News    

2009 In Review
R. A Mattrisch - 12/26/09

Well another successful season has come and gone. Of course the varsity didn't get as deep into the playoffs as they have in the past, but they did make it to the playoffs for the 4th year in a row. This is always an accomplishment considering that there are teams out there that haven't been to a playoff game in over 10 years.

So why has Greendale been so successful lately? Well, in my opinion, I think it starts with the proper attitude. You have to want to be the best. There is a saying out there that goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." I guess that means the horse will only drink if it wants to. The same holds true for all of the guys that decide to play the game. Our coaches can show them where the field is and teach them football, but if a player doesn't feel like it, the team won't have a chance. In simple terms, you have to want to win!

So what does it take to win? The answer is quite easy. First you need a desire to be the best. In order to be the best, you have to work harder than the other guy by preparing yourself both on and off the field. That means lifting weights... speed training... and attending skill clinics and camps. All of these tasks need to be done in order to be the best and win. Of course the real trick is getting everyone to buy into that because after all, football is a team sport. It also takes leadership. Greendale High School is blessed with what I think is the best group of coaches in the state. They are experienced, sticklers to details, hard working, organized, and probably the biggest and most important attribute... they are enthusiastic and have fun! This is what rubs off onto the players. When you throw all of this into a bowl, and mix it up real well, you will end up with a football team that has an attitude and the physical ability to win, not to mention have fun while doing it. This is what Greendale does and that's why they are successful.

Everyone knew at the start of the season that there were a lot of shoes to fill. As with any high school season, teams have to deal with new personal every year. This also will dictate a team's personality for each year. Sometimes teams will enter the season with a lot of new faces, which is always construed as a young team. Younger teams usually struggle a little more because of their inexperience at the varsity level. To win with the young team that Greendale had this year was quite an accomplishment to say the least. The upside of fielding a young team is that the following year, they won't be considered young anymore. They would now be considered experienced veterans. The more veterans you have, the better your chances are of going all the way. That is simply a fact of life. If the work ethic remains at a high level, I truly believe that the Panthers will make some serious noise next year. The varsity finished this year with an overall record of 7-3, which is obviously a winning season. If you were to ask any of the players and coaches if that was good enough, I have a feeling that they would all replay, "NO!"

It was refreshing to see the not to publicized varsity reserve team do so well this past year. It's remarkable what they can do on a game field with the short amount of time they actually spend together practicing as a unit. This tells me a lot about their character as individual players. What puts a smile on my face is that these guys have plenty of football left and it's a given that they will get better as each year passes. How much better? Well that's totally up to the individual. Rest assured that the coaching staff will be on them like white on rice in making them the best that they can be. It did look a little troublesome those first two games, but I think that was because of the amount of time they were able to spend together as a unit. By the 3rd game, everything was worked out and a finely tuned machine was born. So finely tuned that they ran the table-winning 7 games in a row and only allowing 30 points total. That's 4.28 points per/game. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The freshman will always come in as a big question mark. That is because there is little known about them as players... it's their first year at the high school... and they are going to be taught a highly sophisticated offense that requires a lot of time to learn. The key to that is the coaching staff. They have to handle things with kid gloves and yet they have to keep the fire hot! I found it very disheartening that several schools in the conference this year were unable to field a team. That's an indication that there is no fire present. Because of that, some last minute scrambling had to be done to fill those vacant games. My hat goes off Greendale's Athletic Director Gina Wilkins who managed to replace those games so that the freshman could play a complete seven game schedule. My only regret was that "Mother Nature" interfered in the Greenfield game, which was developing into one of the greatest games during their season. The game ended in a tie but I sure wish there was a way that they could have finished that one. They finished with a 4-2-1 record, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

So when you add everything up, the Greendale Panther football teams did very well. There is one thing that I noticed though this year. I have been around Greendale football for 35 years now and I have NEVER seen so many big players walking around before. Sure, you will always have a few, but when I looked at all of the levels combined this year, it became real apparent that we have a lot! I'm not sure if it is something in our water or what, but if these guys take it upon themselves to make themselves stronger and faster, Greendale could come out next year swinging a very big hammer.

And lastly... The Touchdown Club! We have increased our membership by 33% this year. That is very exciting to say the least. Hopefully that trend will continue. It is our mission to support Greendale football in any way we can. Yes, we managed to pull off a new football field that comes in very handy now... especially this year with all of the rain we had. In fact, it was so handy that our neighbors South Milwaukee and Franklin rented Greendale's field during the playoffs because their fields were unplayable. Of course, organizing the installation of that field is now history. It's time to take on a new project. At this point in time, all we are going to say is that there are things in the works and we will let everyone know when we have a solid plan in place. We did finish the installation of the "Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial" this year. You will walk by it when you walk into the main stadium gate. This was a very exciting project that we were happy to be involved with. We held several fundraisers this year that included our dunk tank and a Brewer game outing that was extremely successful and fun! We are planning on doing that again. Of course Greendale football doesn't only exist at the high school level, it also exists at the grade school level. The Greendale Panther Youth Organization was gracious enough to present a check in the amount of $3000.00 from a fundraiser they held during the season. We all would like to thank them; especially the people that helped organize it. That group understands that the young players that play at that level will eventually end up playing at the high school. This is one of the key reasons as to why Greendale football is so successful.

Rodney Mattrisch
(GPTC webmaster)

On a personal note, I want to thank everyone that helped out in making this website and the GPTC a huge success. There are a few people that I would especially like to thank. Chuck Cairns and Chris Ksobiech. Chuck is our long time photographer and video guy and Chris is our field side game videographer. Gina Wilkins from the high school who provides us with a lot of information regarding the football program, the entire GHS football coaching staff for their cooperation in letting us cover and provide all of the media coverage for the different teams, and of course all of the parents and fans that support Greendale football. I would be remise if I didn't say a special thank you to all of the members of the GPTC, especially the leadsmen, Tim Nethery and Keith Ringelberg. Without their drive and tenacity, the GPTC would not be what it is today. I really enjoy working with all of them.

That will do it for this year. It is my intention to continue on as I have in the past so that friends, family, and most of all, alumni of Panther football will have an easy way to keep up with one of the finest high school football programs around. This website will now become somewhat dormant for a while as we wait for the 2010 season to arrive. We may post a few stories as they pop up but until then, feel free to check in and browse around for there is plenty of content and history available. When the season gets closer, this site will then rise up from it's nap so that we can bring you coverage of the complete 2010 Greendale High School Football Season.

Until then... best regards,

Rodney,

News    

Wrapping Up The 2009 Season
GPTC: 12/2/09

The footballs have finally stopped flying through the air. They are resting comfortably in a ball bag somewhere waiting for the 2010 season to arrive. Along with that, a football field now is hidden underneath a blanket of snow. That can only mean that the 2009 high school football season has finally come to an end. All that is left was the awards banquet, which would be the exclamation point marking the end of another great year.

On Wednesday December 2nd, the Greendale Panther Football Awards Banquet was held at a new venue called Klemmer's. This is a night where all of the players are recognized for their efforts during the course of the season.

The freshmen team under the direction of coaches Chris Muench, Steve Stoltz and Greg Koch, finished the year with a 4-2-1 record. They put up a total of 163 points of offense while giving up 129 points on defense. The tie came from a game against Greenfield that was cut short by bad weather. They also had to reschedule 2 games because of two schools inability to field a freshmen team because of numbers. Greendale didn't have to worry about that for they had 31 players to take the field.

The varsity reserve team under the direction of coaches Keith Ringelberg, Tim Gavinski, Mike Weyer, and Jermaine Murry, finished their season with an overall record of 7-2. The two losses were non-conference games so they ended up winning the Woodland Conference Black Division by going undefeated for the 2nd year in a row. The team was comprised of 33 players-all sophomores and juniors. Most of these guys suited up for the varsity games as well. The remarkable thing about this team is that they usually only ended up practicing as a team on Saturday mornings for about 3 hours, which really isn't a lot of time to put things together. During the week, everyone practices together so the reserve group had to rely on what they learned during the week and bring that with them to their games. When you add everything up, they scored 265 points on offense and gave up only 100 points on defense. One thing worth mentioning was that out of the 9 games they played, 5 of them were shutouts by the defense. They ended up losing their first 2 games and then ran the table for the rest of the season.

The varsity team under the direction of coaches Rob Stoltz, Scott Bond, Keith Ringelberg, Gary Jagodzinski, Matt Susek, Jermaine Murry, Mike Weyer, and Tim Gavinski, finished the season with an overall record of 7-3. They finished tie for second place in the Woodland Conference Black Division with a 6-2 record and made it to the playoffs for the 4th year in a row. They ended up losing that game, however, to a tough Franklin team. There were 56 players suiting up this year of which 20 of them were seniors. These seniors will now join the ranks of all of the other alumni that have played before them. They include: Cordney Wren, Bobby Mikorski, Jordan Dominiak, Nick Gagliano, Jake Eul, Dylan Cramer, Evan Goyette, Harold Epright, Eric Schuerman, Tristian Gross, Ryan Becker, Ryan Bender, Kory Zaja, Zack Beard, Stephen Gradinjan, A.J. Sciano, Kyle Billman, Jaleel Shawar, Brett Wilson, and Mike Sirus.

During the social hour, everyone had a chance to browse the displays that were set up by the banquet staff out in the reception area. They included pictures of the coaches when they were playing at their respective colleges, to special story boards and picture boards from this past season. In the dining area, a DVD highlight video was being played of all of the varsity games that were played this past season. Of course you can't have an event like this without holding a raffle of which many nice donated prizes and gifts were available.

After the social hour, everyone sat down to a family style meal of which servers would bring the food to the tables. The meal included; salad, rolls, chicken, beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, and an ice cream sundae for desert.

Following the meal, Head Coach Rob Stoltz took time to recognize all of the people that helped out with the program in some way shape or form. This also included the women that organized the banquet. This list was long, but it showed everyone just how special the program at Greendale is. As Coach Stoltz said, "There is no other program that could come close to matching Greendale's."

After recognizing those individuals, the freshmen coaches were brought up to introduce their team. Following them, the varsity reserve coaches did the same thing. Then it was the varsity's turn. Coach Stoltz started off by reading a well thought out paragraph of every senior on the team. After the seniors, who's jerseys lined the back wall behind the head table were recognized, he then introduced the rest of the team. They were given certificates, their letters, and all of the seniors were given a 4-disk DVD set of the game films from the season donated by the Greendale Panther Touchdown Club.

As with each and every year, special awards are presented to players that the coached felt were deserving of. "The Lineman of the Year" was presented to Jordan Campbell. "The Special Teams Player of the Year" was given to Andrew Brees. "The Scout Team Player of the Year" was given to both Eric Schuerman and Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski. "The Most Improved Player of the Year" was presented to Matt Pulizos. For "The Offensive Player of the Year", the coaches selected Luke Drumel. For "The Defensive Player of the Year", they selected Joel Sirus. This year's "Most Valuable Player" award was give to Cordney Wren. And for what the coaches' view as the top award, they presented Bobby Mikorski with the "Panther Spirit Award."

The night finally ended around 10:30 with a huge thank you from the heart and the promise that we will do it again next year!

For more pictures of the banquet, click here.

News    

2009 WIAA Playoff Results!
GPTC-11/16/09

After three and a half weeks of playoff elimination games, the 2009 WIAA Championship games are now set. 224 high school teams representing 7 divisions started this quest and now we are down to 14. The WIAA State Championship games will be played this week at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on 11/19 and 11/20 to determine the State Champions for their respective division.

2009 WIAA Playoff Brackets: - D1 - D2 - D3 - D4 - D5 - D6 - D7

Thursday 11/19

Division 7

McDonell Central (9-4) 15 - Burlington Catholic Central (12-1) 27

Division 6

Edgar (13-0) 46 - Eau Claire Regis (11-2) 7

Division 5

Arcadia (10-3) 7 - St. Mary's Springs (13-0) 42

Division 4

Kewaunee (12-1) 13 - Big Foot (13-0) 42

Friday 11/20

Division 3

West De Pere (11-2) 27 - Reedsburg (10-3) 34

Division 2

Kimberly (11-2) 21 - Waunakee (12-1) 34

Division 1

Menomonee Falls (11-2) 0 - Milwaukee Marquette (13-0) 7

Varsity    

2009 Post Season Honors
GPTC-11/5/09

At the end of each season, all of the head football coaches from the conference get together to select an all-conference team. How this works is that each coach will put up his players by position that he feels are worthy of making this elite group. Once that is done, the coaches will then vote on who they thought made an impact at that position-taking into account stats and the team's success. Once that is done, the votes are tallied up and the group is then determined.

The following list are the players from this year's Greendale team. For the complete list, click here.

Woodland Conference

(Black Division)

Offense 1st Team:

Andrew Brees (WR)
Jordan Campbell (OL)
Noah Jankowski (OL)
Luke Drumel (RB)
Andrew Brees (K) - Unanimous

Offense Honorable Mention: Ernie Valente (QB), JoJo Sardina (WR), Zach Beard (OL)

Defense 1st Team:

James Wilson (DL)
Jordan Campbell (DE)
Joel Sirus (OLB)
Dominic Schwabe (LB)
Cordney Wren (DB)

Defense Honorable Mention: Ryan Becker (LB)

Woodland (Black) Conference Player Of The Year (2nd Runner-up): Jordan Campbell

Woodland Conference All-Academic Team: Evan Goyette

Varsity    

Stuck in the mud!

The Panthers didn't even meow against Franklin.
R.A. Mattrisch - 10/27/09

When the WIAA Playoffs start, everything that has happened during the course of the season is tossed out the window. Your record only affected how you were seeded, but after that, it's useless. It doesn't matter how good you did against other teams, only the team you are going to be playing. If you lose, you are done! If you win, you move on! It also doesn't mater where you play the games because if you are good, it shouldn't make any difference. Of course playing conditions come into play, but the thing to keep in mind is that your opponent is playing on the very same field. So what does it take to win? Off the top of my head, it takes heart, soul, desire, focus, emotion, execution, and a little bit of talent. In the game between Greendale and Franklin, one of teams did that and the other one did not. After it was all said and done, Greendale would end up going home on the losing end of as 27-0 score as neighboring Franklin would defeat them in the 1st round of the WIAA Division 2 Playoffs.

"All I can say is that I'm speechless and embarrassed." said a numb Head Coach Rob Stoltz. "I can't remember a Greendale team ever playing like this. I have no clue where our guys were tonight, but I do know they weren't in Franklin. My hats off to Franklin for they sure put it together tonight."

The million dollar questions are:

"Was it the muddy conditions causing the problems?"

That could be! After all, two of the three losses this year were played on a muddy field. Quite honestly, all the mud really does is slow the game down a bit. Sure you have to adapt somewhat, but both teams have to do that. You still should be able to run, pass, and catch the ball... and you still should be able to block, tackle and think.

"Was it the fact that Greendale was moved up to Division 2?"

That could be an issue because Franklin has 378 more students than Greendale has. Sure... you can only play 11 players on the field at once so what difference does it make? Well, the difference is that the odds of landing more bigger and better athletes are greater when you have more to pick from. Unfortunately, that is just a simple math ratio.

Whatever the case, it doesn't mater because it is what it is and what happened is over. The wound will soon heal and it will be time to move on and start over once again.

Franklin started the game off by kicking first. After a nice return by Cordney Wren, Greendale would end up starting their first drive of the game from their 41 yard-line. They would run 3-plays and found themselves looking at a 4th and 3" inches. Panther quarterback Ernie Valente would go under center with an anticipated QB sneak, but someone moved to early causing yellow flags to fly. This would back Greendale up and force them to punt instead because they didn't want to take any early chances with the muddy field.

The Sabers would start their first drive of the night from their 18. Franklin came in with a reputation of being a passing team for they run the same style of spread offense as Greendale. It would be their running game, however, that would do the damage. Eleven plays later, the Sabers would cross the goal line as junior quarterback Lance Baretz would sneak it in from 2-yards out. Matt Ward would make the point after try and Franklin would jump on the board first with a score of 7-0 and 6:00 minutes left in the opening quarter of play.

After the ensuing kick, the Panthers would start their next drive on their 24. They would only manage 3-plays before being forced to punt.

Baretz would set up his Saber offense on their 40, but they too would have to punt going 3 and out.

