone thus killing any chance of a Crusader comeback.

The Panthers did their best to try and run as much clock off as possible while keeping the ball on the ground. They would eventually have to punt back to the Crusaders with 13.5 seconds left in the game. Memorial was only able to get two plays off before the game finally came to an end. The scoreboard would now lie still as it read Greendale 35, Catholic Memorial 28. For the second time in two weeks, sophomore cornerback Cordney Wren had to make a play to keep his team on top.

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Greendale will now play host to # 4 seed Wisconsin Lutheran (WISCO) for game two. WISCO beat Pewaukee 44-12 and is considered by many as the teams to beat in division 3. Because Greendale was seeded higher than WISCO, and the fact that both teams hosted home games in week one, the higher seeded team gets the home field so the game will be played at Stephen J Gavinski Memorial Field this Saturday at 4:00pm. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Brown Deer - Eisenhower game the following week. Because there are less games going on in the area, there will be more available fans so you better get there early.

For game time pictures, click here.

For game stats and summary, click here.

For the highlight video, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Varsity    

A Dynasty Is Born
by R. A. Mattrisch - 10/18/07

Going undefeated in a football conference is difficult to do. Some say that it's a result of some luck and good fortune. Going undefeated in a conference for two years in a row is even harder. Some would call that a fluke. Going undefeated in a conference for three years in a row now earns you the title "dynasty." The Greendale Panthers wrapped up their last regular season game Wednesday night by hosting the undefeated New Berlin Eisenhower Lions at Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial Stadium. This game was heavily anticipated because it would pit the Woodland-North Conference Champion (Eisenhower), against the Woodland-South Conference Champion (Greendale). Both teams would claim their title by virtue of going undefeated in their respective conferences. This game really had no meaning in that respect, but it did have meaning in that the winner could actually be called the, "King of the hill." This same scenario happened back in 2005 of which Greendale won by a score of 34-14. Last year, the two teams did not face each other, but Greendale was still labeled "King" by virtue of going undefeated in their conference, while Eisenhower wound up losing a shocker on the last conference game of the season to St Francis, thus giving them their one and only loss for the regular season.

The Lions were pretty much ranked #1 all season by the pollsters for division 3, while Greendale seemed un-noticed for whatever reason. In fact, it has only been the last few weeks that the media and coach polls have started to place them on their lists. "I don’t let that stuff bother me, nor do I lose any sleep on it," said Coach Rob Stoltz. "It's impossible for these polls to have any kind of legitimacy because it's impossible to compile all the information on every team so that you can formulate these lists. We are perfectly content in doing what we do, and that it to win football games."

Winning games is exactly what the Panthers do for they have now won 22 consecutive conference games in a row. Ironically, the Lions dealt Greendale their last loss three years ago. The Panthers will now carry that string into next year's season.

The stage was now set. There first was a nice moment of silence to remember David Barczak (age 77) who passed away earlier in the week. He was one of the first Greendale Booster Club presidents when the club was formed back in 1976. He was, and always will be one of the Panther's biggest fans. Then the state's best high school band played the anthem followed by the team introductions. Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the noise that came from the few thousand fans that came to watch the game. There were a lot of them. Also in attendance were various local news cameras, reporters and a radio station.

Greendale would receive the ball first. They started doing what they do by completing quick passes. Things were going as planned until senior quarterback Mike Hennessy fumbled the ball around the Ike 23-yard line. Six plays later, Eisenhower's senior running back Chad Lugo broke through for a 60-yard touchdown run. The extra point was good, as New Berlin would draw first blood.

Greendale would answer with an eleven play scoring drive of their own as Hennessy found junior wide out Ben Ericksen in the end zone who made a spectacular catch. The defender just got a finger on it but as Ericksen was falling down on his back, he somehow managed to still catch the ball for a Panther touchdown. Travis Kahl's kick was good making the score 7-7 with 4:27 left in the first quarter.

Eisenhower would come back on the ensuing possession and put a twelve play scoring drive together again as Lugo carried it in from 1-yard out. The kick was good putting the Lions back on top 14-7.

Both teams would then punt to each other. With 5:32 remaining in the half, Greendale would set up their offense on the Ike 44. Nine plays later, Greendale's # 2 quarterback Chris Ridgeway would find pay dirt as he carried it in from 1-yard out. Kahl's kick was good tying the score with 1:55 remaining in the first half. Ike would take the ensuing possession and would do nothing to end the first half.

The Lions would get the ball first to start the second half. They ended up deep in their territory by virtue of a penalty, which would put them on their own 13-yard line. On the very first play, Lugo would put a 60-run together around the left side taking it all the way to the Panther 13-yard line. Four plays later, Lugo would reach the end zone again capping off a nice 77-yard drive. The kick was good making the score 21-14 in favor of Ike with 9:41 left in the 3rd quarter.

Ike would force Greendale to punt after a few first downs. The Lions would then start a drive but Greendale's Cordney Wren would intercept a Lion pass, and take it back to the Panther 33-yard line. The Panthers would have to punt again after just six plays. Ike would do no better as they were forced to punt after just three plays of their own.

Greendale would have to punt again as it was obvious that they were having a bad day at the track. Ike would fumble on their next possession giving it back to the Panthers on the Lion's 26-yard line. The Panthers would end up giving the ball back to Eisenhower on downs as they failed to move the sticks. With the rain now falling hard, Greendale would force Ike to punt after three again. Greendale's big play man, Kyle Mabry would take the kick on his own 44 and zigzag his way all the way to the Lion's 1-yard line before being pushed out of bounds. Three plays later, Mabry would assume the quarterback position and take a direct shotgun snap in for a score. The kick was good now tying the game up with 5:11 remaining in the game.

With the playing conditions deteriorating fast, both teams would fail to do anything as the clock eventually ran out. It was now overtime. A coin flip would determine who goes on offense first and each team would get 4 downs to score from 10-yards out. If no one scores, we would do it again. Kind of like baseball.

OT 1: Ike won the toss and elected to go on defense first. On Greendale's second play, Hennessy would throw an interception in the end zone thus failing to score. It was now Ike's turn. Lugo was lined up as a shotgun quarterback to take a direct snap. As soon as he got the ball, he was nailed for a 5-yard loss. On the next play, it looked like the center didn't snap the ball on time thus resulting in a 5-yard penalty. Ike would again get called for a motion penalty now pushing them back to the 25-yard line. On 2nd down and a country mile, quarterback Niko Koshak would drop back and throw a jump ball towards the goal line of which Ike's Austin Selvick came down with on the 2-yard line after out jumping the two defenders. One the very next play, the Lions would fumble the snap making it 4th down. The Lions would line up for the game winning 20-yard field goal, but kicker Ian McKechnie would push the ball wide right thus carrying this game to a second overtime.

OT 2: Eisenhower would now start with the ball first for the second overtime. They first ran a trap play that only netted 3-yards. They then ran a straight dive to net another 2-yards. On their third play, they would try a quarterback bootleg that netted no yards. With the ball on the 5, McKechnie would try for another field goal only this time it would be from 15-yards out. The kick never made it higher than the crossbar thus giving the ball back to Greendale with a chance to win with just a field goal. Greendale would come out and run a quarterback ISO as Hennessy only netted 3-yards. Greendale then called time out to setup a special play. All the Panthers had to do is keep the ball in the middle of the field, and don't fumble. Mabry would line up in a shotgun position at quarterback. He would get the ball and low and behold, he would fumble after getting hit in the backfield and Eisenhower would fall on it. This would now move the game to a third overtime.

OT 3: It was Greendale's turn to start out on offense first. On their very first play, Hennessy would find "the magician" Ben Ericksen in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. A cool Travis Kahl came out and drilled the kick perfectly through the uprights to put the Panthers up by 7. The Lions would now have to score a touchdown or this game would be over. On Ike's first play, they would fumble putting the ball on the 15-yard line. On the very next play, Koshak would throw another one of those jump balls, which was caught by Mark Dorlack in the end zone for a touchdown. Now for the big decision. Would Ike go with an unsure kicker, or would the go for the 2-point try and the win? After a timeout, they made the decision to go for the win. With the Woodland's best running back lined up as a shotgun quarterback, Lugo would take the direct snap and make his way left to where he had three up backs blocking. They managed to make some nice blocks, but they had no one left to block a screaming Cordney Wren who would come up from his cornerback position and drop Lugo 2-yards short of the goal line.

The Panthers would win what could almost be called a war. This game was everything it was expected to be and then some. In the end, it was obvious that the playing conditions were affecting both teams equally as much. It seemed that these teams would need a little more luck then they would normally need to help them with a victory. Tonight it was Greendale's lucky night. The next time could be different. What's funny is that there could be a next time because both schools will be playing in the same division for the playoffs. It is possible that they could face each other one more time this year. I like to consider myself a betting man, but I wouldn't touch a game where these two teams would be playing each other. Anything can happen.

Greendale and Eisenhower will now wait to see who they will play first as the playoff brackets are expected to be posted sometime Friday afternoon by the WIAA. Last year, the Lions lost in the first round to Fort Atkinson, while Greendale made it all the way to the state championship game only to come up short by losing to Waupaca 7-3. All I can say is that the fans got their money's worth... and I think Greendale needs an artificial field because there is nothing left on the muddy one they have now. I think I recall seeing grass, but that was two months ago.

For game time pictures, click here.

For game stats and summary, click here.

For the highlight video, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

Freshman – Can you say, "UNDEFEATED?"
by R. A. Mattrisch. 10/17/07

It would come down to the last game of the season to decide who the best of the best would be. Greendale, who won all of their games in their half of the Woodland (South), and New Berlin Eisenhower, who won all of their games in their half (North). It's not often that this scenario comes along, so when it appeared, everyone knew it was going to be exciting to see. All that was at steak here was who would be the, "best of the best," and who would remain undefeated for the 2007 freshman season. After all of the cheering, and yelling, and hitting, and running, and passing ended, the Panthers of Greendale were the last team standing. The Panthers defeated the Vikings 20-12 in a game that no one will forget. Greendale is the only freshman football team that put up a perfect season from the entire Woodland Conference.

The game would start with Eisenhower getting the ball first. Greendale would force the Lions to punt after only a few first downs. Greendale would bring the ball back the other way and would score first as Greendale's Andrew Brees ran it in from 10-yards out. The extra point kick was good making the score 7-0 early in the 1st quarter. Later in the quarter, running back Luke "Jigsaw" Drumel, would go down with an injury, which would leave Greendale without one of their main big play players. Ike would go three and out again. Greendale would drive all the way inside the Lion 20 before fumbling the ball back to Ike.

A few plays later, Greendale's Curtis Nelson would strip the ball, giving it back to the Panthers offense. Greendale would now put a drive together and would score as Brees took it himself from 15-yards out. Even though he was hammered hard at the goal line, he managed to hold the ball over the goal line long enough to register as a touchdown. The extra point was blocked, changing the score to 13-0 in favor of the Cats.

Ike would take the ensuing kickoff and return it to mid-field. A few plays later, Eisenhower would hook up on a long pass play over Panther defender Manny Medina who fell down, to put themselves on the board for their first time tonight. The extra point try was no good, making the score 13-6 late in the 1st half. Greendale would then end up punting and Ike would turn it over via an interception by Greendale's Ernie Valente to end the 1st half.

It was obvious that both teams made some halftime changes because both offenses where now having trouble, and both defenses were now delivering major blows. On one Eisenhower possession, they found themselves is a 3rd and situation. They called a pass play of which the ball was deflected by two Greendale defenders but somehow still ended up in the hands of a Lion player who took it all the way to the Panther 3-yard line. They would eventually punch that in for another touchdown. As they lined up for the extra point kick, Ike called a timeout and decided to change out teams and go for the 2-point try instead. They would try a belly type play to the right of which Greendale's Curtis Nelson was waiting and drove the ball carrier all the way back to the 15-yard line for a huge defensive play. This would still leave Greendale on top by only 1-point as the score was 13-12 as the 3rd quarter came to an end.

The 4th quarter would be like the 3rd as the battle continued. Eisenhower then managed to get to the Panther's 10-yard line. After a few plays and penalties, Ike was backed up and found themselves in a 4th and 20 situation. The Panther defense rose to the occasion and turned the Lions away once again. The Panthers would then put a ball controlling drive together, working their way to the Lion 35-yard line. There was now only 20 seconds left in the game and the Panthers found themselves in a 4th and 9 predicament. Instead of taking a knee and giving the ball back to Ike for a few last plays, they decided to run a play. That play would yield another touchdown as Brees scampered 35-yards to the end zone as the home fans went crazy. The extra point try was good giving you your final score of 20-12.