Greendale was still looking to get themselves going, but they failed to get a yard on their next series and were forced to punt from their own end zone going 3 and out.

As a result of a poor Andrew Brees punt, the Sabers were looking at a short field as they would line up on the Panther 34. Two plays later, they would cross the goal line again as running back Paul Lincoln would take a delayed handoff and scamper through the mud from 34-yards out. The point after try was no good making the score 13-0 with 1:43 left in the 1st quarter.

The Panthers would start their next series from their 32. This time they looked like they got their motor started. With the help of a Franklin pass interference penalty, they would get their first 1st down of the game and moved the ball to the Saber's 44 yard-line. That would be as far as it would go for all of the Panther passing attempts were not even close to their targets thus forcing them to punt for the 4th time in the game.

It was now the 2nd quarter as Franklin took possession on their 25. They would gouge the Panther defense right off the bat with a screen pass for a huge gain. Four plays later, they would cross the goal line again as running back Jesse Palok would take it in from 27-yards out. Ward would make his kick and Franklin would increase their lead by a score of 20-0 with 9:39 left in the 1st half.

Things then really started going south for the Panthers. On the following kick, return man Luke Drumel would fumble the ball giving it right back to Franklin on Greendale's 21.

The struggling Panthers would dodge a huge bullet as Greendale's Evan Goyette would intercept a Saber pass in the end zone thus giving them the ball back on their 20 yard-line.

This time it seemed like Valente got his mojo back as he completed 3 passes in a row to move his team to midfield. That would come to a quick halt for on a 3rd down play, a pass that looked to have been caught by JoJo Sardinia, was ruled incomplete by a different official so the Panthers ended up having to punt the ball away again.

With Greendale's normal punter (Brees) on the sideline with an injury, their backup punter, sophomore Brett Nethery would come in. He would hit a nice one that rolled all the way to the Franklin 2 yard-line pinning the Sabers deep in a hole. They would only run 6-plays before they would have to punt back to the Panthers.

Greendale would assume possession of the ball on their 47 after a close call with a fumble on the return. They couldn't get anything going again as they continually hurt themselves with foolish penalties. Nethery would again drop one on Franklin's 2. At this point, the speciality team was the only unit that was working well for Greendale.

Franklin would run just 1-play before the 1st half came to an end.

Greendale would kick to start the second half. Baretz would set up his offense on their 39. They would but together a huge 15-play drive only to have it stall out as Greendale's defense forced them to turn the ball over on downs on their 5 yard-line.

Greendale failed to get a yard as all 3 pass attempts would miss their mark. They would end up punting for the 7th time in the game as Nethery would drop this one near midfield after punting from his own end zone.

Franklin would fail to move the ball and they were forced to punt going 3 and out.

Because of the ineffectiveness of Valente, the Panther coaching staff brought in a new quarterback in sophomore Sam Brick. That didn't seem to work either as they had to punt after running 3-plays again.

Nethery again would get off a huge kick but this time the return man would break away and return it all the way back to what was the original line of scrimmage. Eleven plays later, Greendale's defense forced the Sabers to turn the ball over on downs again on the Greendale 16.

It was now the 4th quarter and Greendale was still looking for their first 1st down of the 2nd half. Unfortunately, that trend would continue as they were forced to kick going 3 and out.

The Sabers would strike big again on their next series as Baretz would keep the ball on an option and score from 45-yards out completing a 3-play, 52-yard scoring drive. Ward's kick was good making the score 27-0 with 7:26 left in the game.

Greendale would start their next series from their 35. Looking at a 4th and 1 near midfield, they would go for it, but Franklin's defense stood everyone up at the line of scrimmage and actually ended up tackling Brick for a loss thus forcing the Panthers to turn the ball over on downs.

With 5:51 left in the game, Franklin would send in their 2nd team in on offense. They would be forced to punt, however, after going 3 and out.

The Panthers had to be careful as they would be starting their next drive from their 3. Two plays later, Brick would be intercepted and the Sabers would take possession on Greendale's 19 yard-line.

The Sabers 2nd unit ended up turning the ball over on downs again back to Greendale.

The Panthers would finally get their first 1st down of the 2nd half, but that was all as they ended up turning the ball over on downs on their 28.

With just :06 seconds left, Franklin would take a knee and the game was finally over.

The final score would be Franklin 27, Greendale 0. Greendale's offense just never engage tonight. In fact, this was the poorest performance in over 5 years. They will now be turning in their equipment as their season has ended while Franklin will continue on to the next level. The Panthers finished their season with a conference record of 6-2 and an overall record of 7-3.

All that's left on this year's football agenda is the banquet, which will be held on December 2nd. Once that is over, the 2010 season officially begins!

For game stats, click here.

All photographers were unavailable so there are no game time pictures.

For video highlights of the game, click here.

Varsity    

Smooth Sailing For The Panthers In Season Finale!

Greendale finished with a win over Cudahy and now await the playoffs.
R.A. Mattrisch - 10/21/09

When the schedule came out last year, everyone one dreaded coming to Cudahy for the last game because notoriously, it's cold and frosty thanks to the lake. I mean after all, it's almost November and the warm 75-degree days are done for the year. Well that wasn't the case this year. In fact, it ended up being one of the warmest days of the month as the game time temperature reached the mid 60's making is an absolutely perfect night for Fall football. What made it even better was the fact that the Greendale Panthers ended up defeating the Cudahy Packers by a score of 37-7 making it the ultimate evening. That is of course if you are a Panther fan. "It was nice to see our offense execute tonight, but it was even nicer to see our defense dictate the game." said a happy Coach Rob Stoltz. "I actually lost count on how many TFL's we had and I have to think that their quarterback is pretty tired for he was running for his life most of the night. Hopefully we can keep that intensity up because it's now Showtime for us."

The Cudahy Packers would be receiving first to start the game. As with most Andrew Brees kicks, the receiving team ends up starting from their 20 yard-line. They would only manage 8-plays before being forced to punt the ball away.

After a decent return, Greendale would be starting their first series of the night from Cudahy's 47 yard-line. As in typical Greendale fashion, they would mix up the run and pass very well as they moved down the field. Five plays later, they would end up in the end zone as running back Luke "Jig Saw" Drumel would zigzag his way in from 19-yards out. Brees would kick it between the poles and out of the stadium-making the score 7-0 with 5:53 left in the opening quarter of play.

The Packers would be starting their next series from the 20 once again. They were forced to punt, however, after going 3 and out. They would catch a break here as the Panther return man would fumble the ball giving it right back to Cudahy on their 42. That fumble would cost the Panthers for 9-plays later, Cudahy running back Ryan Meyer would take it in from 1-yard out for their first TD of the night. Kris Zarek would make the point after-tying the score up at 7's with :18 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

Greendale would start their next series from their 30. Eight plays later, Panther quarterback Ernie Valente would hit Brees in the end zone for a 6-yard scoring strike. Brees would make his kick and Greendale would regain the lead by a score of 14-7 and 8:59 left in the 1st half.

Cudahy would bring out their offense and set up on their 20. They only managed 3-plays before being forced to kick again.

After another decent return, Greendale would start from the Cudahy 45. Four plays later, Valente would connect with Brees again for a 26-yards touchdown pass. Brees would have a rare miss on the extra point-making the score 20-7 with 5:30 left in the half.

The Packers would again try and get something going from their 20. With the quarterback spending most of the night running for his life, they only managed 6-plays before having to kick the ball away.

The Panthers would assume possession of the ball on their 20. With a nice mix of the run and the pass, they would move all the way across the field before Valente would throw his one and only interception of the night in the end zone.

Cudahy failed to take advantage of the turnover and in fact, they ended up giving it right back on the very first play, as they fumbled of which Greendale's Jordan Campbell would recover on Cudahy's 8 yard-line.

On the very first play, Valente would jaunt in untouched for Greendale's 4th TD of the night. Brees would convert the kick making the score 27-7 with 1:03 left in the half.

Cudahy would start from their 18 following the ensuing kickoff. They managed 6-plays before the half finally came to an end.

Greendale would receive to start the 2nd half. They only strung 7-plays together before turning the ball over on downs at Cudahy's 45.

The struggling Packers would try and get something going but the Cat's defense had other ideas, as they continually back them up with numerous tackles for losses. They ended up punting again after failing to get even close to a first down.

The Panther offense now had the ball near midfield. They would run 6-plays before having to settle for a 31-yards Andrew Brees field goal, which was good-making the score 30-7 with 4:04 left in the 3rd.

Cudahy would only be able to muster up 6-plays on their next series before calling on their punter once again.

Greendale now had the ball and would put 4-plays together before Drumel would fumble on what seemed to be a questionable call. It looked like he was down before the ball became loose.

Trying to take advantage of yet another Panther turnover, the Packers would assume possession on Greendale's 46. They failed too, however, as Cudahy's quarterback spent most of the time under a pile of Panthers during their 11-play drive. They eventually gave it up on downs back to Greendale.

It was now late in the 4th quarter and Greendale found themselves on their 46. They would put a clock grinding 15-play drive together that took them all the way to the 1 yard–line. In a show of class, they would take a knee and gave the ball back to Cudahy with :40 seconds left in the game. The Packers would run 3-plays before the game finally came to an end.

The final score would be, Greendale 37 - Cudahy 7. This concludes the regular season of play. Greendale will now wait and see who they will play in the first round of the WIAA State Playoffs, while Cudahy will be turning in their gear. The Panthers finished this season tie for 2nd with Whitnall behind New Berlin Eisenhower who would end up the sole Woodland Conference Champions in the Black Division. The Panthers overall record end up to be 7-2, while Cudahy finished at 1-8.

Stay tuned to this website for once we know who Greendale will play and where, we will post it here.

For stats of the game, click here.

For more pictures of the game, click here.

For a video highlight of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flickr". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

News    

Greendale's Youth Football Organization Comes Through Again!
GPTC-10/19/09

While a lot is said about Greendale's high school football programs, not to much is said about the youth football program. Well let it be known that the football program's success at the high school actually starts at the youth level. Greendale is one of the most successful youth programs in the league. They have been sustaining a roster with well over 120 players the last couple of years, which is enough to field 4 teams. These kids all get top end equipment and are prepared to play the game as it should be played by an experienced coaching staff that is second to none. The board of directors are also instrumental in maintaining this program. With their guidance, they assure that quality is maintained as well as manage the league and financial responsibilities needed in keeping this program going. Greendale does not cut players so everyone who signs up plays. Keeping track of these players is one thing; there is also the fundraisers, and concessions that require a lot of volunteer parent help as well.

This past spring, the GYFL held another "Brat Fry" fundraiser. This year marks the 2nd time they did this and the reason for doing it is simple. It is held to help offset the costs needed to keep a program like Greendale's running at the high level it's accustomed too. Because the program uses the football field all season, the funds generated from last year were earmarked to go towards the new turf field that was installed at the high school. This year, the funds generated were used for new uniforms and equipment.

Because the fundraising event was so successful, they actually had money left over that they would graciously donate to the Greendale Panther Touchdown Club. "We kind of planned on doing that from the beginning." said Pat Schuster, who was one of the organizers. "The way we see it, the Touchdown Club represents and supports all of the football programs here in Greendale. Sure they may be tied to the high school a little more, but where do you think the kids we have playing this year will end up playing once they graduate 8th grade?"

On October 17th, the GYFL program presented a check to the GPTC for $3,000.00 that is to be used in their efforts to keep Greendale's football programs alive and well. Presenting this check are the volunteers that were the backbone of the fundraising event. (From left to right) Pat Schuster, Mark Wanezek, Mary Wanezek, Katie Barczak, Matt Barczak, Glenn Haumschild, and Vicky Haumschild. Receiving the check were two of the GPTC representatives Keith Ringelberg and Rodney Mattrisch.

Varsity Reserve    

A Dominating Ending For Another Championship Year!

The varsity reserve defense was just too much for Cudahy.
R. A. Mattrisch - 10/19/09

Sad to say that the high school football season for Greendale's Varsity Reserve football team has finally came to an end as they finished off Cudahy 28-12. Don't let this score fool you for the Panther defense was pitching a No-No all the way to the middle of the 3rd quarter. In football, a No-No is when a defense doesn't let the other team get a first down. In the millions of games that I have watched, I have never seen that done so this would have been a first. It didn't happen, but it was exciting up to that point not to mention amazing. This defense has come a long way from when it first started and just in case you don't that much about football; your defense is what wins championships. Oh... I would be remise if I didn't mention that the Panthers went undefeated in conference play this year to capture a Conference Championship for the 3 consecutive year in a row!

Greendale would kick first to start the game. Cudahy would start off by punting after going 3 and out!

Greendale would then bring their offense out on their 37. They too failed to get anything going and were forced to punt going 3 and out as well. They only thing different about this was the length of the punt. Greendale's Brett Nethery, who is becoming quite the foot, launched a kick that sailed over the return man's head and rolled to the 4 yard line. When I did the math, he kicked a 71-yard punt! YOU KIDDING ME!

Cudahy's offense was stuffed by the Panthers once again, and was forced to punt after 3 plays.

Greendale would come out with way better field position after the kick. Four plays later, quarterback Sam Brick would find Sean Givens in the end zone for a 3-yard scoring strike-completing a 4-play, 30-yard drive. The hold was bobbled so the point after kick was no good-making the score 6-0 with 2:20 left in the 1st quarter.

Cudahy had to punt going 3 and out. Sound familiar?

Greendale would get the ball near mid field and would put a drive together that took the game into the 2nd quarter. Four plays later, Brick would miss his mark on a pass of which the other guys would end up with.

Guess what? Cudahy had to punt after 3 plays.

Brick and his band, "The Brick Layers" would set up on Cudahy's 44 for their next series. Eight plays later, Brick would take it up the gut for another touchdown for the Panthers. The 2-point try was no good making the score 12-0 with 4:13 left in the 1st half.

Cudahy would assume possession following the ensuing kick. In somewhat of a desperate maneuver, they would try a different strategy this time. Even though they were on their 35 yard-line, instead of bringing out their punter following their 3rd play, they would try to run another offensive play to get their first 1st down of the game. That didn't seam to work either as the defense forced them to turn the ball over on downs.

The Panther were now looking at a real short field. On the very first play, Brick would hook up with Alex Najera for a 35-yards scoring strike. The 2-point try failed again and the score was now 18-0 with 3:04 left in the half.

The Packers would start with their best field position of the game after a nice kick return. They would try 4-plays to get a first down, but the Panther's defense slammed the door once again forcing another turnover by downs.

With the ball near mid field, Greendale would bring out their offense once again. On the very first play, Brick would find Nethery way down field completing a 40-yard pass and taking the ball to the 6-yard line. On the next play, however, Brick would fumble and Cudahy would recover on the Panther's 19.

Most coaches would have panicked, but the Greendale coaches seemed to know that their guys were on a mission tonight. Yes, 3-plays later, the Packers were punting once again after going 3 and out.

Greendale would put together 8-plays on their next drive only to cough it up on downs just 1-yard short of the goal line.

OK... Because the Panther defense had a serious attitude going, the ball boy standing next to me, who just so happens to be a football player on the IR (Kennedy Ringelberg), bet me that the defense would get a safety even though there was :02 seconds left in the 1st half. I said all the quarterback has to do is take the snap and throw it in the ground towards a receiver to avoid the safety and wipe out the clock... so I took the bet. For some reason, Cudahy tried running straight ahead and met the entire front line of Greendale who ended up tackling the ball carrier 3-yards deep in the end zone for the safety. Needless to say, I had to visit the concession immediately after that play and buy someone a hot chocolate.

With the score 20-0, and the No-No intact, everything looked good for the Panthers. In fact, they would get the ball first to start the 2nd half even. Well, things started out very interesting as Greendale was forced to punt going 3 and out right off the bat. To make matters even worse, that punt would be blocked and all of a sudden, Cudahy had the ball on the Panther's 15 yard-line.

Out comes the Panther's defense. Four plays later they were walking back off the field for they held and forced the Packers to turn the ball over on downs at the Panther 10 yard-line. WOW!

Now with their backs against the wall, the Panthers would have to get out of the hole that they were in. On the third play, Brick would mishandle a snap and end up fumbling of which Cudahy would recover on the Cat's 14.