"This was the best team we have played all year," said a happy Coach Chris Muench. "Our guys were happy that they won the Woodland South, but they figured why not go for it all? I will have to say that Coach Rogaczewski's halftime speech had a little to do with our second half performance. I was starting to get worried that he was going to keel over." We'll never really know what was all said, but it was real apparent that this group of 29 guys wanted it all! The line play on both sides was outstanding, the line backing was outstanding and the secondary play was outstanding, and of course, the offense did what they have been doing all year long. "I’m spent!" said Coach Dan Rogaczewski. "The guys did everything we asked of them and then some. All I know is that the varsity should be in good shape for the next 4 years or so."

The freshman season has now come to pass. These guys can sit back and reflect on what all happened and be proud of what they accomplished. It will only be a matter of a few weeks when the coaches will unlock the door to the weight room, and remind them that the 2008 season has officially begun.

On behalf of the GPTC and all members of the Panther Nation, we would like to extend a hearty "Congratulations" to the players and coaches of the 2006 Greendale Freshman football team.

Varsity    

Roars, Feathers & Flags
by R. A. Mattrisch - 10/13/07

It was a cool, crisp, October Friday night and the Panthers had the Hawks in the house for game 8 of this year's football season. After a bunch of roars, a lot of flying feathers and a serious dose of little yellow flags, the Greendale Panthers eventually defeated the Greenfield Hawks by a score of 49-9. By winning this game, the Panthers kept their Woodland conference-winning streak alive at 23 games and moved their record to 7-1 for the season. Greenfield has now dropped to 1-7 for the year. This particular game will be remembered by the 17 penalty flags that were thrown by the officials. If it wasn't for a running clock in the second half, this game might have went into the wee hours of the morning. "I really have no comment on that," said a perturbed Coach Rob Stoltz. "I'll have to watch the film and see what was going on because the majority of the flags were on the other side of the field where it was hard for me to see." Despite all of the penalties, Greendale still managed to muster up 568-yards of total offense even with the 105-yard's worth of penalties taken off.

Greendale took possession after holding the Hawks to one first down and forcing them to punt. They would immediately start the offensive machine by putting together a twelve play 79-yard scoring drive together as Panther quarterback Mike Hennessy carried it in the end zone from 4-yards out. Travis Kahl's extra point kick was good making the score 7-0 with 4:31 left in the 1st quarter.

After a very nice kick return by Greenfield, they would set up shop on Greendale’s 28-yard line. Four plays later, Greenfield's Matt Kubis scampered around right end from 13-yards out to give Greenfield their first TD of the night. The extra point try was good tying the score up at 7's with 2:46 still remaining in the 1st quarter.

Greendale was forced to punt to the Hawks after just three plays. Greenfield would then fumble on their fourth play at mid-field giving it right back to the Panthers. Five plays later, Hennessy would find one of the Fab-4, Ben Ericksen, in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Kahl's kick was good making the score 14-7 with 10:20 left in the second quarter.

Greenfield would take possession after the kick but on their third play from scrimmage, Greendale's Chris Ridgeway intercepted a short slant pass and took it to the house for another Panther score. Kahl's kick split the uprights again taking the score to 21-7 with 9:21 left in the first half.

Both teams would then punt to each other. Greenfield managed to get the ball down to the 8-yard line when they decided to go for a field goal on 4th and 5. The kick never made it giving the Cats the ball on their own 8. They managed to get it the Hawk's 33-yard line before Hennessy threw his one and only interception of the night. Greenfield would take over on their own 20-yard-line.

On their very first play of that possession, Greendale's Mike Picciolo would intercept a pass giving it back to Hennessy & Company on the Hawk's 20-yard line. Three plays later, Panther running back Dan Prindiville would take it in behind a great block from Kyle Nethery, completing a 9-yard touchdown run. Kahl's kick was wide right making the score 27-7 with 1:48 left in the first half.

Greenfield would again have a nice kick return, but two plays later; Greendale's Cordney Wren would intercept the ball giving it back to G’dale's offense. The Panthers managed to work fast and furious as they got the ball to the Greenfield 30 before fumbling back to the Hawks. The first half would then come to an end.

The Panthers would receive the ball first to start the second half. They wasted no time as it took them just three plays to move the ball 69-yards with Prindiville running it in from 13-yards out. Kahl's kick was good making the score 34-7 with 10:59 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Panthers would hold Greenfield to just one first down before forcing them to punt. Greendale would take possession on their 9-yard line. This time it took eleven plays to move the ball 81-yards as Hennessy found another member of the Fab-4, Kyle Mabry, in the end zone for a 10-yard pass completion. This was after Greendale had two touchdowns called back because of penalties. The extra point try was good making the score 41-7 with 5:28 left in the 3rd.

Greendale would force Greenfield to punt after three again. Greendale would now take over on their own 38-yard line with new personnel in on offense. After a nice 50-yard run by the Panther's #2 quarterback Chris Ridgeway, Greendale's Joey Bartman would take it in from 3-yards out to put up Greendale’s 7th touchdown of the night. Kahl would make his kick with 2:47 still left in the 3rd quarter taking the score up to 48-7, thus instituting a running clock.

Both teams would then touch the ball. After Greenfield got it back, they put a very nice 13-play drive together only to fumble the ball on the Panther 1-yard line. The Panthers would then take control but were tackled in the end zone for a safety. This would now change the score to 48-9 with :42 seconds left in the game. Greendale would punt the ball back to the Hawks, but the clock ran out making the final score 48-9.

The stage is now set for the finale of all finales. Unbeaten New Berlin Eisenhower from the Woodland North comes to town for a conference crossover closer. Even though Greendale and Eisenhower have won their respective conferences by going undefeated, this game really will only decide who's the best of the best. Both teams are in the post season playoffs no mater what happens in this game. Rumor has it right now to that Time Warner Cable will be setting up their cameras for their high school game of the week. Expect all of the local news trucks as well for this one will draw plenty of interest. This same scenario happened back in 2005 of which Greendale dominated by a score of 34-14. You better plan on getting there early for a record crowd is expected to be in attendance. This truly will be one of the best games of the year.

For stats and summary, click here.

For game time pictures, click here.

For scoring highlight video, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

Greendale Freshman Saw Up Greenfield
by R. A. Mattrisch. 10/12/07

The Greendale freshman football was in town Thursday night hosting cross-town rival Greenfield for game six of this year's season. Well with a couple of zigs and a couple of zags, Greendale came out on top by a score of 43-0 to keep their undefeated season alive. If you have nothing to do on the nights the freshman team plays, I would encourage you to come down and watch. They are very talented and very exciting to watch. They pack a variety of tools in their toolbox of which other teams can't seem to defend.

One of the coach's favorite tools last night was Luke "Jigsaw" Drumel (pictured left). This guy is truly a treat to watch because you never know if he's tackled or not. In fact the referees have to actually swallow their whistles so that they don't inadvertently blow them when "Jigsaw" is running with the ball. Needless to say, the Hawks got sawed in half a few times. How many times? Four, to be exact! Drumel finished the night with just a tad under 300-yards rushing and four touchdowns.

Things got started on the Panther's first possession of the game. On their third play from scrimmage, the "Jigsaw" busted through and scampered 70-yards for the first points of the night. Andrew Brees's extra point try was good making the score 7-0 with 7:45 remaining in the first quarter.

Greenfield was forced to line up for a punt on their ensuing possession after failing to get a first down. The snap went over the head of the punter and rolled into the end zone of which the Panthers recovered for a safety. The score now became 9-0 with 5:50 still remaining in the first quarter.

On Greendale's next possession, they gave the ball to "Jigsaw" Drumel again who cut his way 35-yards for another touchdown. The extra point try was no good making the score 15-0 with 5:20 left in the first.

Greenfield was forced to punt again back to the Panthers. This time quarterback Brees found Joel Sirus on a crossing route. With the help of some great downfield blocking, he found his way into the end zone completing a 15-yard pass play. The kick was good this time making the score 22-0 with :06 seconds left in the first quarter.

There was still time in the quarter so Greendale would have to kick back to the Hawks. As the Panthers stormed down the field, Greendale's Austin Bychinski just went up and took the ball from the runner giving it back to the Panthers on the Hawks 27-yard line. A few plays later, Drumel would find the end zone again. Brees's kick was good making the score 29-0 with 8:08 left in the first half. At this point, Greenfield didn't know what hit them. Greenfield would finally get a drive going but it stalled on the Panther 38-yard line. Both teams punted to each other as the first half came to an end.

The Hawks were to receive to start the second half but were forced to punt in three plays. Greendale came out and put a nice 45-yard scoring drive together that was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run by yes… you guessed it. The "Jigsaw!" This play was kind of hard to see because it was at the far southeast corner of the end zone. After zig-zagging through the defense, you couldn't see Drumel anymore for it appeared that he was tackled. Opps, silly me! All of a sudden there was this pile of humanity still moving. It was "The Saw" carrying three guys on his back into the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the night. The extra point try was good making the score 36-0 with 5:21 left in the third quarter. The clock would now continuously run by virtues of the 35-point rule.

The scoring was quiet until the fourth quarter when Greenfield fumbled the ball on their 34-yard. A few plays later, Greendale's Bobby Hall ran a sweep around right end and score from 13-yards out. Brees made the extra point making the score 43-0 with 5:13 remaining in the game.

That would do it for the scoring as the cats swallowed the birds 43-0. Defensively, there were several players that stepped up and made plays. Curtis Nelson recovered a fumble and both Tyler Fink and Joe Lohrke each had an interception. There was one other fumble recovery, but I wasn’t sure who fell on it.

Next week Tuesday, the Panthers (6-0) will now play the game of games as unbeaten New Berlin Eisenhower (6-0) comes to town. If you want to see a really good game, make sure you see this one for the winner will own the unofficial title of Woodland Conference Champion for the freshman level. Game time is 6:30pm.

Special Interest    

I Could Never Be More Proud
by R. A. Mattrisch.10/11/07

A lot of Greendale Panther football types may know me, and I’m sure that there may be a few that don't. If you have anything to do with football in Greendale, chances are you'll eventually find out about me sooner or later. This article isn't about me however, but rather an experience I had. I felt that I needed to share it with the rest of the Panther Nation.

It was an overcast day as the youth "B" team I help coach, finished up with their pre-practice routine. The next thing I knew was that we were all running over to this two-man blocking sled apparatus. Unbeknownst to me, the head "B" team coach, Matt Barczak, and varsity offensive line coach, Scott Bond, made arrangements for he and some of the varsity linemen players, to show our "B" team players a few things about offensive line blocking. Now this isn't anything new because during the summer, the high school coaches always extend invitations and encourage the youth players to attend the various clinics that the coaches put on. The varsity coaches also come down on occasion to demonstrate a few things to the kids and coaches as well.

This particular afternoon, however, hit me kind of funny. As I stood back and listened to Coach Bond, I started to reminisce about the days when I was coaching him at the youth level. I then remembered the great success he had during his high school career as he moved up the ladder towards the varsity. Then there was that magical 1991 season that I will never forget. He then went off to college where he continued to play, and then returned back here. Now here I am watching Coach Bond taking time out from his busy day, to show a bunch of 7th graders, the tricks of the trade when it comes to blocking.

For those of you who maybe are totally oblivious to this, Greendale's offensive, which are anchored by their dominating offensive lines, have been putting up some very impressive, almost unbelievable numbers the past 7 years or so. There's a reason why too. It's called "coaching!"

Needless to say, it was very nice and very special for Coach Bond to work with us. You know what made this even more special? The fact that the whole varsity line group stayed after their practice to help work with these players too. These guys are tired, worn out, banged up and probably real hungry, but yet they stayed because they wanted to help. You had to be there to see how these huge players interacted with the much smaller players. The big boys could have easily made fun of the much smaller boys, but they didn't. That's because they have class and they care. In fact, they treated them with respect as if they were their own teammates. Wow!

Seeing this, I had to run to my truck and get my camera. I had to capture this on film. You could see the attentiveness in the eyes of the youth players as things were explained and demonstrated. There was even a time where they went live against each other. The youth players were a little apprehensive at first until the varsity players told them to go full speed and not to worry about hurting anyone. In the end, I had to think that the big boys left a positive impression on the much smaller boys. I could only imagine what was running through those 7th grader's minds during this brief amount of time. The more I watched, the more I had to fight back my emotions.

After we were done, we thanked Coach Bond and the varsity players for helping us out. The "B" team then started jogging back to where they normally practice. As I looked around and watched everyone go their separate ways, this huge sense of pride came over me. I now know why it's special to be a Greendale Panther. I could never be more proud of my boys from the varsity coaching staff, all the way down to the "D" team. Keep up the good work guys!  Remember, football is more than just a game. There will be a time, as each day passes in life, when it will hit you, and you'll finally know what I'm talking about. - ram

Varsity Reserve    

Ground Chuck Sale!
by K. Ringelberg & R. A. Mattrisch.10/9/07

Ground chuck was on sale at Gavinski Memorial Stadium Monday night for $2.99/pound. The offensive line of Greendale's Varsity Reserve delivered it special via truck. Driving this eighteen-wheeler was none other that Jordan "Big Mac" Dominiak!