Can the defense do it again? The answer was no for on the very first play, Cudahy would run wide around the right side and score from 14-yards out for their very first points of the night. The point after try was no good-making the score 20-6 with 5:41 left in the 3rd quarter.

After the ensuing kick, the Panther's offense would find themselves lining up on their 29. They would reel off 6-plays before being forced to punt the ball away.

Even though the Panther defense gave up the score, some people were asking if that would be classified a 1st down or not. I'm not sure what the answer is but all I know is that they picked up right where they left off forcing the Packers to punt after going 3 and out.

Greendale would get the ball near mid field again. They would put 7-plays together that took the game into the final quarter of play. They ended up turning the ball over on downs back to Cudahy on the Packer's 13 yard-line.

Packers punted going 3 and out!

Greendale would start with a short field on their next possession. On the very first play, Brick would find Najera camped in the end zone for a 36-yards scoring strike. This time the 2-point try was good as Brick connected with Nethery on a hard slant into the end zone. The score was now 28-6 with 7:07 left in the game and the season.

The Packers would start the following drive from their 30. They would finally put a decent drive together and score from 5-yards out completing a 7-play scoring drive. The point after kick was no good and the score was now 28-12 with 3:44 left in the game.

Feeling a little froggy now, Cudahy would try an on-side kick, but Greendale would cover it up. The Panthers would run 9-plays and finally took a knee at Cudahy's door step to end the game.

The 2009 Woodland Conference Champions!

Greendale would win 28-12 and would go undefeated in Woodland Conference play. After a rough start, the team's defense finally got it together as they would only allow a total of 30 points for the rest of the season, which was 7 games. That includes 5 shutouts and when you do the math, it comes to only 4.3 points per game allowed. They will finish the season 7-0 in conference and 7-2 over all. This also marks the last game of the 2009 season so these guys will have to wait for next year to keep this trend going. As sad as it is for me to see the season end, I can't help feeling excited about next year.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Freshman    

Freshman Finish On A Good Note!

The freshman take care of West Allis Hale in a make-up game.
R. A. Mattrisch/Chris Muench - 10/19/09

Because of a scheduling change and a conflict; a detailed account of this game was not available do to the lack of available reporters.

The freshman football team closed their season with an impressive 33-7 victory over West Allis Nathan Hale Monday night. The defense was fierce and operating on all cylinders. There was an interception by Joe Pokrzywa, a fumble recovery by Peter Pekar and a very notable hit by Colin Koffarnus.

Poncho Villa opened the scoring with a 70-yard run. Akil Huggins converted the point after kick making the score 7-0. A few series later, Gaelan Seibold made an amazing one-armed 50-yard TD catch from a pass by Pekar. Huggins kick was good making the score 14-0. Mike Scheidt added more points with a 60-yard punt return for a score. Huggins would miss the extra point kick making the score 20-0 at the end of the 1st quarter.

Defense was the name of the game in the 2nd quarter as both teams failed to score.

Josh Wicks would haul in another Pekar pass in the 3rd quarter followed by another Huggins kick to increase Greendale's lead to 27-0 as the 3rd quarter came to an end.

Cameron Rowe finished the scoring with a 15-yard TD run. The kick was no good making the score 33-0. Hale scored late in the game with a 3-yard run. They made the extra point thus generating your final score of 33-7. The team finished the season with a 4-2-1 record.

Varsity    

No Match!

Panthers met with little resistance from the Tosa Trojans.
R.A. Mattrisch - 10/16/09

Fall was diffidently in the air Friday night as Greendale (5-2) would travel to Wauwatosa to play the Wauwatosa West Trojans (3-4). The good news was that the rain decided to hold off for once, which helped out the already torn up muddy field. Tosa is struggling this year as they lost their starting quarterback early in the season. "Yeah, they are having a tough year this year." said Panther Head Coach Rob Stoltz. "You still have to come prepared to play because on these muddy fields, anything can happen. We also need to start polishing things up because the playoffs are right around the corner."

Wauwatosa West would be kicking first to start the game. After a nice return, they would start from midfield. They would rattle off 6-plays before having to settle for a 40-yard Andrew Brees field goal, which was good-making the score 3-0 with 9:54 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Trojans would start their first drive of the game from their 18. On their 2nd play from scrimmage, they would fumble of which Greendale's James Wilson would recover on Tosa's 14 yard-line. Four plays later, Jordan Dominiak would cross the goal line from 1-yard out for a Panther Touchdown. Brees would split the uprights making the score 10-0 with 8:27 left in the 1st quarter.

The Trojan offense would do it again on offense and start from their 15. Four plays later, however, they were forced to punt the ball away.

Greendale would start from near midfield again. Six plays later, quarterback Ernie Valente would find JoJo Sardina in the left end zone for a 28-yard scoring strike. Brees would make good on his kick-making the score 17-0 with only half of the first quarter gone.

Tosa West would be starting from deep in a hole again. The Panther defense held, forcing them to punt going 3 and out.

Valente would set up his offense on Tosa's 43 after the punt. Two plays later, the Panthers would fumble as senior wide out Cordney Wren would lose the ball after making a catch on Tosa's 26.

The Trojans would return the favor, however, as they would fumble 3-plays later while attempting a double reverse. Greendale's Jordan Campbell would fall on the ball on Tosa's 15 yard-line. Three plays later, Dominiak would cross the goal line again for another Panther score. Brees would make his kick making the score 24-0 with :22 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

The Trojans would now take the ensuing kick and start from their 26. They would manage a 10-play drive that took the game into the 2nd quarter. They would end up turning the ball over on downs on Greendale's 45.

The Panthers would only manage 4-plays before they turned the ball over on downs at the midfield strip.

Tosa would come back with 4-plays but they would fumble again giving the ball back to Greendale on the Panther 45.

Greendale would now send out the offense once again. Two plays later, running back Luke "Jig Saw" Drumel would take a pitch around the left side and jig his way back and forth all the way to the house completing a 55-yard touchdown run. Brees would again split the uprights making the score 31-0 with 6:31 left to go in the 1st half.

The struggling Trojan offense would start their next drive from their 33. They would be forced to punt again going 3 and out.

Greendale now had the ball on their 38 with 4:08 left in the half. Ten plays later, they would find the end zone once again as Valente would see Joel Sirus in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard scoring pass. Brees would make the kick and the route was on as Greendale piled up 38 unanswered points with :18 seconds left in the half.

The Panthers would be kicking to start the 2nd half. Because of the 35-point rule, the clock would now run and only stop for time outs, change of possessions, or injuries.

More trouble soon came for the Trojans for on their 2md play from scrimmage, the center would snap the ball over the quarterback's head of which he had no choice but to fall on it in the end zone for a safety. The score was now 40-0 with 10:58 left in the 3rd.

Greendale would start their first drive of the 2nd half from their 45 yard-line. Four plays later, Valente would hook up with Brees on a fade route completing a 42-yards scoring strike. Brees would put it between the poles again and the score was now 47-0 with 7:54 left on the running clock.

When it rains, it pours for on the Trojan's 4th play after the ensuing kick, they would be intercepted by Panther line backer Curtis Nelson who would return it all the way to the 2 yard-line.

Greendale would now send out Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski at quarterback along with their 2nd offense. They would run 4-plays before turning the ball over on downs at the Trojan 5.

Tosa would start this drive and take the game into the 4th quarter. Seven plays later, Greendale's 2nd team defense would force Tosa to punt once again.

The Panther offense finally had to call on their punting unit on the next drive for they were forced to punt going 3 and out.

Tosa now had the ball near midfield with 5:28 left in the game. Eight plays later, they would finally find the end zone as quarterback Dylan Rohan would connect with Dylan Crafton for a 33-yard scoring pass. The point after kick was no good making the score 47-6 with :23 seconds left in the game.

In somewhat of a futile move, Tosa would try an onside kick but the Panthers would recover it at midfield. They didn't even have to run a play and the clock would finally run out.

The final score would be, Greendale 47, Wauwatosa West 6. Greendale will now only have 4 days off before they do battle again next Wednesday night against the Cudahy Packers (1-7). The game is supposed to start at 6:30pm. This game will also mark the last regular season game before the playoffs begin that following Tuesday night. At this point, all Greendale knows is that they will be playing in Division 2 this year and will most likely be on the road unless the team they are matched up against decides that they want to play on the road for their first game instead. As soon as they know who they play we will post it on this site.

For stats of the game, click here.

All photographers were unavailable so there are no game time pictures for this game.

For video highlights of the game, click here.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Freshman    

Perfect Playing Conditions!

Freshman come away with a win in a slopfest at Wauwatosa.
R. A. Mattrisch - 10/15/09

As I arrived to the field, I looked around at all of the beautiful wetness. The mud on the field was to die for. The Greendale freshman football team had their traveling whites on, but someone should call whoever does their laundry for them because there was mud on them already! OH WAIT! This is classic football... the kind that is played outdoors in any kind of weather. That mud on their uniforms must have been from them warming up! HUH! That's an interesting term! WARMING UP!

There was nothing warm about Thursday's game in Wauwatosa. It was raining, windy and cold. I could barely write and OMG! ... I couldn't TEXT because I couldn't move my fingers! They were frozen stiff! The good news is that the Panthers managed to hold on by defeating the Trojans 14-7 it what was a very messy game to say the least.

The Panthers would receive first to start the game. Then managed to string 10-plays together getting a few yards at a crack, but they ended up turning the ball over on downs at Wauwatosa's 33 yard line.

The Trojans did the same thing coming back the other way, but they only strung 9-plays before tuning the ball over on downs.

Greendale got the ball back and were forced to line up for a punt going 3 and out. Then out of shear disbelief, the return man for Tosa tried to make some kind of running catch which wasn't a good idea with all of the rain and mud around. Needless to say he fumbled the ball and Greendale's offense got another chance. OK, the best part of that play was that the 1st quarter was over already!

Two plays later, Greendale's Josh Wicks would haul in a Heath Cone pass and score from 26-yards out for the first score of the game. They would try for 2 and fail-making the score 6-0 with 7:34 left in the first half of play.

The Trojans were not able to get anything going on their next drive and were forced to punt going 3 and out.

On a day where the ducks and geese were grounded, the al-mighty Panther offense wasn't as they would come back with a big pass play. "YES A PASS!" Wicks would again snag a Cone pass for a 49-yard scoring play. The try for 2-points was good this time as Cone would take it himself up the middle. The score was now 14-0 with 3:27 left in the half.

The Panther offense didn't have much time to take a break for on the ensuing Trojan possession, they would be intercepted by Gaelan Seibold who returned it to the Greendale 30.

Three plays later, however, Cone would be intercepted giving the ball right back to Tosa on Greendale's 27. They could only muster up 5-plays before the 1st half came to an end.

The second half would see things start to deteriorate as the cold started to affect the players and the rain started to affect the field.

Wauwatosa would have to punt going 3 and out. Greendale would do the same. Then it was Tosa's turn. Then Greendale would turn it over on downs after 6-plays, which would end the 3rd quarter. Tosa would then string 11-plays together before penalties would hurt them forcing them to turn the ball over on downs.

With 5:45 left in the game, the Panthers were forced to punt going 3 and out.

It was here when Tosa finally came up with a huge play as one of their running backs broke free and trotted through the mud all the way to the 6 yard line-completing a nice 50-yard run. On the very next play, they would score with a run up the middle. The extra point kick was good-making the score 14-7 with 3:00 left in the game.

The Trojans would attempt the onside kick, but to no avail as Greendale would fall on it and take possession at midfield. The Panthers would run 7-plays before the clock finally came to an end.

The final score would be Greendale 14, Wauwatosa 7. The Panthers record now goes to 3-2-1 with one game remaining this year. Because Cudahy was unable to field a freshman team, a make-up game was scheduled that will take the Panthers to Nathan Hale High School next Monday night (10/19). That game is scheduled to start at 4:15pm.

Special Interest    

"The Body Mechanics!"
R.A. Mattrisch - 10/13/09

High school sports is something that just about all schools offer to their students. Some schools aren't in a position to offer every sport based on enrollment and financial status, but most of them are. What some schools have done is to combine students from another school so that they can share the assets needed for that particular sport. Greendale is very fortunate to be able to offer all of the more prevalent sports for both boys and girls.

Naturally, playing these sports requires a lot of physical activity. The athletes are always twisting... turning... running... jumping... lifting... and hitting and there are times when something goes wrong. The human body is a very remarkable thing but they do breakdown and injuries occur that will require some kind of attention.

(L to R) Kathleen (Kat) Hilgeman and Chris Mackenzie

Along come the unsung heroes... "The Body Mechanics". The people at ground zero that student athletes will first see when they get a boo-boo. Greendale High School is blessed with two of them this year. Long time veteran Chris Mackenzie, who has been with Greendale for 11 years now, and his newest assistant for this year, Kathleen (Kat) Hilgeman.

Chris works for Wheaton Franciscan Hospital and serves as Greendale High School's primary Athletic Trainer. He has been with Greendale for 11 years and works with all the Greendale athletes. Prior to working with Greendale, he worked at Northwest University, Concordia University and at Grafton High school. He attended high school in Port Washington. After high school, he attended Concordia University where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Sports Medicine. He loves biking and camping and has recently taken up a new hobby this past year. He is learning how to fly airplanes. He will soon have the necessary hours needed for him to get his pilot's licenses. He is married to a wonderful woman (Meg) and resides in Milwaukee.

Kat is interning under Chris this fall. She is currently a senior at Marquette University and is pursuing her dream of becoming first, a board certified Athletic Trainer, and eventually a Physician's Assistant for an orthopedic doctor. She was born and raised about 15 miles outside of St. Louis Missouri in the town of Ballwin with two younger twin sisters, who are currently juniors in college, and one younger brother who is a freshman in college. She would addend elementary and then graduated in 2006 from an all-girl high school. There she played volleyball, soccer, and swam. Later on, she actually got involved in coaching for the swim team. She then headed north to Milwaukee so she could attend Marquette University. This February, she will be taking her final board exams and will be graduating with a BS in Athletic Training next spring. Her favorite sport is volleyball and she loves all types of food as long as it isn't college dorm food. She still is single and has no idea where she will end up after she is finished with school.

These two special people are kept very busy as they cater to all of the student athletes at Greendale. Of course behind the scene is the team's physician that they work closely with. His name is Dr. Sean Tracy who just so happen to have played football for Greendale many years ago. He serves as the Greendale's Orthopedic Physician. I have to think that no one appreciates them more then the coaches, but even more than them, the student athletes who play sports for the Panthers of Greendale High. Make sure you stop and thank them for what they do. It's people like this that always give Greendale the edge!

News    

Gavinski Memorial Completed!
GPTC - 10/13/09

It's been over a year sense its conception, but the long awaited memorial display for the man of which Greendale High School's football field is named after is finally finished. On September 30th, the rock that proudly displays a bronze likeness of Stephen J Gavinski was finally installed. Any visitor that attends an event at the football stadium won't miss it because you have to walk right by it to get to your seat.

"Well over a year ago, we held an alumni gathering at the Reiman Center for all alumni that wanted to attend to honor Steve as he was being inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame." explained Greendale Panther Touchdown Club's Tim Nethery. "That night, several of the alumni thought it would be extra special if they could have a memorial created that could be on display at the field somewhere. After discussing this further, we set up a fund of which many alumni donated too. Eventually we had what we felt we needed so we then proceeded. It was decided that a 3D bronze bust of Coach Gavinski would be what everyone wanted to do. It just so happened that we had a very accomplished artist amongst the ranks that night by the name of Brock Rohmor. He actually went up to Rodney and asked if he could do this for his former coach. Half the challenge was completed right there so he then took that part over and would create the necessary mold needed to make this plaque. A little less than a year later, we were contacted by Brock saying that he has finished it and is taking it to the foundry to be casted. When we saw the finished project, the hair stood up on the back of everyone's neck. All I knew is that the ball was in our court again so we had to get things going so that we had a place to display this plaque."

The Location

"I have to tell you that this whole thing really came together because we have a bunch of super people here in the community." Nethery continued. "It all started with an impromptu meeting that I had with Brian Koffarnus, Rodney Mattrisch, and Eric Campbell down at the field. In trying to figure out where to locate this memorial, Eric brought fourth an idea that would solve all of the concerns involved. By just redirecting a fence line, we could open up an area that would be somewhat out of the main thoroughfare and yet be front and center enough so that everyone who walked through the gate to the field would see it, and it was behind the enclosed fence. Brian, (Greendale School Districts Building and Ground's Superintendant) agreed and the fence was moved."

The Rock

With the location now determined and a foot print known, it was time to find a nice display medium. "Back where I grew up in Darlington, Wisconsin, we had a really nice little league baseball facility built in honor a good friend of mine who passed away. On the grounds, they had a rock with this plaque on it that really turned out neat so I was thinking that this would be a good idea." Nethery explained. "We took a ride out to a quarry and found something that we thought would work. Here again, another Greendale community member by the name of Tom Wood would handle this and the next thing I knew, we had this flat 2-ton rock coming that we didn't have to pay for because it was donated by Lannon Stone. With the help of Brian and Tom, we were able to get stone back to Greendale."

The Design

Now that there was a rock and a location, a design was needed. "We weren't really sure how we should go about this at first." said Keith Ringelberg. "We ended up looking for a lot of suggestions and advise as to how we should do this. With the help of people like Dan Mattes, Tim Hall and Scott Tracy, the idea of placing it in the ground at a slight angle with a support bracket was decided upon. I then asked Rodney Mattrisch, who is of the engineering type, to draw up a detailed plan for everything. He did that and when we reviewed it with Brian, we then proceeded."

The Support Bracket

Part of the design that Rodney came up with involved the fabrication of a heavy duty support bracket. "It's funny what happens when you talk to people about projects like this." Nethery elaborated. "One moment we were talking about what we needed to get done, and then the next moment someone we were talking too said that they would handle it! We have to thank Paul Wendorf who graciously took Rodney's drawing for the bracket and had it built at his facility not just out of mild conventional steel, but solid stainless steel which I hear is very expensive. Needless to say we don't have to worry about painting it now."

The Construction Site

With the stone and the bracket taken care of, the next task that needed to be done was having the necessary holes dug and the cement poured at the display site. "At this point we were working with Brian as to how we should go about this." Nethery continued. "Because there wasn't too much that needed to be done, Brian said he would have his guys handle it." It just so happened that one of the gentlemen that works under Brian played football for Coach Gavinski back in his high school days. His name is Steve Coombs. Steve would handle the layout work, the digging and the cement work needed for the project. He also spent a little time in a cloud of dust as he had to saw a straight edge along the bottom of the 5" thick rock to square it up. "You got to love a guy like Steve." said Mattrisch. "It's just another example of a person that was passionate about this project and did what he could to make it happen."

The Installation

With the holes dug, the cement cured, the bracket mounted, the rock sawed, it was now time to set this rock in place. Being that it was around 2-tons, having a bunch of people just lift it off the truck and place it in its proper location was out of the question. Some heavy duty equipment was needed. It ended up that Steve had made arrangements with Rob McFaul over at Greendale's DPW department to borrow him and their front end loader for an hour or so. Not only is Rob the Forman over there, he too played football for Coach Gavinski back in the day. "When we found out that we didn't have to hire out an outside contractor to lift this stone, we were very grateful." Nethery explained. "While I wasn't around here when Steve coached, it was becoming real apparent that this guy meant a lot to this community. Having another former player help us out with this project just made it even more special. We thank him and the village of Greendale for making this lift possible."

The Finishing Touch

After a bit of finesse, the rock was now in its proper location just like the designed called for. All that was left to do was the landscaping, drilling the holes for the bolts for the bracket, and mounting the plaques. With the help of co-worker Jim Merkovich, Steve and Jim would drill the necessary holes into the rock so that they could bolt everything together. Rodney, who took the day off to help out and oversee everything, went ahead and planted the bushes and prepared the area for the finished ground cover stone. Brian and Rodney would then head to Blummel's to get a truck load of the decorative stone and then bring it back. Rodney and Steve would then distribute the stone around the area to complete the project.

The Gavinski Family
(L to R) Tim (son), Sue (wife), Sara (daughter)

"It sure is nice to see it all done finally." said Ringelberg. "You always wonder how an idea will get done and how it will look. I have to say that this was totally an awesome thing. Greendale should be proud of the people that live here. Having all of these people donate their time, energy, goods & services for a cause like this just goes to show that there is more to life than money. You still gotta have passion! On behalf of the GPTC, we would like to thank everyone who helped make this idea a reality. I'm also real sure that the entire Gavinski Family appreciates this as well."

For more pictures of the installation, click here.

Freshman    

Pirates Canonball The Panthers

Freshman Come up Short In Make-up Game.
R. A. Mattrisch/Chris Muench - 10/12/09

vr.

Because of a scheduling change; a detailed account of this game was not available do to the lack of available reporters. BTW: If you are looking for a career in sports reporting, contact Rodney Mattrisch and he will set you up. The pay is not good and the working conditions are not always welcomed. There is room for advancement and you always have the best seat in the house... the sideline!

Because an earlier game with St Thomas More was cancelled, the Athletic Department at Greendale was able to find another game to fill the void. The Pewaukee Pirates must have been looking for a game as well so that was the team Greendale would play. Pewaukee is in the Woodland Conference, but they are in the Blue Division.

Based on the limited information that was provided, we were told that the score was 0-0 after the first quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, he Pirates would score a touchdown and convert the kick to go up 7-0.

Greendale would answer back as Panther running back Panco Villa would run one in from 10-yards out. Peter Pekar would make the kick tying the game up.

Towards the end of the 1st half, Pewaukee would score another touchdown and convert the kick to go up 14-7 as the half came to an end.

The 2nd half was all Pirates as they would score 3 touchdowns while Greendale scored only 1, as Mike Scheidt would return a kickoff, 80-yards for a touchdown. The kick was missed and the final score ended up being 35-13.

"Offensively I thought it was the best we looked all year." said a dejected Coach Chris Muench. "Our passing attack looked very well. Our quarterback Heath Cone did a nice job of finding of receivers. Gaelan Seibold, Josh Wicks, David Michaels, and Pekar all made plays. Pewaukee was a very solid team and there was no doubt that they came to play tonight. All I know is we have 2 days off and we are at it again."

Greendale will head out to Wauwatosa Thursday (10/15) to play the Wauwatosa West Trojans. That game is scheduled to start at 4:15pm.

Varsity Reserve    

Two Teams At Two Different Levels

Not much of a fight for Greendale as they won easily.
R. A. Mattrisch - 10/12/09

The Greendale Varsity Reserve football team returned home Monday night to play the Wauwatosa West Trojans. The Panthers are looking at finishing their Woodland Conference schedule going undefeated while the Trojans and struggling to put a point on the scoreboard. In fact, they haven't scored a point this year. While that has never really happened in Greendale, this can happen in high school. As a result of this scenario, Greendale walked away with a 63-0 victory in what really wasn't much of a game at all. "My heart goes out to their players and coaches." said Panther Head Coach Keith Ringelberg. "I will say this in that the Tosa players played hard the whole game. They could have easily taken the night off but they didn't."

Greendale finished the night with nine touchdowns that were scored by 8 different players. This also was their 5th shutout of the season as they moved their conference record to 7-0, which includes the forfeit by St Thomas More. Their overall record went to 6-2, which doesn't include the forfeit but a loss to Oak Creek, which was an added game to replace the St Thomas More game.

Tosa kicked first to start the game. Greendale would need just 4-plays to score their first touchdown as Panther quarterback Sam Brick would hook up with Alex Najera on a fade route for a 42-yard scoring strike. Brett Nethery would make the extra point kick and the score was 7-0 with 8:52 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the Trojans first possession, they would end up punting after going 3 and out. The Panther return man would fumble the ball on the return-giving it right back to the Trojans with much improved field position. It still wouldn't help, however, as they were forced to put going 3 and out again.

On the Panthers following possession, they would score in 5-plays as Brick would take it up the middle for a 11-yard run completing a 50-yard scoring drive. Nethery would make good again on the kick and Greendale was now up 14-0 with 3:59 left in the 1st quarter.

Wauwatosa would get the ball and start from their 35. They would only manage 4-plays before being forced to punt again.

Greendale would now end up starting on their 19 yard-line. It took them just 4-plays to scale the length of the field as Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski would run it in from 18-yards out. Nethery's kick was good and the score was now 21-0 with :48 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

Tosa would line their offense up on their 26 following the ensuing kick. They rattled off 4-plays before Garcia-Bankowski would intercept a pass and return it to the Trojan 47 as it was now the 2nd quarter.

Eight plays later, Brick would find Nethery in the end zone completing a 20-yard touchdown pass. Nethery's kick would split the uprights-making the score 28-0 with 7:47 left in the 1st half.

After a nice kick that pinned Tosa deep in a hole, the Trojans found themselves punting once again from their own end zone.

After a poor punt and the return, Greendale found themselves with a short field-starting from Tosa's 14 yard-line. Two plays later, Joe Lohrke would haul in a Brick pass for a touchdown completing a 13-yard pass play. Nethery had no problem with the kick again and the score was now getting out of hand as the Panthers would lead 35-0 with 5:02 left in the 1st half.

Things got even worse for the Trojans for they would be intercepted by Bobby Hall on their 2nd play who returned it 40-yards to the house for another Panther score. Nethery's kick was right down the middle as they now increased their already monster lead by a score of 42-0 with 3:55 still left in the half.

The Trojan quarterback must have thought that Hall was on his team for on the next drive, he would end up throwing a pass that ended up in Hall's hands again at Tosa's 42. Greendale would manage 6-plays before turning it over on downs back to Tosa.

The Trojans would run just 1-play before the 1st half came to an end.

Greendale would kick to start the 2nd half. Because of the score, there would be a running clock, which means that it will only stop for a time out or an injured player. Tosa would run 4-plays before turning it over on downs back to Greendale.

The Panther coaches were now making massive changes with personnel. Five plays later, Panther running back Evan Just would take it in from 1-yard out completing a 5-play 35-yard scoring drive. Nethery would again make his kick and Greendale now lead 49-0 with 3:05 left in the 3rd quarter.

Wauwatosa would get the ball on their 20, but fumbled on the very first play as Matt Beard would recover it. Three plays later, a different running back in Jackson Zingshime would cross the goal line from 2-yards out. Because of what was happening, the Panther coaches would send in Curtis Nelson to attempt the extra point kick. He would miss it making the score 55-0 with :22 seconds left in the 3rd.

The Trojans were still doing the best that they could. Unfortunately, things were just not going too well for on their 4th play from scrimmage, the quarterback would rollout right for a pass only to meet a whole bunch of Panther players. Instead of risking a pass, he just threw it out of the back of the end zone resulting in a safety. Not only did they give up another 2-points, they would have to kick back to the Panthers. The score at this point was 57-0 with 8:06 left in the game.

The Panthers would now bring out their make shift offense and set up from the Trojan's 40. Three plays later, Nelson would take a handoff and bust his way into the end zone from 29-yards out. Jimmy Nguyen would take a crack at the kick and would miss it making the score 63-0 with 5:45 left in the game.

When it rains, it pours for on the next Trojan possession, they would be intercepted after 5-plays by Ryan Dacquisto who would manage his way to the Tosa 40.

Greendale would run just 3 more plays taking a knee on two of them to end the game.

Greendale would win 63-0 in what was not really a game at all. They will now host the Cudahy Packers next week for what will be their final game of the 2009 season. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

One Play Short!

Panthers fall short to much improved Whitnall team.
R.A. Mattrisch - 10/9/09

A true Greendale football fan knew what was at stake this week. That would be a Conference Championship. At this point in the season, there are three teams in the Woodland Black Division that only have one loss. Greendale, Eisenhower, and Whitnall. Two of those teams were playing each other tonight, so that was going to obviously change. Whitnall and Greendale both lost a game to Eisenhower earlier in the season and Eisenhower lost a game to Pewaukee, so everyone has one conference loss. The conference championship isn't determined by who beat who, but rather by the conference record. At the end of conference play, if two teams have the same conference record, they would both be considered conference co-champs. The who-beat-who only affects seeding in the playoffs. Suffice to say; whichever team wins tonight, and doesn't lose a game the rest of the season, they would end up co-champions. Whitnall hasn't beaten Greendale in 10 years so they had something to overcome.

Unfortunately for Greendale, they would end up the odd man out, as Whitnall would defeat them 21-20 in one of the greatest games of the year. "It all came down to making plays." said head Coach Rob Stoltz. "It seemed like we had 20 chances to make a play, if we would have made just one of those plays, the outcome would have been different. A missed tackle, missing the block on the extra point, a penalty, a dropped pass, a fumble, a poor block, you take one of those plays away, we would be on the other end of the score. I give Whitnall a lot of credit for they made the plays when they needed them."

Greendale would kick first to start the game. After a big hit by Joel Sirus, the Falcons would find themselves starting from deep in a hole on their 5 yard-line. After 5-plays and one 1st down, Falcon quarterback Joel Stave, who is one of the top quarterbacks in the state, would fumble the ball to the Panthers of which James Wilson would recover.

Looking at a short field, Greendale would start their first drive of the night from Whitnall's 18 yard-line. Five plays later, Panther quarterback Ernie Valente would take it in from 1-yard out. Andrew Brees would spit the uprights, as Greendale would draw first blood with a score of 7-0 early in the 1st quarter.

Whitnall would start their next drive from their 24. With the help of another fumble, they would be forced to punt going 3 and out.

The Panthers were again looking at another short field as Valente would set up his offense on the Falcon 38. They would manage 7-plays and one 1st down before turning the ball over on downs and giving it back to Whitnall.

At this point in time, Whitnall has yet to cross their 40. That would change, however, as running back Sean Graham would bust loose for a huge 63-yard run-taking the ball all the way to the Panther's 4 yard-line. Three plays later, Whitnall would score as Stave would follow his center in from 1-yard out. Danny Miskov would make the point after try and Whitnall would tie this game up at 7's with 1:17 remaining in the 1st quarter.

After the ensuing kick, the Panthers would be setting up on their 25. They would have to punt, however, going 3 and out.

Whitnall would be starting at midfield following a poor punt. On the very first play, Stave would find Bobby Grim who would make the catch but would fumble as he turned to run up field.

Greendale would now take possession on their 23 with 11:35 left in the half. They would reel off 7-plays before being forced to punt the ball away.

The Falcons would fail to get a yard on their next series and they too had to punt going 3 and out.

The Cat's offense would start this series from their own 35. On the very first play, Valente would find Sirus along the right sideline who made a great catch and an even better run, as he shook himself free and ran all the way to the Whitnall 5. The Falcon's swarming defense rained on the Panthers-forcing them to turn the ball over on downs as Luke Drumel would mishandle a pitch and fumble on the 6.

Whitnall couldn't do anything and were forced to punt to Greendale going 3 and out.

The Panthers now had the ball on their 29 with 2:56 left in the half. Six plays later, Valente would throw a pass in the area of Brees who would out jump the defender and then ran the rest of the way to the end zone-completing a 45-yard touchdown play. Brees would then make his kick giving the lead right back to Greendale with a score of 14-7 and :48 seconds left on the clock.

:48 seconds doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it was plenty for the Falcons as they went 65-yards in 6-plays to score as Falcon wide-out Ben Schaefer would elude a would-be tackle and take it in from 28-yards out. Miskov's kick was good and what seemed impossible actually happened, as Whitnall would tie the score at 14's with :02 seconds left on the game clock.

Greendale would receive to open the 2nd half. They would run 4-plays before Drumel apparently fumbled on the Whitnall 45.

The Falcons would gladly take the ball back and put 11-plays together before Schafer would fumble after catching a pass. Greendale's offense would now try again as they took possession on their 9 yard-line.

Disaster would strike on the very first play, as Valente would throw his one and only interception of the night that was returned to the Panther 8 yard-line. On 4th and goal, Stave would mishandle the snap and fumble of which Greendale would recover to dodge a huge bullet.

With no room for error, the Cats would start this drive with Valente standing in his own end zone. On the second play from scrimmage, he would see Brees down field and made a huge catch-taking the ball to the 32 and buying some much needed elbow room. From here, they would only manage 3 more plays before having to punt once again.

It was here that Whitnall made a huge mistake that would cost them as the were flagged for too many men on the field during the punt. This would give Greendale a 1st down and new life. Eight plays later on 4th down, Valente would take off running around the left side and score from 9-yards out. Then the play that can make you or break you occurs... the extra point try. After a good snap, the holder would miss the block, which meant that Brees never had a chance to make a clean kick. With the failed attempt, the score would be 20-14 with 9:27 left in the game.