On a night when the Greendale passing game wasn't clicking on all cylinders, the Panther coaches decided to go to plan "B". That would be moving the ball on the ground instead. Boy, did they ever! I would maybe even call it a stampede. More reminiscent of years gone by, the Panthers pounded their way to a convincing 20-0 win over the visiting Whitnall Falcons. The coaches on both teams knew going in that this was going to be a battle because both teams entered this contest at 5-1 and both teams were packing a punch, so needless to say, there was a little pride at steak here, no pun intended.

Through a combination of the spread offense, which can be a very effective running offense, and the old stand by "WHAM-O", the Panthers finished the night with over 300-yards on the ground, and at a rough estimate, controlled the ball for about 3/4 of the game on offense. The Panthers utilized three long scoring drives to get the job done. Running backs Ryan Korsmo and Dan Wisniewski made good use of the daylight provide by the offensive line, and Dominiak? Well… let's just say that there were times that he had to make his own daylight on short yardage plays because Whitnall really pack it in tight sometime in an attempt to neutralize Greendale's O-line. In the end, Dominiak made it in the end zone with a trail of carnage behind him.

"By far, the best weapon on the field both offensively and defensively was our offensive line," said Coach Tim Gavinski. Wait a minute! How does the offensive line get credit for defense? Duh... I then remembered an old coach's cliché that goes, "Your best defense is your offense." The Panthers took possession of the ball late in the 3rd quarter and the Falcons didn't see it until there was less then 4:00 minutes remaining in the game.

The guys up front that were doing the meat tenderizing for this sale were; Zach Beard, Noah Jankowski, Andrew Schwerin, Travis Kahl, Brett Wilson, and Ben Carron. Sure, the O-line boys up front absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage, but the defense, when called upon, did an outstanding job as well, earning them another shut out for the season. "These guys always want to inflict their justice to the opponent," mentioned Coach Ringelberg. "And they certainly achieved their goal tonight." The Panther defense not only held Whitnall to five first downs all night, they held their running game to less than 50-yards too. Defensively the Panthers had two interceptions, one by Ryan Korsmo, and the other by Josh Royce. Other special performances turn in on the defensive side were Matt Seipel, Eric Schuerman, and Mr. Steady himself, Ryan Becker.

The Panthers will travel to Greenfield next Monday night for their last game of the year. It should be a great finishing game for next week will determine who’s the best at the Varsity Reserve level for the Woodland South Conference.

Youth    

Greendale Does Battle With Ike
 R.A. Mattrisch - 10/7/07

The Greendale Panther youth teams were all out west this past weekend. The place was New Berlin, Wisconsin to play the Eisenhower Generals. Boy, was it hot for a day in October. The temperature reached the mid 80's by noon which made things a little more difficult for the boys.

The "A" team started out the match first, but for some reason, they didn't bring their "A" game. It's human nature to have a bad day so I guess it's human nature for a team to have a bad day too. The Panthers fell to Eisenhower 14-0 to go to 3-2 for the year.

The "B" team were next to do battle. They played very well on both sides of the ball and were leading the whole game until there was 1-minute left. Ike managed to score a touchdown and convert the extra point to tie the Panthers at 14. The final score would end up being 14-14 giving the "B" team a tie because there is no overtime.  The "B" team record is now 3-1-1

The Panther "C" team came out and played very well too. They won by a score of 13-6 and now move their record to 4-1 for the season. Their only loss was their first game so they have a run going now.

The "D" game was very close, but they kept their undefeated season alive as they defeated Eisenhower 14-13. This is Greendale's first year having a "D" team and it looks like it could be an undefeated one at that with just one more regular season game left. Their record now goes to 5-0 for the year.

The Panther squads will all head the other direction next week to pay a visit to Cudahy. This will be their last regular season game. They will follow a normal Saturday morning schedule with the "A" game starting at 9:00am, followed by the "B" game at 10:30am, the "C" game at 12:00pm, and the "D" game at about 1:30pm. The times are approximates because each game will follow each other and sometime there can be delays.

(Click picture for larger view)

Results from week 5:

"A" Team - Greendale 0 - New Berlin Eisenhower 14
"B" Team - Greendale 14 - New Berlin Eisenhower 14
"C" Team - Greendale 13 - New Berlin Eisenhower 6
"D" Team - Greendale 14 - New Berlin Eisenhower 13

For a complete listing of league results, click here.

Varsity    

Another Day At The Office
by R. A. Mattrisch - 10/6/07

The Greendale Panthers football team reported for work Friday at Whitnall High School for game seven of this years varsity football season. They managed to get their work done in record time as they defeated the Falcons 42-14 in just under two hours of play. The reason they finished early was by virtue of the 35-point rule. When a team has a 35-point lead or more, the game clock will run continuously and will only stop for a change of possession, injury, penalty, timeout, or a score. In this particular game, the Panthers put up 35 points in the first half, which resulted in a running clock for the entire second half.

By winning this game, the Panthers have not only improved their record to 6-1, they have also now taken their Woodland Conference winning streak to 22 straight games in a row. Their only loss was a non-conference game against Waukesha West, earlier in the season. Whitnall now drops to 3-4 for the year.

Greendale took possession of the ball first to start the game. They went to work right away by putting together a ten play 65-yard scoring drive as quarterback Mike Hennessy scampered in from 10-yards for the games first touchdown. Travis Kahl's extra point try was good making the score 7-0 with 7:56 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kick return, Whitnall fumbled the ball right back to the Panthers on their own 24-yard line. Two plays later, Greendale's running back Dan Prindiville busted through the line from 1-yard out for the Panthers second touchdown of the night. Kahl's kick was good making the score 14-0 with 6:56 left in the 1st quarter.

Whitnall would have to punt after Greendale's defense denied them of a first down. Panther quarterback Hennessy would throw a rare interception on their second play of that possession giving the ball back to Whitnall on their own 3-yard line. G'dale's defense again held in three plays forcing the Falcons to punt once again. Eight plays later, Greendale would find the end zone again as Hennessy carried it in from 1-yard out. The extra point was good making the score 21-0 with 1:01 still left in the 1st quarter.

Whitnall again failed to get a first down. The Panthers would find pay dirt four plays later as Prindiville took it in from 1-yard out. Kahl's kick was true once more making the score 28-0 with 10:49 now in the 2nd quarter. Up to this point, Greendale's defense has yet to allow a Falcon first down.

Whitnall finally managed to put a 12-play drive together, but it would stall out on downs on Greendale's 30-yard line. The Panthers would take it all the way to the Whitnall 15-yard line before a bad snap caused a fumble giving the ball right back to the Falcons. Four plays later, however, Greendale's defensive back Kyle Mabry would intercept the ball and return it to the Whitnall 46-yard line. Five plays later, Hennessy would connect with Mabry on a 10-yard pass play for another Panther touchdown. Kahl's kick went through the uprights again as the Panthers now took the score to 35-0 as the first half came to an end.

Whitnall would get the ball first to start the 2nd half, but they were intercepted by Mike Picciolo who returned it to the Falcon 40-yard line. Five plays later, Greendale would add insult to injury as Jordan Biller carried it in from 4-yards out for another Panther touchdown. The kick was good making the score 42-0 as the clock continued to run.

With a 42-point lead and 5:04 left in the 3rd quarter, the Panther coaches felt that it was now safe enough to start selectively substituting players at various positions. Whitnall would finally put a 12-play scoring drive together as Falcon quarterback Bennett Kaye connected with Tyler Swessel on a 25-yard passing play. Alex Mogenson would make the extra point kick taking the score to 42-7 with 10:05 left in the game.

Greendale would have to punt in three plays giving the ball back to a now excited Whitnall team on their 49-yard line. Twelve plays later, the Falcons would find the end zone again as Sean Graham carried it over from 1-yard out. The point after was good changing the score to 42-14 with just :49 seconds left in the game. Greendale would come out and chew the rest of the clock up to bring this game to an early close. The Panthers would finish with over 300-yards of offensive for the 6th time this year. They are actually averaging 398-yards per game, which is a very high average for high school football. Hennessy also had a great game passing as he completed 13 of 28 for 188-yards.

The Panthers will return home next week, as they will battle cross-town rival Greenfield. The Hawks are having a tough time this year as they are coming in with a 1-6 record.  The game time is 7:00pm.

For stats and summary, click here.

For video highlights, click here.

For game day pictures, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

Kings Of The Hill - Freshman Remain Undefeated
by C. Muench & R. A. Mattrisch. 10/5/07

Greendale vs. Whitnall. It was to be the battle of the Titans… A war between the undefeated… The conflict for the crown... It was going to resolve the issue of who was #1 at the freshman level in the Woodland South Conference. Well, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, this past Thursday night, that question has been answered and in convincing fashion as the Greendale Panthers defeated the Whitnall Falcons 34-12 at Falcon Stadium. This now moves the Panther's record to a perfect 5-0 with two games remaining. The Falcons have been reduced to 4-1 for their season with two games remaining as well. "This week we stressed urgency," said Coach Chris Muench. "Whitnall has been averaging 30 points per game so we changed up our defense to a cover 2 and told our guys to go 100% and leave nothing behind, and they did."

The Falcons took possession of the ball first, to start the game. During Whitnall's first drive, Greendale's Dominic Schwabe intercepted a pass and returned it all the way to the Whitnall 5-yard line. Panther quarterback Andrew Brees would take it himself for the game's first score. Whitnall would answer that with a scoring drive of their own as they completed a pass in the corner of the end zone of which the receiver made a great catch. The extra point kick was blocked making the score 7-6 as the first quarter came to an end.

During the second quarter, Greendale would put a nice 65-yard scoring drive together as Brees scored from 8-yards out on an iso play. Brees, who also does the kicking, made the extra point taking the score to 14-6. Whitnall would then attempt to get another drive going, but they fumbled and Greendale's Vince Markwiese and Schwabe fell on it. The Panthers couldn't reach pay dirt this time so it was the Falcon's turn to try. This time they were intercepted by Greendale's Joe Sardina. The Panthers again couldn't get anything going so the score at halftime remained 14-6.

"We saw a few things in the first half," mentioned Coach Dan Rogaczewski. "I explained what I wanted to do to the guys for we felt that we could exploit what they were doing on defense." Exploit was maybe an understatement. On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Brees would scamper 60-yards for another Panther touchdown. This time the kick was blocked making the score 20-6. Whitnall finally answered with a touchdown as one of their running backs shook lose for a 50-yard run. The Falcons needed to go for two but Greendale's Joel Sirus came through and stopped them short taking the score to 20-12 as the 3rd quarter came to an end.

In the 4th quarter, Brees found himself standing in the end zone again after trotting 40-yards through the Whitnall defense. His extra point kick was good making it 27-12. The Falcons again had another good drive going, but Panther defensive back Tyler Fink intercepted a long pass attempt by Whitnall giving the ball back to his cronies on offense. Then what followed next was absolutely amazing. On the very first play after the interception return, Greendale's running back Luke Drumel took the ball and ran 50-yards for a touchdown. It was a great run but it was called back on a holding penalty that backed the Panthers up 10-yards. With Drumel still trying to catch his breath, they gave him the ball again right away. No big deal! He just had to run 10-yards farther this time for another touchdown. I wonder what would have happened if there was another penalty? Bress's extra point kick was good making up the final score of 34-12.

"Our adjustments at halftime must have worked," said a happy Rogaczewski. "Now we just need to stay focused and concentrate on our next game." Coach Muench mentioned that the linebacking core really kept Whitnall off balance all night long. "Schwabe, Curtis Nelson, Matt Brooks, Austin Bychinski, Sirus, Sardina and Matt Wanezek all brought it tonight. I think it's safe to say that the Greendale High School football program will be in good shape for a while."

The freshman Panthers have 2 games remaining. They play Greenfield next week at home followed by New Berlin Eisenhower, also at home.

Varsity Reserve    

The Real Deal!
by K. Ringelberg & R. A. Mattrisch.10/2/07

The Varsity Reserve moved to a very respectful 5-1 record Monday night by beating an undermanned St Thomas More team 34-6. Due to the fact the Varsity Reserve level does not scout, the coaching staff has to rely on hearsay as to the caliber the opponent is. So far this year the reports have been right on! The word on the street is that Whitnall and Greenfield have fielded some darn good Varsity Reserve teams for 2007. What this means is that the next two weeks will be a significant test for these high flying Panthers. To be the real deal, they must "FINISH" strong!