The Falcons would now attempt to answer back. They would be starting their ensuing series from their 23 yard-line. After several big plays, they would find themselves inside the Panther's 10 with a new set of downs. Greendale's defense turned up the wick even higher as they forced Whitnall to a 4th and goal from the 5. It was here that Stave would mishandle another snap and had no choice but to fall on it way back on his 32. This was the second time that Whitnall failed to score from inside the 5.

Four plays later, it looked like the Falcons were in real trouble as Valente would take off running around the left side and somehow spun free and took off running up the left sideline for a huge gain. There would be a flag, however, nullifying that play and instead of a big gain, they ended up with a loss by way of a penalty.

It was now do or die for the Panthers. With a slime lead and under 3:00 minutes left in the game, they found themselves at midfield looking at a 4th and 1. Greendale would call a time out to set up a play for it was evident that the Panther coaches have made the decision to go for it. If they make it, chances are they would be able to run the clock out because Whitnall had already burned up all of their time outs. Of course the risk would be giving the Falcons and their potent passing attack the ball at midfield, which the Panthers were have trouble with all night long. The other option would be to willingly give them the ball via a punt, which should pin them deep at their end of the field. On the snap of the ball Cordney Wren, who was in at quarterback, would take the shotgun snap and try running off right tackle but the Whitnall defense along with a little help from a muddy field prevented Wren from getting the first down and Whitnall would take over at the Cat's 45.

Against most teams, the Panthers might have been feeling OK, but tonight against Whitnall, they knew that they were in trouble and needed to make a play.

Well a play was made but it wasn't by the Panthers. With no time outs and 2:50 left, the Falcons would find themselves looking at a 4th and 5 on Greendale's 38 yard-line. With the game on the line, Stave would take the shotgun snap and looked to be in trouble so he scrambled to his right. With seemingly all day to throw, he would launch a pass in the direction of Luke Gervin, who would make the catch right in front of a defender down at the 3 yard-line. On the very next play, Graham would cross the goal line to tie the score at 20's. All Whitnall had to do was convert the extra point and the Falcons would take the lead. Miskov would kick it true and Greendale now found themselves trailing 21-20 with :49 seconds left in the game.

The Panthers would now have to execute their 2-minute offensive in an attempt to get into field goal territory. While they were doing a good job of using the clock, it would come down to a 4th and 4 situation on the Whitnall 35. All they would need was to get a 1st down and maybe another 10-yards and they would be in range for Brees. As Valente rolled left, he would see a receiver, but the pass was late and was knocked down by a defender-ending Greendale's come from behind drive. All Whitnall had to do was take a knee and the game was over.

Whitnall would beat Greendale 21-20 and would remain in 1st place in the conference with Eisenhower. Greendale now falls to 5-2 and unless both Ike and Whitnall both lose a game, they will fall short of another Conference Championship this year. The good news is that the Panthers are already in the playoffs and only have 2 teams that seem to be down this year left on their schedule. They will hit the road again next Friday night, as they will play the Wauwatosa West Trojans. That game is scheduled to start at 7:00.

For game stats, click here.

For more pictures of the game, click here.

For video highlights of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flickr". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

Freshman    

Saving that last dance for the end!

Greendale waits to the last minute to beat Whitnall.
R. A. Mattrisch - 10/8/09

All too many times, we find ourselves a little nervous, a little uptight about asking that one person if they would like to dance. You know… you've been looking his or her way all night just hoping that this person would come up to you instead, but it doesn't happen. Finally it's the end of the dance! You're under pressure now and you know that it's your last chance... so you run over there and ask! You did what you had to do to end the night to dance with that special someone.

Well that's how Greendale's freshman team won Thursday night. They were messing around, not to mention messing up, during the whole game but in the end, a final drive was needed, that last chance to score to win the game and that's what they did as they defeated Whitnall 14-12 in what proved to be more of a defensive battle than anything else.

The night would prove to be interesting right off the bat when Greendale showed up in their traveling white jerseys. Whitnall apparently didn't have home dark home jerseys so they ended up wearing white as well. Somewhere along the line, they failed to notify Greendale because they could have easily worn their greens instead. The good news is that the Panthers had green pants so that was the only way that the referees would be able to tell who was on what team. The head official wasn't too happy and could have refused to do the game, but the other officials got together and said that they would do it but don't be surprised if some calls were missed. The other thing was that Greendale who is accustom to playing on a mud free turf field. Here they would have to play on a rain soaked, somewhat muddy field that is lot harder to do. This would prove to be somewhat of a handicap for them but they did prevail and got the job done.

Whitnall (2-1-1) would kick first to start the game. The Panthers would start their first drive of the night from their 41 yard-line. Ten plays later, they would score, as Panther running back Mike Scheidt would take it in from 5-yards out. Peter Pekar would split the uprights making the score 7-0 with 4:06 left in the opening quarter.

Whitnall, who also runs the same type of spread offense as Greendale would start their first drive of the night from their 37. They would run 12-plays before turning the ball over on downs at Greendale's 5 yard-line.

The Panthers were moving the ball rather nicely, but penalties would hurt them making them work even harder to keep their drive going. They would eventually have to punt after 6-plays.

The Falcons would come right back and score from 4-yards out completing a 6-play 69-yard drive. They would attempt the 2-point conversion and fail making the score 7-6 Panthers, with 3:03 left in the first half.

Greendale would take the ensuing kickoff and only manage 4-plays before being forced to punt the ball back to Whitnall.

It was here that Whitnall was looking to score again as they methodically moved the ball across the field. On their 8th play, Panther defensive back Grant Rezash would intercept the ball on his 10 yard-line as the 1st half came to an end.

Greendale would kick to start the 2nd half. Again Whitnall was using their pass attack to move the ball but 8-plays later, Panther defensive back Mike Schiedt would intercept the ball on Greendale's 24 to end the Falcons drive.

Disaster would strike right away as Panther quarterback Heath Cone would fumble on the very first play giving Whitnall the ball back and with short field.

Five plays later, Whitnall would score through the air as they completed a swing pass around the left side to score from 12-yards out. They again went for 2 but failed making the score 12-7 in favor of the Falcons with 4:32 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Then the game got a little slow offensively as Greendale was forced to punt going 3 and out.

Whitnall would also have to punt going 3 and out but on the return, Sam Bauer would fumble giving the Falcons new life. They would only run 4-plays before the Cat's defense said that's enough and forced the Falcons to turn the ball over on downs on Greendale's 22 yard-line.

The Panthers found themselves trailing by a score and time was running out as the 4th quarter was set to begin. It was here that they dug down deep down for their final march to the end zone. To make matters worse, it was now starting to rain, which made passing the pall even harder then it already was. Knowing that, Coach Steve Stoltz would make the decision to stay on the ground. They would run 11-plays taking the ball all the way to the Falcon 25 yard-line. Looking at a 4th down and long, Stoltz decided to take a crack at a pass because Whitnall was stacking up in the box trying to snuff out the run. Cone would roll out to his right and then threw the ball back the other way to connect with Mike Pulizos who would follow his blockers down the left side line and score from 25-yards out. Pekar's kick was good and Greendale now regained the lead 14-12 with 4:28 left in the game.

Greendale was having trouble defending Whitnall's pass attack all night and the Falcons knew it so that is what they did on their following possession. Twice the Falcons converted 4th downs to keep this drive alive. With the Falcons knocking on the door, the Panther's defense would rise to the occasion again as Dave Duffy would bat down a ball in the end zone on a 4th down play that would put an end to Whitnall's come from behind drive.

With 1:15 left in the game, the Panthers just needed to get a first down to ice the game for them. That wouldn't happen and they would be forced to punt with :24 seconds left giving Whitnall one last chance.

The defense went into a prevent mode and were able to keep Whitnall out of the end zone in 3-plays as the clock finally came to an end.

Even though it seemed that Whitnall had the ball 3 out of the 4 quarters, Greendale would defeat them anyway by a score of 14-12 and moved their record to 3-1-1. Whitnall would drop to 2-2-1. Greendale will be on the road next Monday (10/12) to play a newly scheduled game against the Pewaukee Pirates. This is a mak-up game for one of the game that was cancelled when St Thomas More couldn’t field a team. This game is scheduled to start at 5:30.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity Reserve    

Spread vs Spread

Greendale made more big plays to beat Whitnall!
R. A. Mattrisch - 10/5/09

Greendale returned home this week bringing with them their 4-game winning streak. They were hosting the Falcons from Whitnall who only lost 1-game against New Berlin Eisenhower this year.

What was going to make this game interesting was that they play the same offense as Greendale, which is affectionately called "The Spread". Spread versus spread. Who would execute it better? Greendale has been running it for 6 years already so they know what they're doing. Whitnall has just recently installed it so they had a little bit of the learning curve involved. After Monday night's game, it was very evident that they are almost there for Greendale had all they could do to stop the same offense they use. In the end, Greendale came away with a few more big plays to defeat a feisty Whitnall team 27-18.

The Panthers would kick first to start the game. The Falcons looked to be moving the ball, but were eventually forced to punt after 5-plays.

Greendale could do no better for they too had to punt the ball away after 5-plays.

Whitnall would be setting up their offense on their 21 yard-line. On the very first play, they would try a run up the middle, but Greendale's Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski would lay the wood on the ball carrier causing him to fumble of which Ryan Dacquisto would recover.

Looking at a short field, the Panthers would start this drive from Whitnall's 24. Four plays later, Panther quarterback Sam Brick would run it up the middle from 1-yard out for the first points of the game. Kicker Brett Nethery would punch it through the uprights-making the score 7-0 with 3:39 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Falcons would start their next drive from their 30. They were doing a nice job getting deep into Panther territory. It was hear that Greendale made another big play as defensive back Jimmy Nguyen would intercept the ball on the Panther's 5 yard-line.

The Cats would start this drive with their backs against the wall. They would fail to get a first down and were forced to punt as the 1st quarter came to an end.

Whitnall would end up with a short field following the Panther kick. Five plays later, they would cross the goal line from 7-yards out for their first score of the evening. They would try for the 2-points conversion but failed-making the score 7-6 in favor of Greendale with 8:31 left in the 1st half.

Greendale would start their next drive from their 42 yard-line. Three plays later, Brick would spot Alex Najera behind the secondary and would throw him the ball to complete a 65-yard scoring strike. Nethery would split the uprights again and Greendale now lead 14-6 with 6:48 left in the 1st half of play.

Whitnall would now try and answer back. They could only manage 3-plays before being forced to punt.

With the help of a fair catch interference penalty, the Panthers would start this drive from Whitnall's 46 yard-line. They would eventually end up turning the ball over on downs back to the Birds on the Falcon's 15 yard-line.

Whitnall would now put a huge 12-play drive together-moving the ball almost across the entire length of the field. It was here where Greendale's defense made another big play as Garcia-Bankowski picked off a Falcon pass and return it close to midfield.

Greendale would manage to get the ball all the way to the 30 before the 1st half clock finally came to an end.

The Panthers had the momentum and getting the ball first to start the second half made it even sweeter. Three plays later, however, Brick would fumble the ball to Whitnall on Greendale's 34 yard-line.

The Falcons could only run 8-plays before the Cat's defense shut the door-forcing Whitnall to turn the ball over on downs on Greendale's 25.

Under the play calling of Coach Keith Ringelberg, the Panthers would start a drive from their 25. Eleven running plays later, Garcia-Bankowski would take another handoff and spin his way out of a tackle to score from 20-yards out. Nethery would make his kick increasing their lead to 21-6 with 1:04 left in the 3rd quarter.

Whitnall now had something going but they were running out of time as they countered back with a 14-play scoring drive of their own. They would go for 2 again and fail-making the score 21-12 with 5:43 left in the game.

The Panthers came back with not only a scoring drive, but a clock eating drive as well as Brick would hook up with Najera again completing a 27-yard scoring strike. Mike Pietruszynski would attempt the point after, but it was blocked making the score 27-12 with only 2:10 left in the game.

With time on short supply, Whitnall elected to go air born for their next drive. It took them just 4 plays to score from 65-yards away as they ended up running it in from 2-yards out for a touchdown. The try for 2 failed again-making the score 27-18 with Greendale still on top.

Of course any team that found themselves behind with little time left would try the onside kick. Whitnall was no exception as they executed it perfectly to retain possession of the ball at midfield. Two plays later, however, Dacquisto would intercept a pass and zigzag his way back to midfield.

The Panthers would run 1-play before taking a knee to end the game.

Greendale (5-2) would beat Whitnall (5-2) 27-18. In the end it was a few big pass plays on offense and a few big takeaways on defense that gave Greendale the edge. There are now only 2 more games remaining for the varsity reserve. Next week they will host the Wauwatosa West Trojans. The game will start at 5:30pm.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

Running Amuck!

Panthers too much for the Hawks.
R.A. Mattrisch - 10/2/09

It was senior night as this would be Greendale's last home game for the regular season. The Panthers would be hosting cross-town rival Greenfield (0-5) for the 6th game of the season. In what proved to be not much of a game at all, Greendale would end up defeating Greenfield by a score of 54-21. This game was controlled pretty much by the running attack of Greendale as they put up over 300-yards behind the strong running performance of Luke Drumel and Ernie Valente. "It was good to see our offensive line control the game tonight," said a happy Head Coach Rob Stoltz. "Our guys did a great job getting to the second level, which allows our backs to make some cuts to get loose. Our wide outs also did a nice job of blocking down field. Hopefully we can keep this up for we have a big one next week at Whitnall."

Greenfield kicked first to start the game. After a short kick, Greendale would start their first drive of the night on their 37 yard-line. After a show of running strength, they would eventually end up punting as one of the snaps sailed over the quarterback's head thus sending them back the wrong direction.

Greenfield would start their first drive of the night from their 20 yard-line. Three plays later, Hawk's quarterback Jason Mermolia would find Davonte Wilson on a fade route for the game's first score of the night. The extra point try was good making the score 7-0 with 7:28 left in the opening quarter.

Greendale would come right back using their powerful running attack as they scaled the field in 9-plays to score their first points of the night. Panther running back Luke Drumel would carry it in from 4-yards out-capping off a 70-yard scoring drive. Andrew Brees would make the extra point tying the score with 7 apiece and 3:32 left in the 1st quarter.

The Panther's defense would only allow 4-plays before forcing the Hawks to punt from midfield.

Behind a solid offensive line, Greendale again would flex their run muscle again and race across the length of the field. Five plays later, Drumel would find himself in the end zone again as he carried it in from 15-yards out. Brees would miss the kick making the score 13-7 as the 1st quarter came to an end.

The Hawks would start their next drive on their 20. The Panther defense was starting to inflict their will as they forced Greenfield to punt going 3 and out.

After a short punt, Greendale would be looking at a short field. Six plays later, they would cross the goal line as quarterback Ernie Valente would take it in from 5-yards out. Brees would convert the kick increasing Greendale's lead to 20-7 with 7:43 left in the 1st half.

On the ensuing possession, the Hawks could only string 9-plays together before being forced to kick the ball back to the Panthers.

The MIB would find themselves with another short field after another poor punt. Eight plays later, they would end up in the end zone again as Drumel would carry it in from 5-yards out. Brees would have another rare miss making the score 26-7 with just :24 seconds left in the half.

Greenfield would just run 1-play before the half finally came to an end.

The Panthers would be kicking first to start the 2nd half. With the ball resting on their 26 yard-line, they would attempt to get something going. That effort proved futile for on the very first play, Greendale's defensive back Joel Sirus would intercept the ball on Greendale's 45 yard-line. Ten plays later, senior Cordney Wren would follow Drumel into the end zone and score from 4-yards out. Brees would split the upright making the score 33-7 with 8:34 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Hawks would find themselves in good field position following a nice return. Three plays later, Mermolia would again find Wilson in the end zone completing a 25-yard scoring strike. The extra point kick was good and Greenfield would inch their way back by a score of 33-14 and 7:12 left in the 3rd.

On the ensuing possession, Greendale would ride on the back of Drumel as he would score again completing a 6-play 62-yard scoring drive. Brees would convert the kick and Greendale moved away again by a score of 40-14 and 5:30 left in the 3rd quarter.