Once again it was a great all around win for the Panthers with the defense leading the way. St Thomas More managed just one drive for a score all night long. The defensive ends Matt Seipel and Andrew Schwerin were all over the the Cavilers' QB, as they accounted for 5 QB sacks. Defensive Coordinator Tim Gavinski remarked that, "Those two guys get better and better each week and are going to have a real impact at the varsity level next year. It's great to see their improvement." It was also another great week for the defensive line too. They just kept stuffing the middle of the field, allowing the linebackers to roam freely and continue to destroy would be ball carriers.

All in all, it was another week, and another great defensive effort. Highlights from the defensive side of the ball include interceptions by Tino Benitez who had a very nice return that set up the last score for the offense, and a pick by Tristan Gross to seal the deal. On specialty teams, Joey Mackenzie made an incredible three tackles in a row on three separate kickoffs! Other spectacular play on special teams was turned in by Josh Royce who took a punt, and twisted and turned his way from the Greendale 40, all the way to the house for an impressive 60-yard TD punt return. The play, however, was called back on a phantom block in the back call in which of course, none of the Panther faithful saw!

The offense really used a smorgasbord of plays, receivers, ball carriers, and Quarterbacks to roll up the 34 points. The opening drive which resulted in the first score was capped off with a perfectly thrown fade pass to Eric Schuerman from Jordan Dominiak for a 32-yard pass play. The next drive finished with some power running from first time running back, Ryan Korsmo, who bulldozed his way into the end zone from 2-yards out. The offense was set up all night with some great catches made by receivers, Nick Schmidling, Evan Goyette, and Ross Hamby. These guys made some big time plays for some big time yardage. Of course when Greendale got close to the end zone,  they would bring in their big goal line package, otherwise known as the "WHAM-O", to power their way in for three of the five scores. Two were by Jordan Dominiak, and one was a QB sneak by Bobby Mikorski.

The Greendale Varsity Reserve team is down to their last two games of the season. Next week, Whitnall comes to town, which promises to be the battle of the century. Game time is 5:30pm.

Youth    

Greendale Wins The Battle Of The Greens As Youth Teams Sweep Greenfield
 R.A. Mattrisch - 9/30/07

The Greendale Panther youth teams were all home this past weekend as the "A", "B" and "C" teams took on cross town rival Greenfield, while the "D" team played Brookfield East. For the second time this year, all of the teams won as well. This also marks the second time this year that "ALL" teams including the high school won, making it another perfect week for Panther football fans.

The high school was gracious enough to let the youth teams play a night game so that the kids could see what it's like playing under the lights just like their big brothers. The "D" team started in the afternoon with the "A" team finishing up under the lights.

The "D" team defeated Brookfield by a score of 19-0 to go 4-0 for the year. This also marks their second shutout of the year. It was a big play kind of game, which summed up all of the scoring. You just can't turn your head when these guys play because all of a sudden, someone could come out of no where and before you know it, they are running down the field for a touchdown.

The "C" team was next to do battle. Their offense was no match for Greenfield as they were able to both run and pass very well. They won their game by a score of 26-6 to go to 3-1 for the season.

The Panther "B" team came out and played their best game of the season. They scored on the first 2 drives and their defense seemed to be flying around making things very difficult for Greenfield. The Panthers won by a score of 28-14 taking their record to 3-1 for the year.

The "A" game was truly a battle. Both teams seemed to be able to move the ball between the 20's, but then the other team's defense would shut it down. It came down to one last effort by Greendale with 4 minutes left in the game to come up with the winning drive. Greenfield made it down inside the Panther 20-yard line but the Panther defense came through to stop them on downs to end the game. The Panther "A" team won 20-15 and now go to 3-1 for the season.

The Panther squads hit the road for New Berlin next Saturday as they all will play the New Berlin Eisenhower Lions. They will follow a regular schedule so the "A" game will start at 9:00am, followed by the "B" game at 10:30, the "C" game at 12:00pm, and the "D" game at about 1:30pm. The times are approximates because each game will follow each other and sometime there can be delays.

(Click picture for larger view)

Results from week 4:

"A" Team - Greendale 20 - Greenfield 15
"B" Team - Greendale 28 - Greenfield 14
"C" Team - Greendale 26 - Greenfield 6
"D" Team - Greendale 19 - Brookfield East 0

Varsity    

So Let It Be Written… So Let It Be Done!
by R. A. Mattrisch. 9/29/07

Every week, the coaches get together and develop a game plan. Once this game plan is finished, it is conveyed to the players. It is then up to the players to execute this plan. After watching this game, I think it's safe to assume that the plan was executed on all fronts for the Greendale Panthers as they rolled over the St. Thomas More Cavilers 56-21 at St Francis field. It wasn't just the offense or the defense… it was the total package.

Greendale took their 19-game Woodland Conference winning streak down to St Francis High School again, only this time they would be playing a different team. "We could almost call this our home field," Coach Stoltz said. "After tonight, we'll have played just as many games here as we have at Greendale." Right now, it doesn’t seem to mater whether the Panthers are home or away for they just keep rolling along. Besides, Greendale fans travel very well so it's not unusual for there to be more Panther fans than home team fans at away games anyway.

At this point, you better pour yourself a cup of coffee because recapping this game is going to take a while. Hopefully I can keep it shorter than War and Peace.

On paper, Greendale looked to be heavily favored. St Thomas More must have not seen the paper for they came out after taking the opening kickoff, and drove down the field in 4-plays to score the first touchdown of the night. The PAT was good making the score 7-0 while the Panther offense was still tying their shoes.

Greendale would answer however; as they put a 6 play 63-yard scoring drive together of their own. Quarterback Mike Hennessy found Ben Ericksen screaming down the left sideline for a 47-yard touchdown pass. Ericksen actually scored twice on this drive for he caught a touchdown pass on the previous play, but it was called back because of a penalty. Greendale's Travis Kahl's kick was good matching the Caviler's score at 7 with 5:01 left in the 1st quarter.

During that offensive series, Greendale's Defensive Coordinator Gary Jagodzinski must have went around to make sure that his defense had their shoes tied on now, because it sure didn't look like it before. Well, they must have because on More's second play of their possession, Greendale's Matt Schuerman hit the quarterback as he was throwing resulting in a lame pass of which Greendale's Chris Ridgeway intercepted. On the very next play, Hennessy would run straight through a hole opened by center Joe Hanson for an 11-yard touchdown run. The kick was through again making the score 14-7 in favor of the Cats.

St Thomas More would take the ensuing kick and run 3-plays before fumbling the ball of which "Johnny on the spot" Ridgeway recovered. 8-plays later, Greendale found themselves in the end zone again as Hennessy took it in on the exact same play as the last one for a 10-yard touchdown run. Kahl's kick was good making the score 21-7 with 4:57 still left in the 1st quarter.

More would now take possession once again. This time they put 5-plays together before the Panther defense forced another fumble. This time it was linebacker Nate Heinen coming up with the ball. The Panther's offense then came out and put a 15-play scoring drive together as senior running back Dan Prindiville carried it in from 1-yard out. The kick was true making the score 28-7 with 11:04 now in the 2nd quarter.

The Cavilers would now come out and attempt to get something going. Unfortunately for them, the Panthers had other ideas as they forced More to line up for a punt after 3-plays. For the second time this year, Greendale's specialty teams brought the rush as senior Vince Sciano blocked the kick. The ball rolled backwards and was recovered on the Caviler 1-yard line. This time it would be Kyle Nethery doing the honors as he punched it through for Greendale's 5th touchdown of the night. It started to look like the rout was on.

Greendale would force More to punt after 8-plays on their next series. The Greendale offense would now come in to do their thing. This time however, Hennessy's pass was intercepted on the Caviler's 25-yard line giving the ball back to More. The Cavilers would hit pay dirt this time as quarterback Lucas Swider found Alex Beaudry behind Greendale's secondary for a 39-yard touchdown pass. The extra point try was no good making the score 35-13 with 1:31 left in the 1st half.

Disaster struck again for the Panthers for on the 2nd play of the ensuing drive, Greendale's wide out Mike Picciolo was whacked after hauling in a Hennessy pass. The ball was jarred loose and fell into the hands of More's Aaron Loferski, who went 70-yards for a touchdown. Just like that, More crawled back into it. The 2-point try was good making the score 35-21 as the first half came to an end.

I'm sure that the Greendale coaches must have sat the players down in the locker room for a nice friendly discussion about what just happened. What ever was said must have worked, because on the opening kickoff of the second half, Greendale's kick return specialist Kyle Mabry (aka:"The Duce") took the ball and WHAM! 82-yards later, he was standing in the end zone for another Panther score. Kahl's kick split the uprights again altering the score to 42-21 with just a few seconds missing from the clock.

Both teams would now punt as things started to settle down, or so it seemed. The Cavilers had the ball again and were starting to mount another drive. On their 5th play from scrimmage, Greendale's Joey Bartman came up from his linebacker position, and just took the ball away from More’s running back and ran 25-yards the other way for a touchdown. I have to say that this was the craziest play I have seen this year. It happened so fast that I don’t even think the ball carrier knew the ball was missing. Anyway, the extra point was good again now making the score 49-21 with 5:24 left in the 3rd.

Greendale would force More to punt again. This time the offense struck hard and fast as Hennessy just needed two of his five weapons to score in 2-plays. First came a 43-yard pass play to Ericksen, and then a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mabry. Kahl, who was getting a real workout tonight, put the ball through the poles again as Greendale now initialized a running clock as the score went to 56-21 with 2:50 left in the 3rd.

The rest of the game would be played between the 30's as both teams were playing everybody. By virtue of the 35-point rule, the 4th quarter would end quickly with the score remaining unchanged at 56-21 with the Panthers being on top. In the end, Greendale's defense forced 4 turnovers and had 9 tackles for losses, while the offense finished with 271 very productive yards even though it was well below their season game average. "I thought tonight we brought everything," Coach Stoltz said. "Our special teams made plays. Our defense made plays. And then there's our offense. If we can stay focused on each game and stay healthy, we should make some noise in the end."

Greendale (5-1) will now head to Hales Corners, Wisconsin next week for their last road game of the regular season. They will take on the Whitnall Falcons (3-3) who are coming off of a 24-21 victory over Greenfield. Game time is 7:00.

For stats and summary, click here.

For highlight video, click here.

For more game pictures, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

Lightening Struck Twice For Thomas More Freshman
by C. Muench & R. A. Mattrisch. 9/28/07

Greendale's undefeated freshman football team took to the road down Layton Avenue to pay a visit to the Thomas More Cavilers. Little did Thomas More know, was that it was going to be two against one. First Mother Nature decided that she wanted to play so she threw out a few lightening bolts causing both teams to head for cover. As a safety precaution, when lightening is seen in the area, the officials will automatically suspend the game and order both teams off the field until the lightening passes. The total delay lasted about 30 minutes. Playing football next to tall light standards during a lightening storm is not a good idea. Another bad idea is playing the Greendale Panther's freshman football team as the Cavilers found out Thursday afternoon. Greendale threw a few lightening bolts of their own as they pitched their second shut out of the season by defeating Thomas More 14-0 to go to 4-0 for the season.

"Everything was OK until the delay," said Coach Chris Muench. "When we got back out there, it got real ugly as I think we just lost concentration." As what looks to be the freshman's style, they came out early and fast with their first score. After the defense held More to three and out, Greendale put an 80-yard scoring drive together as quarterback Andrew Brees scooted in from 8-yards out. He would make the extra point kick taking the score to 7-0 in favor of the Panthers.

The scorekeeper was then not needed for a while as both defenses battled back and forth. Greendale's Joel Sirus recovered one Caviler fumble to stop a drive, and Jimmy Nguyen had a nice interception that stopped another promising TM drive. Other than that, the punters were the ones getting most of the workout. The first half would end with the Panthers leading 7-0.

Greendale would get the ball first to start the second half. They ended up putting a nice scoring drive together as Brees connected with Joe Sardina on a great crossing route to score the Panther's next touchdown. Brees's kick was good making the score 14-0.

The defenses would now dictate the rest of the game. Greendale was forced to punt more, while TM ended up turning the ball over more under the constant pressure of the Cat's defense. Curtis Nelson for Greendale had a great game delivering some big time hits along with recovering a fumble, and Manny Medina intercepted his second pass of the year late in the game to seal the deal.

Greendale will now head the other direction as they will play the Whitnall Falcons. The game there will start at 6:30.

Varsity Reserve    

Varsity Reserve’s Defense - A Force To Be Reckoned With
by K. Ringelberg & R. A. Mattrisch. 9/25/07

Sure, the Greendale Panther Varsity squad gets most of the attention only because that's the way it works in today's news worthy society. There is another squad, however, that is making noise too. That would be Greendale's Varsity Reserve squad. The Panther Reserve team headed out to Cudahy, Wisconsin Monday, to pay a visit to the Cudahy Packers for a friendly game of football. In the end, the Packers would have just assumed that the Panthers stayed home as Greendale improved their mark to 4-1 by defeating Cudahy 21-7.