Greenfield would start their next drive on their 26. Two plays later, Panther cornerback Manny Medina would intercept a pass and take it to the house for another Panther score. Brees would make good on the kick blowing this game wide open with a score of 47-14 and 4:07 still left in the 3rd.

The Panther's D would end up forcing Greenfield to punt on their next drive forcing them to go 3 and out.

The Panthers now had their 2nd offensive group in. They would fail to get a first down and were forced to punt for the first time in the game.

Greenfield would start their next drive from midfield. On their very first play, they would fumble of which Greendale's Drake Barczak would recover. The Panther's offensive would start this drive from mid field with :45 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. They could only manage 3-plays before being forced to punt the ball away again.

The Hawks would start this drive from deep in a hole. They would fail to move the sticks and were forced to punt from their own end zone.

Looking at another short field, the Panthers would start this drive from the Hawk's 30. Two plays later they would fumble a pitch giving the ball right back to Greenfield on their 35 yard-line.

Five plays later, Mermolia would hook up with his favorite receive again in Wilson for a 9-yard scoring strike. The extra point try was good-making the score 47-21 with 6:28 remaining in the game.

After a huge return by Wren, Greendale would set up shop on the Hawk's 32 yard-line. They would fail again to get a first down and ended up turning the ball over on downs back to Greenfield.

The sputtering Greenfield offense would start this drive on their 31. Two plays later, they would fumble again of which Greendale's Jaleel Shawar would recover.

This time Greendale would take advantage of the short field and score as quarterback Sam Brick would carry it in from 20-yards out. Brees would get his 1-point making the score 54-21 with 2:35 left in the game.

Greenfield would get the ball after the ensuing kick and end up turning the ball over on downs at their 43 yard-line.

The Cats would run just 1-play before taking a knee to end the game.

The final score would end up being 54-21 as Greendale was just too much for Greenfield to handle. The Panthers would finish the night with 341 yards on the ground as Drumel would finish the night with over 200-yards. Greendale (5-1) will now take to the road for the remainder of the season as they will travel to the west side of Greenfield to play the Whitnall Falcons. Whitnall (5-1) just lost their 1st game of the season losing to Eisenhower (5-1) 28-10. If Greendale can beat the Falcons and run the table, they would be crowned co-champions with Eisenhower so this game has a lot of meaning. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00pm.

For game stats, click here.

For more pictures of this game, click here.

For video highlights of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flickr". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

Photos courtesy of Dan Herrmann

Freshman    

Mother Nature Wins!

Greendale / Greenfield freshman game called early and ends in a tie.
R. A. Mattrisch - 10/1/09

It was to be the battle of the Greens! Greenfield playing Greendale. Two communities that reside next to each other in peaceful harmony until it comes time for that annual football game.

The Greenfield Hawks' freshman team was in town Thursday night to play Greendale at Gavinski Field. Apparently they had a transportation issue for they showed up 5 minutes before the game was supposed to start. Greendale and the officials were gracious enough to allow them plenty of time to warm up so that the players would be ready to go. As a result, the game would end up starting 15 minutes later then scheduled. What no one knew at the time was that this 15 minutes would have been all that was needed to get the entire game in as it was called early because of weather. With 4:40 left in the game and the score tie, the officials heard thunder which automatically means that the game needs to stop for safety reasons. Knowing that the radar was not looking good, and the fact that it was a lower level game, the officials would actually end the game with both teams going home without a win or a loss. The final score would officially go into the record books, 14 to 14 in favor of ??? Oh yeah it's a tie! DUH!

It's to bad to because the game was getting interesting as Greendale scored 12 unanswered points in the 2nd half to tie the score up. Greenfield also picked up a bad case of turnoveritis as they fumbled in 2 consecutive series and then threw an interception after that to add to their collection. Did I mention that it was raining? IT WAS RAINING! That had a lot to do with the turnovers, but it wasn't because of the mud for Greendale doesn't have mud anymore. It was the water and a slippery ball.

Greenfield would kick to Greendale to start the game. The Panthers would run 5-plays before quarterback Heath Cone would throw an interception near midfield that was returned to the Panther 25.

Three plays later, Greenfield would score on a run up the middle from 1-yard out. The try for the 2-point conversion failed-making the score 6-0 with 5:57 left in the opening quarter.

Then the game would take on a defensive tone. With plenty of help from the weather, both offenses couldn't seem to get anything going. Greendale would punt going 3 and out. Greenfield would punt going 3 and out. Greendale would run 7-plays before punting. Greenfield would punt going 3 and out, then Greendale, then Greenfield then Greendale again. OK... it did get a little boring there. At least it wasn't raining out! ...LOL ...

It was now close to the end of the 1st half and Greenfield found themselves with their backs against their goal line. When they lined up for a punt, the kicker mishandled the football in the end zone and then inadvertently touched his knee on the ground. By rule, this automatically means a player is down. The fact that he was in the end zone also meant that it would be a safety so Greendale would be awarded 2 points. The score was now 6-2 in favor of the Hawks as the 1st half came to an end.

The 2nd half would find Greendale kicking to Greenfield. Their return man took off up the left sideline and raced 53 yards to the Panther 28 where he was knocked out of bounds. This gave Greenfield a short field to work with. By this time it was coming down in buckets. Five plays later, the Hawks would cross the goal line from 1-yard out. They would run a pass play for the 2-point conversion to adjust the scoreboard to read 14-2 with 7:42 left in the 3rd quarter.

After the ensuing kickoff, Greendale would start their next drive from their 41 yard line. On the very first play, Cone, would run up the middle and break free for a huge 46-yard gain. Six plays later, Cone would power his way into the end zone for the Panthers first touchdown of the night. The 2-point try failed-making the score 14-8 with 4:10 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Greenfield would start their next drive from their 39. On the very first play, they would fumble the ball back to the Panthers in good field position.

The Panthers could only manage 6-plays before coming up short on a 4th down, thus giving the ball back to the Hawks on their 23 yard-line.

This time Greenfield would run 2-plays before fumbling the ball away again on their 26 yard-line.

Greendale would take advantage of this one for 5-plays later, Cone would take it in from 3 yards out to tie the game. With only needing 1 point to take the lead, Greendale elected to go with the kick, but it was blocked because the holder had trouble getting the ball down on the block in time. The score was now 14-14 with 8:36 remaining in the game.

The Hawks would start their next drive after the ensuing kick on Greendale's 39 yard-line. Two plays later, Gaelan Seibold would intercept a pass and return it 40-yards to the Hawks' 37.

The Panthers could only string 5-plays together before turning the ball over on downs just 15-yards short of the goal line.

The Hawks who were now struggling would start off running 1-play before thunder was heard in the area. By rule, when this does happen, the officials are to suspend the game for a half hour from the last flash of lightening or rumble of thunder. If thunder or lightening were to occur again, the time would reset for another half hour. The game would only continue if no thunder or lightening would occur during that half hour. The radar was looked at by way of a cell phone and it was determined that the game would be called with 4:40 left on the clock.

Both teams would go home without a win or a loss. They would also go home soaked to the bone as the final score would be Greendale 14 - Greenfield 14. Greendale will now take to the road to Hales Corners, Wisconsin to play the Falcons from Whitnall. The game is scheduled to be played 10/8 and start at 6:30pm.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity Reserve    

0... 0 ... 0 ... 0 ... The Real Deal!

Panthers put up 4th shut out in a row over Greenfield.
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/28/09

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood of Greenfield, Wisconsin. The temperature was a balmy 50 degrees, with a gentle 50 mph breeze blowing the rain right in your ears. The playing field was wet and muddy, which the Panthers aren't used to and that was very evident. There were several instances where the center couldn't even snap the ball because he couldn't pick it up, and players were running down the field by themselves and just slipped and fell for no apparent reason. But even with all that going on, the Varsity Reserve Panthers managed to post their 4th shutout in a row by beating the Greenfield Hawks 28-0.

Greendale would receive first to start the game. After a nice return by Tyler Fink, they would start their first drive from Greenfield's 28 yard-line. They would run 6-plays before turning the ball over on downs on the Greenfield 5.

Greenfield would start with their backs against the wall and put 6-plays of their own together before being forced to punt back to the Panthers.

The Panthers would line up for their next series at the midfield strip. Seven plays later they would cross the goal line as quarterback Sam Brick would take it up the middle from 5-yards out. Brett Nethery would pound it through the wind right between the goalposts-making the score 7-0 with 2:05 left in the opening quarter.

Greenfield would now bring their offense back out after the ensuing kick. Three plays later, Tyler Vraney would tip a Greenfield pass that fell right in the hands of Matt Wanezek who would go untouched for 40-yards for the Panthers second touchdown of the night. Nethery would convert the extra point-making the score 14-0 with :33 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

With the rain now coming down sideways, Greenfield tried to get something going but couldn't and were forced to punt going 3 and out.

Greendale would start this drive looking at a short field but 2-plays later, Brick would fumble the ball of which Greenfield would recover on their 48.

The Hawks could do nothing as the swarming Panthers forced them to punt once again going 3 and out. It was here where return man Bobby Hall would catch the ball and zigzag his way 70-yards to the end zone for the Panther's 3rd touchdown of the evening. Nethery would split the uprights-making the score 21-0 with 6:04 left in the 1st half.

The Cats would force the Birds to punt again going 3 and out.

This time Greendale would string 8-plays together before being intercepted at their 44 yard-line. Greenfield would run 2-plays before the 1st half would come to an end.

The 2nd half would find Greenfield getting the ball first. Greendale's defense would force the Hawks to punt after 3-plays for the 4th time in a row.

Greendale would only hook 5-plays together on their next series before turning the ball over on downs.

Things got a little quiet now as Greenfield would punt again after 3-plays.

The Panthers would fumble the ball right back on the very first play of their drive.

Greenfield would again punt after 3.

Greendale would run 4-plays before turning the ball over on downs again.

The Hawks finally looked to have gotten something going as they put 10-plays together that took the game in to the 4th quarter. They would run into a little penalty trouble and were eventually forced to punt for the 8th time in the game.

The Panthers would find themselves pinned deep at their end of the field. Five plays later, Brick would call his own number and take it 63-yards to the house for the Panther's 4th TD of the night. Nethery would add the extra point-increasing their lead to 28-0 with 6:19 left in the game.

Greenfield again would string some plays together but gave it up on downs after 7-plays.

Greendale would end up lining up for a punt of their own after 5-plays. Nethery would end up mishandling the ball-forcing him to fall on it-giving the Hawks their best field position of the game.

Two plays later, it looked like Greenfield was in the end zone as their quarterback scrambled his way out of trouble and threw the ball, but the ball was called back as they had an illegal player down field-keeping the Panther's shutout intact. The Hawks would run 2 more plays before the game clock finally came to an end.

Greendale would defeat the Hawks 28-0 and would put up their 4th shut out in a row. They will now return home to host the Whitnall Falcons next week Monday for their 6th game of the season. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30pm.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

You Had To See It, To Believe It!

Greendale wins a strange one over visiting Rockets.
R.A. Mattrisch - 9/25/09

Did you ever find yourself trying to tell a story to someone, but felt short of relating the story to that someone as it actually happened? The Greendale/South Milwaukee football game that was played last Friday would be an excellent example of that type of story. It was full of strange plays, strange calls, and strange penalties not to mention strange weather. It all started during warm-ups as a brisk rain shower fell on the mud-less turf field of Stephen J. Gavinski field. The good news was that there was no wind, and the temperature was somewhat mild. Then as the actual game started, things would get even more interesting. In the end, however, the Greendale Panthers managed to shake off all of the weirdness to defeat the visiting South Milwaukee Rockets 44-25 in what seemed to be the longest game ever.

Greendale would be kicking first to start the game. Right off the bat, the weirdness would start. The Rocket's return man didn't pay close enough attention to the football for he was thinking that the ball would make it to the end zone. Little did he know it didn't and Greendale would recover the ball on the Rocket 1 yard-line. Then it got even more interesting as Greendale would be called for illegal motion-pushing them 5-yards backwards. Then when you think you seen it all, the snap sailed over the quarterback's head all the way back to 29 yard-line. It ended up that a 1st and goal from the 1, turned into a 2nd and goal from the 29. The Panthers did manage to work it back close but ended up settling for a field goal. Kicker Andrew Brees would make the 30-yard attempt-making the score 3-0 with 9:35 left in the opening quarter.

South Milwaukee would take the ensuing kick and manage 4-plays before being forced to punt the ball away.

Greendale could do no better as they too only managed 4-plays before punting back to the Rockets.

South Milwaukee now found themselves on the Panther 35. Three plays later, Rocket quarterback Sam Oliden would find Luke Maldonado behind the Panther secondary and completed a 61-yards scoring strike. The extra point kick was signaled no good by the officials, but later was overturned making the score 7-3 Rockets, with 5:30 left in the 1st quarter. Hummm?

Greendale would take possession of the ball following the ensuing kick. With a nice mix of the run and the pass, they would scale the field and score in 10-plays as Senior Cordney Wren would pound it up the middle from 5-yards out. Brees would make good on the extra point try-making the score 10-7 with just :48 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

Greendale's defense kept the Rockets pinned deep as they were forced to punt from their end zone going 3 and out.

The Panthers would start their next series from their 47. Seven plays later, Greendale quarterback Ernie Valente would take it around the left side and score from 13-yards out. Brees would convert the extra point try-extending Greendale's lead to 17-7 with 8:40 remaining in the 1st half.

South Milwaukee would start their next drive from their 28 yard-line. They would run 6-plays before being forced to line up for a long 45-yard field goal attempt. On the snap of the ball, flags would fly as they were called for illegal procedure-moving the ball back 5-yards and out of field goal range. Instead of sending out their punt team, they sent out their offense instead to try and get the 1st down, which was 18-yards away. Well that proved to be a good move because on the very next play, Oliden would scramble out of trouble and found a wide-open receiver in the end zone for not just the 1st down, but a touchdown. Hummmm? The extra point kick was blocked-making the score 17-13 Greendale, with 5:10 left in the half.

The Panthers would take the ensuing kick and managed 5-plays before lining up for a punt. It was here that they tried to catch the Rockets off guard by faking it instead. The Rockets, however, were not fooled and stopped the Cats short to take possession near midfield.

South Milwaukee started down the field and looked to have scored on a pass, but the official said that he was out of bounds, which he wasn't thus giving Greendale a huge break. Hummmm? A few plays later, the Rockets had to line up for a 35-yard field goal that was missed-giving the ball back to the Panthers with :45 seconds left until halftime.

The Panthers would do a great job of executing their 2-minute offense and looked to be getting into a position for a field goal. It was here that another missed call was made by an official as he said that Brees was out of bounds on a 4th catch but on film, you could see that he did have one foot in. Hummmm?

The Rockets would run 1-play before the half came to an end.

Greendale would receive to open the 2nd half. Following a face mask penalty, they would start from their 25. Seven plays later, the Panthers would fall victim to another questionable call as they were called for offensive pass interference. Hummm? Two plays later, the Cats looked to have scored but they would get nipped again because of a block in the back of which the defender just turned his back at the last minute. Greendale finally scored as Valente would find Joel Sirus in tight quarters in the end zone for a 14-yard scoring strike. Brees would make the extra point-making the score 24-13 with 7:23 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

The Panther's defense would force the Rockets to punt on their next series-going 3 and out.

Behind some nice hard running by running back Luke Drumel and Valente, they would soon cross the goal line as Valente would take it in from 7-yards out. Brees would send the ball between the poles-making the score 31-13 with 2:27 left in the 3rd.

Greendale would repeat their earlier performance as they forced the Rockets to punt going 3 and out.

Greendale would now start their next series on the Rocket 44. They would end up turning the ball over on downs back to South Milwaukee on their 34 yard-line.

Five plays later, Oliden would take his team down and score from 15-yards out. The try for 2-points failed adjusting the score board to read 31-19 Greendale with 10:41 remaining in the game.

The MIB would come right back behind some nice runs by Valente. They would eventually score, as Valente would see Sirus breaking free for a 20-yard touchdown reception. Brees would bang it through the uprights again-making the score 38-19 with 6:44 left on the clock.