Things started to get interesting in the 1st quarter as the Panthers drove all the way down to the 3-yard line. On what was supposed to be the first scoring play of the night, ended up being the first turnover of the night instead as Greendale fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line. All was not lost yet for two plays later, Greendale's Brett Wilson came in from his defensive linemen's position to sack the quarterback in the end zone. Safety? Nah... Better yet, on the hit, the quarterback coughed the ball up and Dan Wisniewski fell on it in the end zone for a Panther touchdown. Travis Kahl's extra point kick was good making the score 7-0.

The defense was playing like a bunch of angry marines as they unleashed their wrath on the Packers all night long. The offense, on the other hand, was doing OK, but they still have those special moments that the coaches dread. Well, with their backs against the wall, they had one of those moments again. The Panthers were lined up for a punt from their own 15-yard line when Cudahy pushed through the line enough to block the kick. The ball ended up bouncing and rolling around as both teams were attempting to gather it in. With the help of some subtle hits, helps and bats, the ball somehow ended up in the end zone of which the Packers fell on for their first touchdown of the night. Their kick was good making the score 7-7 as the first quarter came to an end.

The 2nd quarter was uneventful as both defenses dominated the game. "Our D-line owned the line of scrimmage and were tossing bodies around like a chef tosses a salad." said Coach Ringelberg. "Brett Wilson, Kyle Billman, Andy Schwerin, Travis Kahl and Matt Seiple just so happened to be in the kitchen doing the cooking." Of course when the linemen are doing their job, the linebacker's job becomes a lot easier too. "I would say our linebackers are in charge of the desert menu." Ringelberg said. "These guys make a bold statement by bringing out a serious pound cake, topped off with a nice crunch topping, and served with a bold raspberry sauce on the side. I can't think of a better way to end the night than with a sweet hit from the desert kitchen." The linebacking core has many top chefs. They include; Matt Miller, Jason Gordon, Ryan Becker, Ryan Korsmo, Dan Wisniewski and Anthony Espinoza.

The scorekeeper was not needed in the 3rd quarter either as both teams failed to score. Greendale did make some plays however as Evan Goyette picked off one Cudahy pass and Jordan Stackowski picked off another.

The 4th quarter was a little different. Greendale's offense was now moving the ball like they should via the spread offense. The Panthers did at one time have to line up for a 4th and 2 play on the Cudahy 40-yard line. It was a crucial play so the call from the sideline was to run the option. The ball was then snapped and just as quarterback Bobby Mikorski was going to pitch it, he was hit hard causing the ball to fly up in the air. Never fear... Stachowski is here! Greendale's Jordan Stachowski was able to get the ball and scampered 30-yards down to the Cudahy 10. The Panthers brought in the secret weapon again, (WHAM-O offense) and 2-plays later, Jordan Dominiak pounded it in for Greendale's second score of the night. The extra point try was good making the score 14-7 about mid-way through the 4th quarter.

Cudahy had the ball but just couldn't get anything going. They were eventually stopped around mid field with about four minutes left in the game. Greendale's offense would now come out and serve up a hefty portion of WHAM-O again for the Packers. They actually WHAM-O'ed their way all the way into the end zone as Dominiak scored the 3rd Panther touchdown of the night. The point after was good, which would end the scoring and the game.

Greendale will now head back to the comforts of home as they will play the Thomas More Cavilers.  Game time is 5:30pm.

Youth    

The Youth Panther Squads Split With West Allis
 R.A. Mattrisch - 9/23/07

The Greendale Panther youth teams were all on the road this week as the "A", "B", and "C" teams traveled to West Allis to face the West Allis Wolverines while the "D" team went to Brookfield to play the Brookfield Central White team. This was a rarely scheduled night game so the "B" and "A" teams end up playing under the lights just like the Varsity does.

The "D" team plays first on a night game schedule so their score came in first. They defeated Brookfield by a score of 31-6 to go 3-0 for the year. These guys also had the privilege to play on Brookfield High School's new artificial turf field too. This field was put in just two years ago. All of the players and coaches thought that this was very neat. The coaches told their players that this is the same type of field that the Wisconsin Badgers play on. The moms were especially happy for they didn't have to wash any muddy jerseys this week.

The "C" team was next to do battle. They seemed to pretty much control all aspects of the game as the Wolverines had major troubles getting plays off on offense. The "C" Panthers won 19-0 to go to 2-1 for the season.

The Panther "B" team had trouble dealing with the Wolverine's speed as they scored all of their touchdowns form 50-yards out or more. If you take away those three plays, that game would be still going on. Offensively, they were their own worst enemy as they committed many untimely penalties and turnovers. The Panthers came up on the wrong end of a 19-0 score to go 2-1 for the year.

The "A" game was an unbelievable exhibition on hitting. Both teams came into the game undefeated and un-scored upon so that may have had something to do with it. In the end however, the Wolverines speed did the Panthers in as they also came up short losing 20-0 to go 2-1 for the season.

The Panther squads are back home this Saturday and will host the Greenfield Hawks. This will also be a night game so the "D" game will start at 2:30pm, followed by the "C" game at 4:00, then the "B" game at 5:30 followed by the "A" game which should start around 7:00pm. The times are approximates because each game will follow each other but sometime there can be delays.

(Click picture for larger view)

Results from week 3:

"A" Team - Greendale 0 - West Allis 20
"B" Team - Greendale 0 - West Allis 19
"C" Team - Greendale 19 - West Allis 0
"D" Team - Greendale 31 - Brookfield Central White 6

For a complete listing of all results from the AAYFL league, click here.

Varsity    

Who's Next?
by R. A. Mattrisch. 9/22/07

This season is starting to look like the last two seasons as the Greendale Panther Varsity football team forces their will on their opponents. The Cudahy Packers were the latest victims as they fell to the Panthers 40-14 at "Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial Stadium". The Packers aren't the only one being handed a loss, however. The last 18 Woodland Conference teams that Greendale has played have also been handed a loss. That's right; Greendale seems to be on a little roll here, for they have not lost a conference game since the last game of the 2004 season. When you ask the coaches about that, they're only response is, "One game at a time."

It was a perfect evening for a football game. Well, at least it started out that way before a brief rain shower blew in late in the game, sending people for cover. It was homecoming so the crowd was extra big. Greendale's past alumni also helped the attendance as they made the trek back home to not only see the game, but to see their friends as well. Words of advise. If you want to be able to sit down and watch a Greendale homecoming game, you better get there early for it was standing room only all night long. In fact, last night's crowd may have been one of the biggest ever.

This game was supposed to be a battle between two of the top quarterbacks in the conference. Cudahy's Scott Sekach, and Greendale's Mike Hennessy. In the end, it wasn't even close as to who was the best. Hennessy finished with 218 yards going 16 for 25, while Sekach only ended up going 9 for 29 and 96 yards.

Greendale started the scoring on their very first drive after the defense forced Cudahy to three and out. Dan Prindiville would do the honors with a 6-yard run to cap off a nice 11-play 64-yard drive. Greendale's kicker Travis Kahl would split the uprights making the score 7-0 at the 8:02 mark in the first quarter.

It then went Packer, Panther, and Packer on the punt exchanges. The Panther offense then put a 5-play, 50-yard scoring drive together as Hennessy found "The Duce", Kyle Mabry on a quick pass for a 7-yard touchdown. Kahl's kick was good again making the score 14-0 with 2:33 left in the first quarter.

Cudahy only managed a few first downs before being forced to punt again. Greendale would then take possession and orchestrate a 10-play, 71-yard scoring drive as Hennessy ran off left tackle behind Drew Thompson and Lucas Pohlmann for a 3-yard touchdown run. Kahl put it between the poles again changing the score to 21-0 with 8:20 left in the first half.

Cudahy's next drive was squelched as Greendale's Cordney Wren picked off a Sekach pass giving the ball back to Hennessy & company on their own 21-yard line. Greendale then marched all the way down to the 1-yard line of which the Packers stopped them on downs. Cudahy was now pinned deep against a tough defense so they had to be careful. The Cats did force them to punt in three again as the Cudahy punter's heels were planted very close to the end line of their end zone.

Greendale would come out of this with great field position at the 5-yard line following a 32-yard punt return by Mabry. Two plays later, Greendale's Chris Ridgeway followed his halfbacks off the right side, which is where Jordan Campbell and Vince Sciano do the pushing up front. This time the extra point kick was blocked making the score 27-0 with 2:29 still left in the half.

Cudahy would finally get their offense in gear as they answered with a 16-play scoring drive. Sekach would find Matt Lopata in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown pass. Their extra point kick was good making the score 27-7 as the first half came to an end.

The Panthers would start with the ball first to open up the second half. They immediately picked up right where they left off as they march 75-yards in 13-plays, which was capped off by another Hennessy 1-yard run. The extra point kick was good making the score 34-7 with 6:20 left in the third quarter.

Things quieted down a bit as both defenses took center stage. Greendale's next big play would come on defense when # 27 Dan Dacquisto intercepted another Sekach pass. Five plays later, Greendale found themselves in the end zone again as Prindiville carried it in from 2-yards out. The 2-point conversion was no good as the rain started to fall. Greendale now led 40-7 with 11:36 left in the game.

Cudahy answered that score with one of their own as they marched 80-yards in 14-plays to score their second, and last touchdown of the night. The kick was good making the score 40-14 with 6:10 left in the game.

Both teams would touch the ball one more time before the game finally ended. In the end Greendale assembled an unbelievable 500 yards of total offense, which should push their season average up near 450-yards per game. Their passing output is also sustaining a high average as Mike Hennessy is now the state's top passer in yards thrown.

Greendale will load the bus and head back to St Francis, which is where Thomas More Cavilers (1-4) play their home games. More finally won their first game last week defeating Greenfield 36-15. Game time is 7:00pm.

For stats and summary, click here.

For a scoring highlight video, click here.

For game pictures, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

There’s Nothing Like A Cool Brees When You’re Hot!
by R. A. Mattrisch. 9/21/07

The Greendale Panther Freshman football team will never have to worry about overheating during a football game as long as there is a cool Brees around. That held true this past Thursday night as quarterback Andrew Brees helped his Panthers defeat the visiting Cudahy Packers 36-14 at Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial Stadium. This win will now take the Cats to 3-0 for the season with four games remaining. "The one thing I’m noticing is that this team is getting better and better each week," said Coach Chris Muench. "This is the first time that these players are working with Coach Stoltz's offense, so I guess it would only be natural for that to happen over time."

Happen, it did! Greendale took the opening kickoff and ran 7-plays before being forced to punt. The defense then came out and forced Cudahy to punt after just 4-plays of their own. After a short 8-yard punt, the Panthers found themselves on Cudahy’s 27-yard line with a brand new set of downs. After just 3-plays including a nice 15-yard run by Brees, the Panther's front line punched a hole as Brees took it up the middle for the first score of the night. The point after kick was good as Brees split the uprights making the score 7-0 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

The Panther defense forced Cudahy to three and out. The Cats now had the ball on their own 43-yard line. After three runs, Brees connected with #22 Joe Sardina for a nice 25-yard pass play. Brees would then hook up with Sardian again for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good again making the score 14-0 with 8:16 left in the first half.

The Packers went three and out again. Greendale now had the ball on their 27-yard line. On the very first play from scrimmage, Brees took the ball off of left tackle and with some great downfield blocks; he sprinted 73-yards down the left sideline for another Panther touchdown. The kick was once again good, making the score 21-0 with 6:31 still remaining in the first half.

Cudahy would bounce back however, for on the ensuing kickoff, they returned it 74-yards for their first touchdown of the night. The kick was wide right making the score 21-6 with 6:16 left in the first half.

The Panthers would now set up shop on their own 47-yard line. After a great catch by #17 Alex Najera, who actually took the ball from a defender, a couple of Cudahy penalties, the Panthers found themselves on the 1-yard line again. Quarterback Brees would take it himself again for Greendale's fourth TD of the night. The point after was good making the score 28-6 with 3:29 left in the half.

Cudahy would get another crack at it, but the Panthers front line of James Wilson, Conner Chadwick, Bobby Hall and Vince Markwiese would not let them. The first half would soon come to an end.