The Rockets would get a nice return on the ensuing kickoff and start from the Panther 33. On the third play, another mysterious call was made by an official as Greendale was called for interference when in fact the Panther defender was jumping for the ball. Hummmm? This would keep the Rocket's drive alive. Three plays later, Oliden would find Maldonado behind the Panther's secondary again and complete a 33-yard scoring strike. Double Hummm? The try for 2-points failed again making the score 38-25 with 5:20 left in the game.

The Rockets would try an on-side kick but it failed to go the necessary 10-yards so Greendale would be looking at a short field. Nine plays later, it looked as though Drumel easily crossed the goal line but here again the officials saw it differently and placed in on the 1 inch line. Humm? Valente managed to take it in on the following play for another score. This time Brees would have a rare miss-making the score 44-25 with just :55 seconds left in the game.

The Rockets would try to get on the board one last time but they were intercepted by Greendale's Evan Goyette, as the clock finally came to an end.

The final score would be 44-25 Greendale in what ended up being a very interesting game all the way around. Greendale (4-1) will now host the Greenfield Hawks for their last home game for the regular season. They will find themselves on the road for the last 3 games. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00pm.

For game stats, click here.

For more pictures, click here.

For a video highlight of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flickr". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

News    

The Perfect Finishing Touch!
GPTC - 9/25/09

It's been 18 years since Steve Gavinski walked the sidelines at Greendale High School's football stadium. He was the head coach for Greendale at the time and this was to be the start of his 21st year as a football coach. He would not finish that year for he passed away of cancer just 3 days before the start of the 1991 season.

A year later, the school district was approached about naming the football field after Coach Gavinski, because after all, he was the epitome of not only a high school coach, but a district educator as well.

In the fall off 1992, the field was officially named the "Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial Stadium." During the following years, many improvements have been made. The most recent of which was the installation of the new artificial turf surface. This came to be through the Greendale Panther Touchdown Club, the School District, the Greendale Panther All Sports Booster Club, the Greendale youth football program, many wonderful community members and alumni who made significant donations.

Everything now seemed in place. There was a beautiful field, wonderful stands, lights, press box, and a magnificent sign displaying the name of the field on it as you walk in the game.

Three years ago, the GPTC hosted a special alumni gathering to honor Coach Gavinski's induction into the WFCA Hall of Fame. Alumni flew in from all over the United States that weekend, which just showed you how big of an influence Coach Gavinski was to these former football players and students. It was at this time that they realized that something was missing... a memorial of some kind. That night, all of the attending alumni started a collection that would be designated for a special memorial bust that would eventually be displayed at the field. The idea gained steam following a mass emailing that went out to all of the alumni that were on file. Soon there was enough money and the project would proceed.

It just so happened that one of Greendale's former football players is a very accomplished artist. In fact he is an art teacher here in the area. His name is Brock Rohmor. He approached the GPTC and mentioned that he would consider it an honor if he could create this bronze bust for his former coach. He was given the necessary funds needed for just the materials and he would then begin to sculpt a 3D replica of coach Gavinski from a provided picture. The whole project took over a year to complete. The clay mold was finished and a bronze rendition was made.

On September 4th, this bust along with its creator and several key alumni that spearheaded this effort, would present this memorial to the Gavinski family. Rob High, Jason Dummert, and Dan Mattes were also in attendance for this special presentation. Jeff Hassmer was also on this committee, but he wasn't able to attend. At half time, Rob, along with Brock would address the crowd during the brief ceremony and present the memorial plaques to the Gavinski family on behalf of the alumni of the GPTC.

These bronze plaques will eventually be mounted to a large rock that will be located inside the fence near the entrance to the stadium. The plan is to finish memorial display by Greendale's last game which will be against Greenfield on 10/4.

For more pictures of this evening, click here.

Freshman    

Fast And Furious!

Panthers never let the Rockets launch.
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/24/09

The Greendale Freshman football team came out fast and furious Thursday night as they defeated the South Milwaukee Rockets 49-20 in what wasn't much of a game at all. Before you could blink an eye, the Panthers somehow got the ball again and scored. "It was very comforting to see both the offense and the defense come out swinging," said a happy Head Coach Chris Muench. "It was one of those nights where we as coaches could sit back and enjoy a game versus being all stressed out like last week. The best part was that we had a bunch of different guys score tonight and everyone got plenty of playing time. That is what I call a good night."

Greendale would receive first to start the game. They would put a nice 8-play drive together before Panther quarterback Heath Cone would fumble down on the Rocket 3 yard-line. The Panther defense would come out and now take over. On the Rocket's very first play, the entire Panther defense seemed to end up in the end zone on top of the ball carrier for a safety for the first points of the game. The score was a whopping 2-0 Greendale and 6:44 left in the opening quarter of play.

By rule, South Milwaukee had to kick the ball to Greendale. That kick wasn't all that good for the Panthers would start their drive on the Rocket 40. Three plays later, Cone would redeem himself as he scamper in around the right side from 24-yards out for Greendale's 2nd score of the night. The try for 2-pts failed-making the score 8-0 Greendale, with 5:22 still in the 1st quarter.

The Rockets would start their next drive from their 20 as Panther kicker Peter Pekar kicked the ball into the end zone. Three plays later, the Rockets were punting going 3 and out.

The Cats would start their ensuing drive from the South Milwaukee 40. On the very first play, Cone would hook up a long pass to Gaelan Seibold way down field for a nice gain. Two plays later, Panther running back Pancho Villa would pound it in from 4-yards out for another touchdown. This time, Greendale sent out Pekar to attempt the kick. He would answer the bell-increasing the Cat's lead to 15-0 with 3:02 still in the 1st quarter.

South Milwaukee would attempt to get something going on offense but the Panthers had other ideas. Linebacker Liam Duffy would intercept a Rocket pass-giving the ball back to his offense who were still trying to catch their breath from the last drive. Three plays later, Cone would take it 15-yards up the middle for yet another Panther TD. Pekar would split the uprights making the score 22-0 with :45 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

The Rockets would start their next drive from their 35. On the very first play, the Panthers would intercept the ball again as Seibold would do the stealing.

It was now the 2nd quarter and Greendale was looking at a short field. On the third play, running back Mike Scheidt would cut-up the rug from 24-yards out for a nice touchdown run. Pekar made good on the kick again and the score was now starting to get a little lopsided as Greendale took a commanding lead 29-0 with 9:31 left in the 1st half.

South Milwaukee was able to string 6-plays together this time before Seibold picked another pass off at the Panther 4 yard-line.

Four plays later, Greendale would lose the ball as it was snapped over the head of Cone who could not fall on it in time. This gave South Milwaukee their best field position of the night.

Two plays later, the Rockets would finally hit pay dirt as they ran it in from 4-yards out. They tried for the 2-point conversion and converted making the score 29-8 with 4:47 left in the 1st half.

After the ensuing kickoff, the Panther offense would set up on their 35. Six plays later, Cone would find Pekar behind the Rocket secondary who made a nice over the shoulder catch for a 24-yard TD pass. This time Akil Huggins would do the kicking chores and made it-making the score 36-8 with 2:04 left in the half.

Both teams would touch the ball one more time before the half finally came to an end.

Greendale would find themselves kicking to start the 2nd half. The Rockets would shoot themselves in the foot again as they fumbled on the very first play. Greendale's Dave Michaels would recover.

Three plays later, Greendale was in the end zone again as Villa would run it in from 28-yards out. Huggins' kick was good-making the score 43-8 with 8:51 remaining in the 3rd. This would also engage the running clock rule.

A desperate South Milwaukee team tried to get something going, but they were forced to turn the ball over on downs after 5-plays.

Greendale was looking at a short field again. Four plays later, Joey Paul would get into the act as he carried it in from 22-yards out. This time Huggins' kick was blocked making the score 49-8 with 2:48 left in the 3rd.

The Rockets would finally launch as they managed to complete a 66-yard pass for a touchdown. The try for 2-points was no good making the score 49-14 with 9:07 now left in the game.

Greendale now made mass personal changes all the way around. They were forced to punt going 3 and out.

South Milwaukee came back with another score as they would run it in from 5-yards out-capping off a 8-play 50-yard scoring drive. The extra point kick was no good and the scoreboard would now read 49-20 in favor of Greendale with 1:34 left in the game.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity Reserve    

"If they don't score, we can't lose!"

Panthers pitch 3rd shut out in a row over South Milwaukee.
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/21/09

Those are the most infamous words that were ever spoken in a football locker-room. It was a statement made by the legendary Bob Churchill who use to coach football for Greendale many years ago. Well, there is some truth to that because the Varsity Reserve Panthers seem to have a little somethin-somethin going. It's amazing what a little experience and a little momentum can do. Greendale, who started out the season with two disappointing losses, have now put together a 3-game winning streak. It's not just a normal winning streak; the Panther's defense has a 3-game "no one scored on us" streak going. For the 3rd straight game in a row, the Greendale defense has not given up a point. That is something that is very hard to do at that level. Greendale beat the hosting South Milwaukee Rockets Monday 21-0.

The Rockets did get to the 5 yard-line late in the 4th quarter but when that series ended, Greendale had the ball on the 40. In fact, someone should have kept track of the yards because the defense moved the ball just as much as the offense did it seemed. Then at the end of the game, the Panthers took 2 knees on the 1 yard-line right in front of the South Milwaukee end zone to end the game.

Greendale would receive first to start the game. After the kick, they would find themselves setting up on their 39 yard-line. Eight plays later, quarterback Sam Brick would find Sean Givens for a 12-yard scoring strike. Brett Nethery's extra point try was good and Greendale was on the board first with a score of 7-0 and 6:33 left in the 1st half.

South Milwaukee would start their first drive of the game from their 18 after some nice specialty team work by the Panthers. The Panthers would make their presence known as they forced the Rockets to punt going 3 and out.

Greendale would start their next series on their 37 and looked to be driving once again. On the 6th play, one of the wide receivers would catch the ball and then fumble right away. It almost looked like it could have been an incomplete pass, but the refs saw it differently.

The Rockets would again be forced to punt going 3 and out.

It was now the 2nd quarter. After a nice return by Greendale's Bobby Hall, the Panthers "O" would line up on South Milwaukee's 16 yard-line. After 9-plays, which included a penalty, a few sacks and a bad snap, the Cats gave up the ball on downs on the Rocket's 43.

The Rockets offense still wouldn't ignite once again as the swarming and hungry defense forced another put after 3-plays. This kick backfired on Greendale as the ball was fumbled and South Milwaukee would recover it at the Greendale 35, which was the Rockets best play of the game thus far. It didn't mater because they still had to punt 3-plays later back to Greendale.

This time Greendale's offense couldn't move and were forced to punt after 3-plays.

The Rockets were trying desperately to fire their engines but Greendale linebacker Evan Just had a different idea as he intercepted the ball on their very first play of the series. He would give it back Brick and the boys on the Rocket 30 yard-line.

On the very first play, Brick would find Nethery deep behind the enemy secondary and completed a 30-yard TD pass for Greendale's second score of the night. Nethery would split the uprights making the score 14-0 with 2:57 remaining in the 1st half.

The remainder of the half would be a little more defensive in nature as both teams failed to get anything going.

The Rockets would get the ball first to open the second half. They would end up turning the ball over on downs after 6-plays.

Greendale would start their first series of the 2nd half from the Rocket 42. Seven plays later, Brick would find a wide open Alex Najera who must have ran a perfect route because there was no one near him on the 2 yard-line. Nethery kicked it between the poles and Greendale now lead 21-0 with 5:12 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

South Milwaukee now looked to have worked out some of the kinks as they had their first serious drive going of the game. On the seventh play, however, Greendale defensive back Matt Wood would intercept a pass squelching any scoring aspirations that the Rockets may have had.

Greendale would not start using their run game to eat clock and to control the ball. They managed to take the game into the 4th quarter before they would fumble on the Rocket 23 yard-line.

South Milwaukee would now put even a bigger drive together as they linked up 13-plays before the Cat's defense stiffened up forcing the ball over on downs with under 3:00 minutes remaining in the game.

Greendale would now come out and attempt to eat up the rest of the clock to end the game. Eight plays and 75-yards later, the Panthers found themselves on the Rocket 2 yard-line before exercising some good sportsmanship and took 2 knees to end the game.

Greendale would defeat South Milwaukee 21-0 to move their record to 3-2 for the year. They will travel to cross town rival Greenfield next week to play the Greenfield Hawks. The game will be Monday (9/21) at 5:30.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

"Code Blue" -- Flat Line --

New Berlin Eisenhower made it look easy over Greendale.
R.A. Mattrisch - 9/18/09

And everything seemed fine and everything seemed healthy going in, then it happens! A flat line... No pulse!... CODE BLUE... "Get the paddles nurse!" That's what seemed to happen Friday night to the Greendale Panthers because they showed up healthy to the biggest Woodland Conference game of the year, but then flat lined on the spot. A term used in the medical field that indicates that a patient's heart has stopped beating and they have become lifeless <OR> maybe it was because it was the first road game of the year and they forgot something. None-the-less, the Panthers took a major blow to their ego as they would lose to a do-no-wrong New Berlin Eisenhower team 28-0. The game was only close for the first quarter, but then the wheels feel off for Greendale.

Of course things didn't start out to good earlier that day when the coaches found out that their starting center was sick and was kept home by his parents. They had to bring up a freshman to fill the spot who obviously lacked varsity experience. Then the Panther's lost their starting quarterback again after the first few series. Then a defensive tackle went down. Needless to say, it doesn't mater because a football team still has to play the game no mater what. That's how it works! It did seem that the young Panthers never engaged themselves and lacked concentration and will. Eisenhower on the other hand, came to play and made it look easy.

"This has to be one of the most disappointing games I have been apart of in a long time," said Head Coach Stoltz. "Yeah, we had issues going in and we had to make some serious changes, but still... we should have been able to block, tackle, run, throw, and catch the ball. Tonight we didn't do any of that. It was like a different team showed up."

If that was the case, then the Panther coaching staff better find the old team because there is still plenty of football left this year and they have a big game coming up against South Milwaukee for Greendale's Homecoming.

The Panthers would receive first to start the game. After the return, they would start their 1st drive of the night from their 24 yard-line. After looking good there for a minute, Panther quarterback Ernie Valente would throw an interception down at Ike's 30 yard-line.

The Lions would rattle off several plays including a big gainer that was called back because of a holding penalty. It was now 3rd down and they needed 30-yards to get a first down. In an attempt to get out of the hole, they would quick kick moving the ball all the way to the Panther 36.

The Panthers would run 7-plays picking up 2 first downs before they were forced to punt after a sack and a penalty.

Ike would start their next drive on their 30 yard-line. It was here where they put a clock grinding 17-play scoring drive together as running back Tyler Faber would carry it in from 1-yard out. Kicker Ian McKechnie would convert the extra point making the score 7-0 with 10:48 left in the 2nd quarter.

Greendale would get the ball following the ensuing kick and looked to be driving. Then the wheels fell off as Valente would get sacked followed by a low snap that got away from him and rolled way back before he could fall on it. Greendale was now looking at a 3rd down and half the field for a 1st down so they brought in Andrew Brees to quarterback. On the snap of the ball, he would quick kick it moving the ball all the way to the Ike 13 where the Panthers would down it.

The Panther defense finally made a stop forcing Ike to punt after going 3 and out.

Greendale's offense would now set up in good field position on their 46. They failed to get a yard and were forced to punt going 3 and out.

Ike would be starting from their 13 once again. Seven plays later, they would find themselves in the end zone again as Greendale's defense just didn't seem to be tackling very well. Ike quarter Brian York would find McKechnie in the right flat and would scamper in from 26-yards out breaking several tackles along the way. McKechnie's kick was good increasing the Lion's lead to 14-0 with 1:33 left in the 1st half.

Greendale would start their next drive with a different quarterback in senior Cordney Wren as Valente was out with back spasms. They would run 6-plays before the 1st half came to an end.

Greendale would be kicking to start the 2nd half. After a nice return by McKechnie who dragged several players along the way, they would start their first drive from their 41 yard-line. Seven plays later, McKechnie would take a pitch and race around the right side to score from 33-yards out. His point after try was good making the score 21-0 with 8:14 left in the 3rd quarter.

The frustrated Panther offense would start their following series from their 30, but they were forced to line up for a punt after 3-plays. It was here that Ike made one of their few mistakes and were caught with to many men on the field. That would move the ball to within 2 yards of a first down so Greendale would swap out their punt team with their offense and go for it on 4th down. Wren would manage to get the necessary yardage needed-moving the sticks and keeping the drive alive. Four plays later the drive would come to an abrupt end anyway as Wren would throw an interception giving it back to the Lions on their 30 yard-line.