To start the second half, #7 Ernie Valente would now call the signals. Both teams would each touch the ball three times without any scoring. Eventually, Valente did find some daylight as he carried the ball for a nice 25-yard run as the 3rd quarter came to an end. Valente was then forced to leave the game with a slight injury, so Coach Dan Rogoaczewski felt it was time to bring in his secret weapon. That would be his 5' 3" 130 pound running back, #20 Luke Drumel. Low and behold, on the very next play, Drumel would take the shotgun snap and run 35-yards for another Panther touchdown. Greendale would go for 2 as Drumel once again found himself standing in the end zone as the score now moved up to 36-6 with 6:02 left in the game. "It's real simple," said Coach Rogoaczewski. "You can't tackle someone who runs that hard and that low to the ground. Sure, he may be on the smaller size, but I bet he has the biggest heart out there."

Cudahy came back and scored in 5-plays for their second touchdown of the night. The 2-point try was good making the score 36-14 with 4:47 left in the game.

Greendale would chew up the rest of the clock as Drumel carried the ball 7 out of the 8 plays they ran. The game did finally end after a series of unusual consecutive timeouts were called by the Cudahy coaching staff with less than 40 seconds in the game.

The Freshman Panthers will now pack their bags as they hit the road to play the Thomas More Cavilers next Thursday night.

Varsity Reserve    

Varsity Reserve Delivers 7th Blow to St Francis
by K. Ringelberg & R. A. Mattrisch. 9/18/07

The Greendale Varsity Reserve football team made it a complete clean sweep over the St. Francis Mariners Monday night by beating them 27-13 at Gavinski Memorial Field. When I say clean sweep, I'm talking from the youth "D" team all the way up to the Varsity. All 7 Greendale teams won at their respective age class. I'm pretty sure that the folks from St. Francis have had enough of Greendale for one year and won’t be back anytime soon.

The defense again, stepped up and made a huge statement. "That is as hard as I have ever seen that group of guys hit, and I have been watching them for 5 years." one parent commented after the game. Even though it looks like the defense gave up two scores, they really didn’t. The St Francis defense picked off a pitch from quarterback Bobby Mikorski for one score, and the other one came late in the game when Jordan Dominiak was intercepted putting the defense right next to their goal post. Without those two offensive miscues, the Mariner's offense wouldn’t have had a chance against the Panther "D".

Some real nice individual performances were once again turned in for the Panthers. Billy Mervin had a great game from his defensive backfield spot, and the big boys up front did a great job of keeping the Mariner offensive lineman off of our linebackers. "Our linebackers were all over the field tonight, which only happens when the jumbos up front are doing their job." said Coach Tim Gavinski. Some of those linemen include: Kyle Billman, Mike Sirus, Brett Wilson, Matt Siepel, and Andrew Schwerin, just to name a few. Linebackers: Matt Miller, Adam Goad, Ryan Korsmo, and Ryan Becker, did a great job of flying around the field, all night long too.

The offense was mediocre at best. They had some great opportunities to put the game out of reach early, but they just could seal the deal. "Our offense, which is typically a big play offense, had to rely more on some longer sustained drives versus that one big play." said Coach Keith Ringelberg. "We'll work to fix that this next week."

The first scoring drive culminated with a 2-yard plunge by Dominiak from the now infamous "WHAM-O" set. That drive was set up by some very nice throws and catches from Mikorski to Evan Goyette. In the second quarter, the only score came when Dominiak fumbled, recovered his fumble, and then somehow eluded all of the Mariner defenders for a 55-yard scoring run. That it the second time this year Dominiak has done that so maybe the coaches should think about making that a permanent page in their offensive playbook. In the 4th quarter, after a forced turnover by the Panther "D", the offense came out and went razzle dazzle as Jake Eul scored on a reverse from 35-yards out. The Panther scoring was finally capped off by Jordan Stachowski, who had a great all around day at running the ball. He would score from 8-yards out giving Greendale their fourth touchdown of the night. Kicker Travis Kahl made 3 out 4 extra points with the last one being blocked.

Overall, the Varsity Reserve is playing some very inspired football and seem to be gathering steam as the season wears on. They will now take to the road for their next match up as they will play the Cudahy Packers, at Cudahy. Game time is 5:30pm.

Youth    

Youth Teams Cap Off A Perfect Greendale Week For Football
 R.A. Mattrisch - 9/16/07

Can you think of a better way to end a week after the Varsity, Varsity Reserve and Freshman, all win their football games? How about adding on four more youth game victories too!

The Greendale Panther's youth teams hosted the St Francis Mariners last week for their second week of the season. Just like their big brothers at the high school, they all managed to win as well. "I'm not going to lie," said Ed Bychinski. "I can wait for the weekends because of football. I have kids playing all over the place in this program so going undefeated is very sweet. Then you add the Badgers and Packers to the mix, that comes to a perfect 9-0 for the week. That's sweet!"

The youth teams are on the road this coming Saturday as the "A", "B", and "C" teams head to West Allis for the first of two night games. The "D" team will head to Brookfield Central to play because West Allis does not have a "D" team. The "C" game will start at 4:00pm, the "B" team will start approximately 5:30pm, and the "A" game should start about 7:00pm. The "D" team game will start at approximately 3:00pm.

(Click picture for larger view)

Results from week 2:

"A" Team - Greendale 33 - St Francis 0
"B" Team - Greendale 26 - St Francis 14
"C" Team - Greendale 44 - St Francis 0
"D" Team - Greendale 32 - St Francis 0

For a complete listing of all results from the AAYFL league, click here.

Varsity    

Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee!
by R. A. Mattrisch. 9/16/07

# 2 Kyle Mabry stretching out for
another great catch in the 1st quarter.

There probably couldn't be a better phrase than that. Greendale can throw with precision and grace against you on offense, and then can swarm and sting you on defense as they defeated the Mariners 35-13.

The 2007 Greendale Panthers (2-1) traveled to St Francis Friday to take on the St Francis Mariners (2-1) in their third Woodland Conference tilt of the season. It’s a pretty good idea that if you want your popcorn or a hot dog, you better get it before the game begins because if you waited until it started, chances are you might miss a few Panther scores. Greendale struck hard and fast putting up three touchdowns in the first quarter alone.

# 15 Brennen Bychinski returns a blocked punt for
a touchdown in the 1st quarter.

St Francis would start with the ball first but ended up fumbling after just two first downs. Greendale ended up taking control on the Mariner 32-yard line. On the Panther’s second play, Greendale’s quarterback Mike Hennessy, hit the “Duce” (# 2 Kyle Mabry) on a fly pattern along the right side line down to the Mariner 1-yard line. Hennessy then took it himself for Greendale’s first touchdown of the night. That drive covered 35-yards in just 3 plays. Travis Kahl’s extra point kick was good giving Greendale a 7-0 lead with 7:54 left in the first quarter. The Panther defense held St Francis to three and out and went on offense again. Two plays later, Hennessy connected with wide out Ben Ericksen for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Kahl’s kick was good making the score 14-0 with 6:18 left in the first. The Cat’s defense would force the Mariners to punt again after just 3-plays. This time, the Panther special teams overpowered the Mariners and blocked the punt of which senior linebacker Brennen Bychinsky scooped up and trotted in for a 17-yard touchdown run. The kick was good again and just like that, the score was 21-0 with 4.39 still left in the first quarter. How was that trek to the popcorn stand?

#10 quarterback Mike Hennessy scoring
Greendale's 4th TD of the night.

Things would settle down until the middle of the second quarter when St Francis quarterback Cory Knapp found Tyler Bostedt wide open for a 77-yard touchdown pass, after defender Mike Picciolo slipped and fell on the coverage. Chris Hemmer would make the point after taking the score to 21-7 with 6:47 left in the first half. Greendale took the ensuing kick off and marched 80-yards in 9-plays, as Hennessy ran wide left to score from 15-yards out. Kahl’s kick was good again making the score 28-7 as the half came to an end.

# 57 Lucas Pohlmann crushes the quarterback
on this attempted pass.

Greendale would start the second half heading into a stiff wind that had been blowing all night long. They punted, giving the ball to St Francis who seemed to be able to move the ball now. It wasn’t long before Greendale’s Cordney Wren intercepted a pass giving the ball back to Greendale. The Mariners got the ball back after another Panther punt and with the help of some Panther penalties, they put a 7-play scoring drive together. The extra point kick was blocked taking the score to 28-13 with 5:22 left in the third.

Both defenses seemed to tighten up a bit as neither offense could get any serious drive going. St Francis did finally get to the Panther 20 when Greendale’s Chris Ridgeway intercepted a Knapp pass to extinguish the threat. Greendale settled down and now with the wind at their back, put a 10-play, 90-yard scoring drive together behind some great catches and strong inside running. Ridgway would come in at quarterback to sneak it in behind his frontline for the fifth touchdown of the night. Kahl’s kick was true once more, making the score 35-13 with 7:41 left in the game. The almighty Panther defense stopped the Mariners again giving the ball back to the offense with 6:08 left in the game. Ridgway would stay in the game at quarterback/running back, and would take the team down to the Mariner 4-yard line of which they finally took a knee to run the clock out.

Coach Stoltz addressing the team after the game.

The Panthers finished with well over 400 yards of offense for the third week in a row. The defense finally looked like they let it loose too, for they held St Francis to only 8 first downs for the entire game. The Panther special teams, which has been struggling seemed to get things straighten out and made consistent plays all night long.

Greendale will now bring its 17 Woodland Conference game winning streak back home to play the Cudahy Packers for this year’s homecoming game. The Packers are 2-2 after destroying Greenfield last week, 55-7.

For game stats, click here.

For a scoring highlight video, click here.

Freshman    

Panther Freshman Sink The Mariners
by C. Muench and R. A. Mattrisch. 9/14/07

Greendale’s freshman football team headed out to the lake front Thursday night for a friendly game of tackle football. The term friendly is kind of a loose term when the actual game is going on. At any rate, in the end, they managed to put up more points than the Mariners as they defeated them 14-6.

Just like last week, Greendale did all of their damage in the first half. It started with the first drive as the Panthers went 70-yards in 10 plays behind some nifty running of Luke Drumel and a key pass reception by Matt Brooks. Quarterback Andrew Brees would finish the drive as he plunged over from 1-yard out giving the Panthers their first touchdown of the night. Brees's extra point kick was good making the score 7-0 in favor of the Panthers.

The game went back and forth with Greendale’s defense playing some very inspiring football. The Cats finally put another major drive together early in the second quarter. Brees would cap this one off as he did the first one as he punched it in for the Panthers second TD of the night. The point after was good making the score 14-0. Things would get a little dicey late in the quarter as Brees threw an interception on the Panther side of the field. St Francis now looked to be driving when Greendale’s Manny Medina intercepted a Mariner pass to squash the scoring threat and end the first half.

The 3rd quarter would be nothing more than drives by both teams that were usually stopped on downs. Finally in the 4th quarter, St Francis managed to put a 50-yard drive together and scored with about five minutes left in the game. The Mariners went for two, but the pass was broken up beautifully by JoJo Sardina making the score 14-6. St Francis had the ball one last time but that drive was terminated when Drumel intercepted the ball, thus pretty much ending the game.

The O-line of Conner Chadwick, Justin Biller, Dominic Schwabe, Vince Markwiese and James Wilson pretty much controlled the line of scrimmage all night long. On defense, Bobby Hall and Vince Dodulik made some key tackles while middle linebacker Curtis Nelson did nothing but cause problems for the Mariners all night long.

The 2-0 Panthers will be at home next week as they host the Cudahy Packers. Game time is 6:30pm.

Varsity Reserve    

Mud, Sweat And Cheers For The Varsity Reserve!
by K. Ringelberg and R. A. Mattrisch. 9/11/07

Last week Friday night, the Varsity team took to the air against New Berlin West and pretty much scored at will. The following Monday night, however, the Varsity Reserve was forced to attack by land instead. Because of the inclement weather conditions, the coaches had to dust off an old piece of artillery called the "WHAM-O" offense. This was because the quarterbacks and receivers just couldn't get the tight grip necessary to run the true Greendale spread offense. The strategy worked because in the end, the Panthers managed to come out on top by a score of 12-6, which is a far cry from last week's 56-point explosion.

For the second week in a row, the Varsity Reserve defense, under the direction of Coach Tim Gavinski and assisted by Coach Mike Weyer, prevented the opposing team from putting any points on the board again too. New Berlin West runs the Wing "T" offense and moved the ball OK between the 35-yard lines, but that's when the G'Dale "D" would rise to the occasion and stuff the Vikings offense, pretty much all game long. The lone Viking score came on a blocked punt at the Greendale goal line. In hindsight, that may have been avoided too if Coach Ringelberg would have been able to get the attention of punter Travis Kahl in time so that he could throw to an uncovered wide out in the punt formation.

All in all, the entire defense played very well again with some standout plays made by a few guys such as Evan Goyette who had two picks from his free safety spot, and Ryan Downs who had three tackles for losses. The defense also welcomed back Ryan Korsmo, at linebacker, who brings a lot of enthusiasm onto the field.

There looked to be an apparent difference on the offensive side of the ball however. "Just holding on to the ball was a great accomplishment on a night such as this," said Ringelberg. "It was raining as we left GHS, and it was still raining when we got back to GHS. I am very happy right now, but I will be even more happy after a nice hot shower!"

On Greendale's first offensive series, they seemed to move the ball very well. In fact, the drive stalled at the 10-1/2 yard line just 1/2 yard short as Bobby Mikorski got hit out of bounds on 4th down. That 1/2 yard would have made it 1st and goal from the 10. That particular drive included a Mikorski pass to Jake Eul on a fade route that went for about thirty yards. The first quarter would end up scoreless.

Early in the second quarter, the Panthers attempted to run their spread offense and were moving the ball with modest success as Mikorski connected with Jordan Stachowski on a middle screen pass for a 31-yard gain. This took the Panthers down to the Viking's 2. Because of the slippery conditions, the coaches decided to bring in their beefier quarterback so Mikorski was replaced by Jordan Dominiak. Dominiak would follow his offensive line who generated enough surged forward allowing Dominak to walk into the end zone for a 6-0 lead. An attempt was made for the extra point, but with the wet conditions, the extra point was just wide left.

The game was more about field position as both teams went back in forth in the mud. After a decent punt by the Vikings, the Panthers ended up pinned deep in their own territory and couldn't move the ball. From their own goal line, the Panthers were forced to punt the ball away. As the Panthers got into their punt formation, one of the two split gunners on the outside was uncovered. Coach Ringelberg tried to get the attention of punter Travis Kahl as to the situation so that he could throw him the ball but Kahl never saw him. The ball was snapped but the punt would be blocked by the Vikings who fell on it in their own end zone and scored their only touchdown of the night. Ryan Downs blocked the extra point so the first half ended in a 6-6 tie.

With the conditions the way they were, the Panther coaching staff brought the team together in a garage outside the field and implemented an old offense that can be very effective in sloppy conditions. This offense is affectionately called, the "WHAM-O." It is a real tight formation with two blocking backs lined up about 1-yard behind the offensive guard and tackle and the fullback, or WHAM-back, lined up 2-yards behind those blocking backs. In the end, this looks more like rugby than football. Because you are somewhat limited as to what you can do, this offense ends up being more of a desire offense instead. In other words, the team with more desire wins the battle up front. Guess what? Greendale opened the second half running ten straight Wham plays in a row off right tackle to yield their next 6 points of the game. Apparently, the Panthers wanted to show the relatively small crowd that they had more desire than the Vikings did. With the offensive line getting great push and the two blocking backs mopping up the leftovers, Mikorski just kept handing the ball to Jordan Dominiak who pounded his way down the field during the whole drive long. The defense did the rest.

It wasn't the prettiest win, but it showed that the guys could improvise and compete, and be able to do the job, whatever that may entail. It was a great job by all the Varsity Reserve players and it sure was evident on the coach’s faces who were all very proud of the way they handled the challenge!

The Varsity Reserve team will be at home for their next game as the St Francis Mariners come to town.

Youth    

The Greendale Panthers Youth Teams Open Their Season This Past Weekend - 9/10/07

The 2007 AAYFL football season officially got under way this weekend as the Panthers hosted the Gladiators from Grafton.

(Click picture for larger view)

Results from week 1:

"A" Team - W 28-0
"B" Team - W 22-19
"C" Team - L 25-12
"D" Team - W 33-12 (The D-team played Wauwatosa West because Grafton has no D-team)

For a complete listing of all results from the AAYFL league, click here.

Varsity    

Air Traffic Control!
by R.A.Mattrisch - 9/7/07

"Hennessy to Stoltz tower, requesting clearance for takeoff." "Stoltz tower here… You are cleared for takeoff on runway one, zero, zero."

"The Weapons of Pass Destruction"
(L to R)
 Ben Ericksen, Kyle Mabry, Mike Picciolo,
and Kyle Nethery

The New Berlin West Vikings must have thought that they were playing at an airport instead of a football field Friday night for there was a lot of flying around going on. In fact, maybe Greendale High School should replace their press box with an air traffic control tower instead. The Greendale Panthers seemed to have little trouble in handing the Vikings their second consecutive loss as they went on to defeat them 35-7 in Greendale’s home opener. The Panthers, however, are sitting on the other side of the plane with their second consecutive win. It wasn’t just the offense that was flying around, but the defense as well. "This was a total team effort tonight," said Coach Stoltz. "We still have to cleanup a few things, but we are getting real close to where we want to be." That's not good news to the opposing coaches because as of right now, no one seems to have an answer as to how to stop Greendale’s offense. For those of you that have seen the Panthers play, you have to ask yourself if it even can be stopped.

"The Shooter"
Quarterback Mike Hennessy

Things got started right away on Greendale's first drive as they marched 69-yards in 9 plays when running back Dan Prindiville zigzagged his way from 15-yards to score the Panthers first touchdown. Travis Kahl's kick was good taking the score to 7-0. Greendale held West to three and out forcing them to punt. Greendale then put another 64-yard scoring drive together as Prindiville carried it in again from 7-yards out. Kahl's point after was good making the score 14-0 with 2:22 still in the first quarter. The Panther's defense again forced the Vikings to punt to start the second quarter. The Panthers would then strike big as Hennessy found Kyle Mabry down the left sideline for an 80-yard pass play. The extra point kick was true again making the score 21-0. Both teams battled back and forth until the Panthers found pay dirt again as Hennessy found Mabry over the middle for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Kahl's kick found the uprights again making the score 28-0 as the first half came to an end. Scoring would be silent the third quarter as both teams battled back and forth. As the 4th quarter started, Greendale took advantage of a short field as Hennessy found Prindiville standing behind his linemen for a screen pass. Dan would take it and score from 15-yards out now making the score 35-0. New Berlin would eventually score their only touchdown on a short rollout pass on 4th and goal from the 5-yard line.

Stalking his target, #37 Dan Wisniewski
gets ready to pounce.

The offense did what they normally do, but the defense also made a statement. They held West to 153-yards total offense and forced them to punt 8 times.

Greendale will now mobilize their air force over to St Francis field to play the Mariners next Friday night.

For game stats, click here.

For scoring highlight video, click here.

For game day pictures, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

Freshman Open Their Season Victorious!
by R.A. Mattrisch - 9/6/07

The 2007 freshman officially kicked off their season with a nice victory over the visiting New Berlin West Vikings by a score of 12-0. It seemed apparent from the get-go that the Vikings had a difficult time trying to figure out a way to stop Greendale's spread offense. The Panthers, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble whatsoever in stopping West's Wing-T offense. Stopping a spread attack style offense is difficult only because not many teams in the area run it so you rarely see it that much. Trying to practice against it is almost impossible, because would be opponents can't affectively reproduce it to the caliber of how Greendale runs it. The entire GHS coaching staff work very hard in teaching this to all of the players at all levels in the GHS football program. As you may imagine, it goes without saying as to the main reason that Greendale's varsity is so successful. It all starts at the freshman level. This year's team seems to have it all figured out again thanks to the efforts of Coach Chris Muench and Coach Dan Rogaczewski.

The first quarter started out with each team feeling each other out. This was the first game for both teams so you can imagine that there were a few kinks that needed to be worked out. Greendale looked to have worked out the kinks first because on the very first play of the second quarter, quarterback Andrew Brees took the ball off right tackle and scampered 27-yeards for the game's first score. The extra point was missed making the score 6-0 early in the 2nd quarter. Greendale then forced the Vikings to punt after three plays to regain position again. The Panthers took the ball down to the 1-yard line in 5 plays with the help of some nifty running by "BIG" Luke Drumel. Ok, for the record, I was referring to the big yards he always seems to gain when he touches the ball. All I will say is never judge a book by it's cover for he doesn't like to go down easy. The Panthers would then score as Brees followed his big boys up front for another touchdown. The try for 2 failed making the score 12-0 with approximately 4 minutes left in the half. Neither team could muster any more long drives as the half eventually came to an end.

For the second half, neither the Panthers nor the Vikings could take control. The mosquitoes, however, diffidently took control. The Panthers did have one threat as Joe Sardina caught a Brees pass on a crossing route for a nice 15-yard gain. Brees then backed that up with a nice 10-yard run. New Berlin, however, would eventually stop them on downs, just 5-yards short of the end zone. Greendale's defense really did a nice job all night long for New Berlin West never even got close to the goal line during the entire game. The clock would eventually read zeros as Greendale came out on top 12-0.

The freshman Panthers are on the road next week as they face the St Francis Mariners.

Varsity Reserve    

Greendale’s Varsity Reserve Overpowers Wauwatosa West
by K. Ringelberg & R.A. Mattrisch - 9/6/07

On a buggy Monday evening, the Varsity Reserve Panthers showed up at the field to do what they wanted to do... and then some! What they, and the coaching staff wanted, was a complete ball game. Not a half game like the week before, but a high energy, enthusiastic, hard running, good catching, gang tackling kind of game from start to finish. That is exactly what was planned and more importantly, that is exactly what happened. The Panthers showed up and out executed the Wauwatosa West Trojans by a score of 56-0.

The boys came out and certainly didn't "WIN" warm ups, which left the coaches a little bit worried as to what level the attitude was at. After the first kick off, it seemed that there was going to be nothing to worry about. That's because some great special team play and a very stingy defense showed up, which was very unfortunate for the Tosa West Trojans. All told, the Trojans tallied less than 50-yards total offense. It was a very impressive team effort, which makes it difficult to point out any single individuals; however, the defensive front for the Panthers did an outstanding job of tying up the Trojan’s offensive linemen all night long. The defensive linemen rotation includes: Kyle Billman, Ryan Downs, Stephen Gradinjan, Josh Feltz, Kory Zaja, AJ Sciano, Jake Chalupka, Jonathan Steffen, Doug Charapata, Mike Sirus. Because of the great job those guys did up front, the linebackers were allowed to have an easier time mopping up Tosa West's running game. The linebacking core includes: Ryan Becker, Jason Gordon, Ryan Bender, Matt Miller and Zach Beard. As for the shut out! What more can you say. Hats off to these guys as well as the rest of the stingy Panther defense!

As for the 56 points! Well, the scoring was fast and furious, and really never let up. The varsity reserve games are not video taped so this may be a difficult task of recounting all of the scoring that occurred. Bobby Mikorski, who started at QB, started the barrage by tossing a pass to receiver Evan Goyette on a perfect fade for a quick 43-yard score. The defense forced Tosa to cough the ball up and the Panthers were rolling again. This time it was Jordan Stachowski on the ground taking it in from the 5-yard line. A quick 3 and out by Tosa and the Mikorski/Goyette combo came through again. On 3rd and 3 from about mid field, Mikorski saw the coverage he wanted on Goyette and it resulted in another score through the air.

The game plan was to split time at QB between Mikorski and Jordan Dominiak, so shortly after the 2nd quarter, Dominiak came into the game. It didn’t take long as he rumbled his way into the end zone for his first score. The next series, Dominiak again took the shot gun snap, fumbled the ball momentarily, picked it up, broke two tackles, and again raced down the sideline for a 34-yard scamper. No one really knew what that play was called but it sure worked!

In the 3rd quarter, Dominiak hooked up with Eddie Dominguez for a 41-yard scoring strike. The next Panther possession culminated with yet a different Panther finding pay dirt. This time, it was Jason Gordon on a hard-nosed 9-yard run up the middle. With the Panthers exclusively running the ball in the 2nd half, the last and final score came by way of one last impressive running exhibition. This time it was Ryan Downs who carried the load and eventually plunged in from about the 6-yard line. Travis Kahl, who made 6 of 7 extra point kicks, and Bobby Mikorski, who added a 2-point conversion also helped in making the score 56-0 as the running clock came to zeros.

At the end of the game, Coach Ringelberg told his guys that most games won't flow quite as easy as this one. He also made sure that they realize that they must continue to work on all phases of the game in order to reach their goal of a Conference Championship.

Next week, the Varsity Reserve Panthers travel to New Berlin, Wisconsin to play the New Berlin West Vikings.

Varsity    

Aerial Assault On The Trojans!
by R A Mattrisch - 9/1/07

High school football is really a ground based game, unless of course, you play for Greendale. They prefer playing up in the sky. The Panthers unleashed its aerial assault Friday night against the Trojans of Wauwatosa West in this year's 2007 Woodland conference opener. By time the footballs stopped falling from the heavens, Greendale found itself on the winning end of the scoreboard by a score of 35-7.

It was very apparent that Greendale's offense brought their "A" game with them that night for they fell just 4-yards short of hitting the 300-yard mark through the air. Oh, did I mention that the Panthers decided to keep the ball on the ground the second half of the 4th quarter because of the score? Tosa West just didn't have an answer on how to stop the 4-headed monster of Greendale's receiving corp. There were just too many fast receivers with great hands running around on the field, all at the same time. Of course, it takes a special kind of quarterback to find these guys too. Even though Greendale likes to throw the ball, they can also run as well. In between pass plays of which the receivers can catch their breath and Hennessy can rest his arm, the Panthers added 137 more yards on the ground to officially end the night with 433-yards of total offense. In high school football, that's huge! Quarterback Mike Hennessy finished the night going 12 for 19 while Chris Ridgeway finished going 1 for 1.

The scoring started on Greendale's second position after recovering a Tosa fumble on Greendale's 28-yard line. Quarterback Mike Hennessy connected with junior Ben Ericksen on a 72-yard pass play for a touchdown. The extra point kick was blocked making the score 6-0 with 3:15 remaining in the 1st quarter. After forcing Tosa to punt, Greendale put another nice drive together, that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by Dan Prindiville. Greendale then scored 2 more points as Prindiville took a pitch and scored the PAT as the 1st quarter came to an end.

Things were kind of quiet in the 2nd quarter as Greendale found itself knocking on the door at the 2-yard line, but crucial penalties seemed to come up at bad times. This pushed them backwards enough that they couldn't recover. Things went back and forth for a bit until Tosa eventually was forced to punt again. Deep return man Mike Picciolo took the punt and appeared to be running up the sideline before being hit and fumbling the ball near mid-field. Tosa then marched all the way down the field in 11-plays for a touchdown. The extra point kick was good making the score 14-7 as the 1st half came to an end.

Greendale was to start the second half by getting the ball first. With a nice mix of the run and pass, Hennessy took the snap and ran around left end for a 6-yard score. Travis Kahl's extra point kick was good making the score 21-7 with 9:26 left in the 3rd. The Panthers held the Trojans to one first down before making them punt the ball again. Greendale then drove the ball 64-yards and scored on a 3-yard run by Prindiville. Kahl's kick was good again so Greendale now lead 28-7 with 5:32 left in the 3rd.

Both teams touched the ball a few times before Greendale eventually scored again as Hennessy hit Ericksen on a 15-yard slant route. Kahl's kick was good now increasing Greendale's margin to 35-7 with 11:12 remaining in the game. The rest of the game would be played between the 20's as both teams decided to get other players in the game. The game finally came to an end with the Panthers defeating the Trojans, 35-7. Coach Stoltz was very happy with his offense in how they executed all night. "If there was any disappointment there, it would be the penalties. Defensively, we felt that they need to pick it up a bit for it just didn't seem like there was a lot of emotion and tenacity tonight. We need these guys to unleash the beast because we know it's there."

Greendale will now host the New Berlin West Vikings in their home opener this Friday night. The Vikings saw a 28-0 half time lead disappear last week as St. Francis came from behind and beat them in overtime 35-34 at New Berlin.

For game stats, click here.

For game pictures, click here.

For scoring highlight video, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Varsity Reserve    

JV Finished Strong Against Ike But Came Up Short
by K. Ringelberg & R. A. Mattrisch - 8/29/07

On Tuesday 8/28, the JV Panthers opened their season on the road against the New Berlin Eisenhower Vikings. Ike opened the game with a pretty impressive 8:30 min drive that took about the whole first quarter. Following that score was Greendale's first possession, which was a rather quick 3 and out. Ike then scored again as time expired in the first quarter to make it 14-0 in favor of the Vikings.

The second quarter was fairly uneventful as both sides moved the ball, but could not punch it in. It wasn't until late in the quarter when Ike eventually scored again. This was a result of the offense just putting the defense in a position where their backs were against the wall. The first half would come to a close with the score 21-0 in favor of Ike.

At halftime, the coaches stressed to the players how important it would be finishing out the game with energy and enthusiasm. The coaches also challenge them to concentrate on winning the second half. It didn’t look real promising early in the second half for on a Greendale punt, Ike's return man, who looked like he was cornered and almost stopped several times, returned it all the way for a score.

Finally, the offense was able to put a decent drive together, which was achieved through a little Greendale luck as QB Jordan Dominiak fumbled, after picking up a nice gain, right into the waiting arms of Jake Eul who took the ball 30 yards for a score. After some more good defense, the offense again ended up putting the "D" in a tight spot with an interception that ended on the Panther 1-yard line. The Greendale defense held strong for three plays as IKE could "not" move. On 4th and 1, it looked as though the Panthers stopped Ike from scoring, but the refs though different and signaled a touchdown to make the score, 35-6 Eisenhower at the end of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Panthers put Bobby Mikorski in at QB to get him a little work. After a little bit of a shaky start, Bobby hit Jake Eul in "perfect" stride for a 55 yard scoring toss to make the score 35-12. Travis Kahl added the the extra point kick to make the score 35-13.

As time was running out in the game, Mikorski carried the ball over the goal line on a QB sneak to end the game. The final score was 35-19, Eisenhower.

The team was pretty excited with the fact that they had achieved their halftime goal of winning the second half. They did that by out-scoring Ike 19-14. Offensively, the line did a real nice job of run blocking as well as pass blocking. The O-line includes: Travis Kahl, Ben Carron, Noah Jankowski, Andrew Schwerin, and Zach Beard. Bobby Mikorski also did an outstanding job in relief of Jordan Dominiak at QB. Jake Eul had an exceptional game with some big time catches and some big time yards after those catches. On defense, hats off goes to: Kory Zaja, Anthony Ezpinoza, John Battikha and Jordan Stachowski.

Varsity    

Déjà Vu
by R.A. Mattrisch - 8/26/07

For the third year in a row, the Greendale Panthers opened its varsity football season by playing a non-conference game against Waukesha West, and for the third time in a row, West has beaten the Panthers rather handedly. Why does this happen? I’ll tell you why. It’s the player that wears # 5 for the other team. His name is Steve Spratte and he is a three-year starter at running back for the Wolverines. I’ve seen a lot of players play football and when I think back, Mr. Spratte would easily be in my top 5 list of best running backs that I’ve personally seen play. That covers 27+ years of hanging around high school football.

Because the field conditions were so poor from the torrential rains that fell during the week prior, Waukesha West asked and made arrangements to reschedule this game from Friday night at their field, to Saturday afternoon at the friendly confines of Schneider Stadium on the grounds of Carroll College in Waukesha Wisconsin. The good news for the Panthers is that they won’t be getting all muddy and wet from playing on a soggy grass field. The bad news is that they were now going to face Spratte on a dry artificial surface. Not good! Whether this was a devious plan or not, doesn’t really matter. Both teams are playing on the same field so all things aside, everything should be equal... right? Well, I can only report what I saw and I swear I witnessed # 5 stop dead in his tracks from a full gallop, turn 90 degrees, takeoff at another full gallop… all in the blink of an eye. It totally reminded me of Barry Sanders from the Detroit Lions. Needless to say, the Panthers had just a little trouble stopping him for he finished with 157 yards in the 3-1/2 quarters he played.

Greendale also had a little trouble stopping the pass as well. Unfortunately, the coaches knew going into this game that they were going to be somewhat vulnerable back there because earlier that week; they found out that several players were not going to be eligible to play for the first few games. Those players just so happen to be secondary personnel. As a result, personnel changes needed to be made rather quickly. Because of the short notice, several players were playing if different positions of which they were not that familiar with, and If they were familiar, it would be the lack of varsity experience that would be an issue. There is no quick fix to replace experience, especially in the defensive secondary.

On an encouraging note, the offense seemed to get it done. Coach Stoltz and his spread attack seemed to start out a little slow, but as the game went on, you could see that the machine was starting to run on all cylinders once again. In fact, in the second half, it almost seemed that they could move down the field with ease via the run or the pass.

The spread is commonly thought of as a passing style offense, which isn’t entirely true. In theory, yeah, but you can also run out of this offense as well. This is because by spreading out your wide receivers, the defense is forced to adjust and respect those receivers. By doing so, you take more guys out or farther away from the box and when there are fewer guys in the box, there are fewer guys you need to block up front in that box. In essence, you are putting a lot of pressure on the outside linebackers and secondary because they have to watch both their man or area, and the backfield across the entire width of the field. This is not easy to do. Because you are so spread out, it also puts pressure on your tackling abilities too because 9 out of 10 times, they will be forced to a one on one tackling situation. If you miss or are out of position, there won’t be a lot of help around so as a result, big plays are made.

There is a new wrinkle this year. Coach Stoltz can call the entire offense from the sidelines via hand signals. You would think that this is impossible but if you ask Coach Stoltz, he will reply that nothing is impossible. While the team is lining up at the line of scrimmage, the quarterback, running backs and receivers are all watching Stoltz on the sideline. When they see what they need to see, the quarterback calls out a few signals to the down linemen and they're off to the races. The real advantage to all of this is that a change can be made at the last minute based on the defensive set. So far it seems to be working fine. The only thing that I could see being a problem is if there is a heavy fog on the field, which does seem to happen each year. If I know coach Stoltz, he probably has that covered too. I figure Morse code with a flashlight like they do in the navy or maybe even foghorn tones. At any rate, I'm sure he has it covered.

Greendale travels north for their next game to play a crossover conference tilt against the Trojans of Wauwatosa West.

For game stats, click here.

For pictures, click here.

For scoring highlight video, click here.

By the way, that artificial sports turf sure looks nice... hey?

GPTC    

GPTC Dunk Tank Fundraiser A Huge Success!
by R. A. Mattrisch - 8/15/07

Alumni Kyle Johnsen '06 (in the tank) and
Ben Mattrisch '06 help out working
the dunk tank.

The sun was out, the heat was on, so what better place then to spend time cooling off in a refreshing tub of water. Maybe refreshing isn't enough word. How about "SUPER" refreshing instead. That's because the water that was used was the same temperature that falls from your faucets at home when looking for that ice cold drink of water. Drinking that water is fine, but taking a bath in it is a little different story. Just ask the dunk'ies that were more of less told to volunteer and sit the bench as sadistic patrons' tried to knock them off.

On-lookers wait their turn.

On August 10th, 11th and 12th, the Village of Greendale held it's annual Village Days celebration. This is a time when the whole community comes together to enjoy great music, food, beverage, games, and each other's company. This is always the best time to catch up with how everyone is doing as well. There were plenty of other things to do downtown too. Whether it was playing in the softball tournament or maybe just eating and shopping. That's why Village Days is so special because there was something available for all ages that came down to check it out.

GPTC members (left to right) Tim Nethery,
Becky Nethery, Jeri Johnsen and
Rodney Mattrisch

One area where there was plenty to do was in the family games area. This is where the Greendale Panther Touchdown Club set up shop with their dunk tank. "This was our first time doing this." said head organizer Jeri Johnsen, "so I wasn't really sure how this would go over. As of Wednesday afternoon, I only had 4 out of 19 time slots filled so I was really concerned. Thank goodness that coach Stoltz made an offer to his players that they couldn't refuse." The whole idea of this is to raise money for the GPTC, which will be managed and allocated towards the needs of the Greendale football programs.

The head coach's wife, Jenny Stoltz eyes
up the target as her husband (Rob) rides
the bench.

The concept of a dunk tank is simple and straight forward. You find some poor soul, and have them sit on this bench, which is connected to this target. You use regular size softballs and the object is to throw these balls at this red target. If you hit the target, it trips the latch that holds the bench seat up and dumps the occupant into 300 gallons of ice cold water. The reason this is fun is because you first have the challenge of hitting the target," one thrower said. "Then as a reward, you get to see the look on the person's face as they hit the water, and as an added bonus, you get to listen to them complain about how cold it is."

Direct hit!

Coach Stoltz pleads for mercy as wife
Jenny readies her throw.

The dunk'ies included past alumni, current players, coaches, and a school board member. "Next year," Johnsen said, "we are going to do a better job of scheduling and publicizing so that people can plan to be here to dunk their favorite friend... or foe for that mater." Two of the favorite targets seemed to be head coach Rob Stoltz, and this year's starting quarterback, Mike Hennessy.

Alumni Jesse Domenget '07 sits on the
hot seat waiting for the inevitable.

The GPTC was also selling memberships and t-shirts at their booth as well. "It was kind of hard to figure out where we stood during the whole event," said club president Tim Nethery, "but after all of the dust settled, I did end up depositing $2000.00 into our club account, which was way better then we anticipated. The one person that I have to recognize for all of her hard work, was our own Jeri Johnsen. She took this task on and pulled it off with flying colors. I also have to thank Ed Bychinski for getting us our banner signs, my wife Becky, Melissa Bychinski, Ben Mattrisch, Matt & Katie Barczak for manning the ticket booth, Eric Campbell for the water arrangements, Judy Turay and the GEA for allowing us to do this, and of course all of the brave souls that took an hour of their life to sit on the bench for a worthy cause."