Ike would have to punt after 6-plays as the Panther's sacked York for a major loss.

Greendale now had the ball on their 33 yard-line. On the very first play, the ball would roll back from the center-getting away from Wren who had no choice but to fall on it 15-yards the wrong direction. At this point it was the start of the 4th quarter. The Panthers would run 2-plays before being picked off once again at midfield.

Greendale's defense seemed to have picked it up a notch as they forced Ike to punt going 3 and out.

The Panther offense found themselves pinned back on their 15 yard-line. They would run 2-plays before Wren would throw yet another interception near the midfield strip.

The Cat's D again forced Ike to punt going 3 and out.

Greendale had their backs against the wall as they were lining up on their 13 yard-line. On the very first play, Wren would try running off left tackle and was hit hard causing a fumble of which Ike would recover and take to the Panther's 3 yard-line.

Here the Panther's defense rose to the occasion and forced Ike to line up for a field goal after 3-plays. McKechnie would miss the 24-yard attempt giving the ball back to Greendale on their 20.

Two plays later Wren would again throw to the wrong team as Ike would intercept the ball on Greendale's 21 yard-line. Three plays later, York would run the same play as earlier as he found McKechnie in the right flat who would take it in untouched for Ike's 4 touchdown of the night. McKechnie's kick was true again and Greendale now found themselves trailing 28-0 with 3:07 remaining in the game.

The Panther's would send their troubled offense back out to start a drive from deep in a hole again. They would run 4-plays before being force to punt the ball away.

Ike now had their subs in and would start from their 43. They would run 2-plays before the clock would finally run out.

Greendale would take one on the chin 28-0 as they just failed to get anything going on offense. They will now fall to 3-1 for the year as Eisenhower moves up to 3-1. The Panthers will return home next week to entertain the newest addition to the Woodland Conference, the South Milwaukee Rockets. This will be Greendale's Homecoming so there should be a nice crowd on hand.

For game stats, click here.

For more pictures of the game, click here.

For video highlights of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flickr". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

Freshman    

Finally Out Of The Gates, But With Too Many Mistakes!

Panthers ran out of time with Eisenhower.
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/17/09

After a cancelled first game, the Greendale Freshman football team finally was able to play the sport that they have been practicing so long for. They would travel to New Berlin, Wisconsin to play the Lions from New Berlin Eisenhower for a 6:30 Thursday night football game. After four 10-minute quarters, the Panthers would come up just 8-points short by a final score of 34-26.

Both Greendale and Eisenhower flexed their muscle on offense while the defenses struggle all night. Unfortunately for Greendale, there were just too many major mistakes in the second half that lead to their downfall. "It was really to bad tonight because it was obvious that our offense could move the ball." said a disappointed Head Coach Chris Muench. "Just when we started to move the ball, we would either snap it over our quarterback's head, pick up a penalty, or make a poor decision. Defensively we did really well against the run, but we gave up way too many big pass plays. We'll get that fixed and be ready for next week."

The Panthers would receive first to start the game. They could only muster up 3-plays before being forced to punt the ball away.

Ike would start their first possession of the night on their 36. They would run 5-plays before their fullback would cross the goal line from 1-yard out for an Eisenhower touchdown. The point after kick was blocked making the score 6-0 Lions with 4:31 remaining in the 1st quarter.

Eisenhower would accidently kick the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff so Greendale would start this series from their 35 yard-line. Three plays later, Panther quarterback Heath Cone would find his receiver Gaelan Seibold for a 65-yard touchdown pass to put Greendale on the board. Panther kicker Peter Pekar would slam it through the uprights giving the Cats the lead with a score of 7-6 and 3:46 left in the 1st quarter.

Ike would answer back as they would complete a 40-yard TD pass finishing off a 4-play 63-yard drive. The Lions would line up for the two point conversion, but the quarterback fumbled the snap resulting in a failed attempt. The score was now 12-7 Eisenhower with 2:15 still remaining in the 1st quarter.

Greendale would come back with a monster drive of their own that took the game into the 2nd quarter. Cone would hook up with Pekar for a 8-yard TD pass capping off a 15-play 65-yard scoring drive. The point after try was no good and the score was now 13-12 Greendale with 5:25 remaining in the 1st half.

Eisenhower would answer back as they put together a 7-play scoring drive-completing a 15-yard TD pass for the score. This time they would convert the 2-point conversion and would tie the game up at 20's apiece as the first half came to an end.

The defenses seemed to show up for the 3rd quarter as both teams were forced to punt for their respective possessions.

Finally Ike started a march from their 33 yard-line that would link up 11-plays and went into the 4th quarter. They eventually connected with a 18-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 12 that would break the scoring deadlock. They would go for 2 but came up short making the score 26-20 with 7:49 remaining in the game.

Greendale would get the ensuing kick but failed to move the sticks forcing them to punt. It was here were a potential game changing play occurred. Greendale got off a great punt that was rolling down the field. For some reason a Eisenhower defender pushed his way past the Greendale cover guys surrounding the ball and tried to get it. A pile then ensued because the ball was loose and Greendale came up with it. Apparently the official saw it different and gave the ball to Ike saying that he was down on the ground. A 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty flag then flew giving the Lions the ball on Greendale's 43 yard-line.

The Panther's defense managed to force them to punt after 5-plays.

Greendale now had the ball with 2:33 left in the game. The only problem was that they were on their 11 yard-line. They tried to move the ball and had no choice to go for it on 4th down, which failed thus giving the Lions the ball on the Greendale 4. Two plays later they would cross the goal line again from 1-yard out. The 2 pt-conversion was good making the score 34-20 with 1:24 left in the game.

Greendale would get one last try after the ensuing kick and started from their 42 yard-line. They would execute their hurry up offense to a tee as Cone would scramble out of trouble and cross the goal line from 10-yards out as the clock went to zero.

The final score would be 34-26. Greendale now moves to 1-1 for the year and will be playing South Milwaukee Thursday (9/24) at home. The game is scheduled to start at 6:30.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity Reserve    

CPR Brings Defense Back To Life!

Panthers pitch a shut out on Eisenhower.
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/14/09

The defense for the Greendale Panther's Varsity Reserve team seemed to be somewhat comatose the last few games, but with a little CPR by the coaches, they came back to life-pitching a shut out Monday night against arch nemesis New Berlin Eisenhower 10-0 at Gavinski Field. Bodies were flying around all night as the Ike quarterback was pretty much running for his life. The Panther coaches also threw everything they had at them, and from all angles. Greendale's Manny Medina finished the night with two more interceptions to add to his collection-helping keep the zero up for the Panther's "D".

Eisenhower (2-1) would be kicking to Greendale (1-2) to start the game. Things got exciting right away as Panther return man Bobby Hall would bring it back 35-yards to the Panther 42, which is where Sam Brick and the rest of the Panther offense would start their first drive. They would only manage 4-plays before turning the ball over on downs at the midfield strip.

Ike would now start their first drive of the game. They would put together 10-plays before the ever present Manny Median would intercept a pass for the Panthers at the 5-yard line-fending off Ike's first scoring attempt.

Greendale would rip off 6-plays before being forced to put once again.

It was here that the Panther defense started to come back to life. They held the Lions to just 3-plays of which one was a huge sack for a loss and forced them to punt from their goal line.

Brick would bring his offense and start from the Ike 49 yard-line. Three plays later however, he would find the wrong team with a pass and now Ike had the ball on their 33 yard-line.

The Panther defense repeated their last performance as they forced Ike to punt after going 3 and out.

Greendale's offense would always start moving the ball, but then would trip themselves by either penalties or dropped balls. They would have to punt after 6-plays.

Eisenhower would find themselves starting their following series on their 27. They would put 9-plays together before Medina would grab his second interception of the evening in the end zone for a touch back.

The remainder of the half would find Greendale punting after 3 plays and Ike turning the ball over on downs after 4-plays.

At this point, Greendale's defense was playing great but the offense was struggling. The 2nd half would be a little different, however, as the Cat's "O" finally started to click.

Greendale ended up kicking the ball to start the 2nd half. Brett Nethery would drop his kick on the 1 yard-line but was returned to the Eisenhower 41. The Cat's "D" picked up right where they left off-forcing Ike to kick after 3-plays.

Then Greendale came out and hooked up a huge 15-play, 78-yard scoring drive as Brick would find Nethery on a hard slant route over the middle for a 3-yard TD pass. This was a decision that merited a time out for it was 4th and goal from the 4 at the time. Nethery would split the uprights-making the scoreboard finally light up with a 7 next to the HOME team and a 0 still sitting next to the VISITING team.

After another deep kickoff, the Panther defense would make Ike punt after 4-plays.

The Panther's would then put another long drive together that would take them to the Ike 15. On 4th down they elected to set up for a field goal of which Nethery would make-completing a 10-play, scoring drive. The score was now 10-0 with 7:13 remaining in the game.

Nethery would kick the ensuing kickoff deep again, but this time the Lions managed to pull off a huge return-taking it all the way to the Panther 21 yard-line. The defense was still playing hard as they forced the Lions to turn the ball over on downs again.

Greendale would punt-going 3 and out and Ike would end up turning the ball over on downs again after 4-plays.

The Panthers would finish the game rattling off 7-plays before the clock finally ran out. Greendale (2-2) would defeat the Lions (2-2) 10-0 in what was more of a defensive battle than anything else. It does look like the Panthers are starting to come together as a complete team with the defense's effort tonight. They will now hit the road next week against the Woodland Conference's newest member in the South Milwaukee Rockets. The game will be Monday (9/21) at 5:30pm.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

The MIB Strike Again!

Greendale to much for Cavilers.
R.A. Mattrisch - 9/11/09

The Greendale Panthers home jersey colors are black on black. ALL BLACK! They could be called the "Men In Black." The visiting St. Thomas More Cavilers probably had enough black for one night as they fell victim by a score of 31-0. It ended up easier for the Panthers than they originally thought. More likes to run a tightly packed scrum style offense that can be tricky to stop if it's executed correctly. You also have to have some horses, which More seemed to be lacking this year.

"We did need to worry about a couple of things going into this game." said Head Panther Coach Rob Stoltz. "We knew we had to be aggressive and we had to tackle well because that's how that style of offense works. They make it difficult for you to make clean tackles and if you don't, they will spring one on you. One area that really helped us out tonight was our special team's play. That huge blocked punt, Brees kicking in the end zone all the time, the field goals, and our kick coverages. Boy, having a leg like that on your sideline make a huge difference when it comes to making decisions. We now have to bring our A game out for we are playing one of my favorite teams next week. Those games are just fun to coach and watch."

Greendale would receive first to start the game. Their first drive of the night would start on their 39 yard-line. After a few nice runs by Panther running back Luke Drumel, quarterback Ernie Valente would drop back and spot Andrew Brees down the left sideline for a huge 44-yard gain-taking the ball to the 6 yard-line. Two plays later, Drumel would cross the goal line, (maybe for the second time) to score Greendale's first touchdown of the evening. Brees would make the extra point kick making the score 7-0 with 10:10 left in the 1st quarter.

St. Thomas More would start their first drive of the night from their 20 yard-line as Brees ended up kicking the ball through the end zone for a touch back. The Panther's defense looked fast and furious as they forced More to line up for a punt after just 3 plays.

It was here where the rarely talked about specialty teams would step up. Greendale's Joel Sirus crashed in from the right side and blocked the kick. Greendale's Cordney Wren would be "Johnny on the spot" and picked the ball up and scampered in for another Panther TD. Brees would spit the uprights-making the scoreboard read 14-0 with 8:37 still left in the opening quarter.

For St. Thomas More, it would be the same story as last time. Brees would kick to the end zone, they would run 3-plays from the 20, and punt the ball away.

This time the Panther offense couldn't get to the end zone and were forced to punt after 8-plays.

Brees would pin them deep as the Panthers would down the ball on the Caviler's 2 yard-line. Six plays later, Wren would make a tough interception giving the ball back to Valente and the boys on their 39 yard-line.

Greendale now had a little drive going as they carried it into the 2 quarter. Three plays later, Valente would return the favor throwing his one and only interception of the night down at the 10 yard-line.

The Panther's defense again forced More to punt the ball away.

Behind three straight runs by Drumel, the MIB's would find themselves in the end zone for the third time as Drumel would saw his way in from 9-yards out. Brees's kick was perfect-increasing the Panther's lead to 21-0 with 9:09 remaining in the first half.

It would be another re-run for More following the ensuing kick, Brees would make it to the end zone, they would start from the 20 and punt after 3-plays.

The Panthers would rattle off 5-plays before being forced to set up for a 43-yard field goal, which was well inside Brees's range. He would have plenty of leg on the ball, but pushed it just a tad to the right thus giving the Cavilers the ball on their 22 yard-line.

They would put 6-plays together before the MIB defense said that was enough and forced More to punt again.

Greendale now had the ball on their 43 yard-line with 1:15 remaining in the 1st half. They would have to punt, however, after 5-plays of which many of them were nullified by penalties. With time running out, the Cavilers would try and get something on the board, but 5-plays later, Panther linebacker Ryan Becker would intercept a pass and return it to the Panther 40 as the first half came to an end.

The 2nd half would find Greendale kicking first. For the first time of the evening, Brees would not make the end zone thus giving the return man something to do besides watching balls sail over his head. He would manage to get to their 42 to start their 1 series of the second half. The Cavilers would manage just 5-plays before the Cat's defense forced another punt.

Five plays later and a nice run by Valente, the Panthers found themselves knocking on the door again. On the very next play, Valente would run it again and score from 1-yard out. Brees would slam in through the uprights-almost hitting Pat Schuster who was filming on a lift in the end zone. Greendale now had a commanding lead with a score of 28-0 and 7:23 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

After the ensuing kickoff, More would put 12-plays together before turning the ball over on downs near midfield.

Greendale would now start a drive that would take them into the 4th quarter. They would find themselves looking at a 4th and 4 situation, but failed to complete a pass thus turning the ball over on downs.

The struggling Cavilers offense would now start their series from their 34, but they were forced to punt going 3 and out again.

The Panthers now owned the ball on their 31. Two plays later, Brees would catch a Valente pass, but as he turned to run, he would fumble-giving it back the the Cavilers.

St. Thomas More's offense would run 5-plays before Greendale's Joel Sirus would recover a fumble as a result of the center snapping the ball over his quarterback's head.

The Panther coaching staff now started to change players on offense. Behind a tough running attack, the Panthers would eventually find themselves in a 4 down situation. This time they called on Brees who would make a 40-yard field goal-making the score 31-0 with 4:17 remaining in the game.

The Cavilers would start their next series on the 20 as Brees kicked it through the end zone again. They would end up going for it on 4th down-only to miss the mark on a would-be pass play.

The Panthers would keep it on the ground as new quarterback Sam Brick and new running back Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski would split the running duties. They would work the ball down to the 2 yard-line before taking 2 knees to end the game.

Greendale would win easily by a score of 31-0. They finished the night with 362-yards of total offense while only giving up 123-yards on defense. The Panthers (3-0) will now head out west to play the New Berlin Eisenhower Lions (2-1) next week. When these two teams get together, anything can happen because these two teams just love to hate each other. Last year, it was the Lions who snapped Greendale's 28-conference game winning streak so Greendale will be out to redeem themselves. Eisenhower lost last week to a tough Pewaukee team 42-21. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00.

For game stats, click here.

For more pictures, click here.

For video highlights of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flickr". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

Varsity Reserve    

Attitude Adjustment!
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/8/09

The 2009 Greendale Panther Varsity Reserve season is a 1/3 of the way over with. At this point, things were not going to well losing the first 2 games. The offense was putting points on the board, but the defense was not carrying its share of the load. Well, the coaches must have said something because there was a totally different attitude on defense for this game. In fact, they pitched a shutout Tuesday afternoon as they defeated the St Thomas More Cavilers 40-0 in a very lopsided affair.

Things got started right away on the opening drive. Greendale would take the opening kick and march 62-yards for a score as sophomore running back Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski carried it in from 1-yard out. Sophomore Brett Nethery would split the uprights-making the score 7-0 with 4:12 left in the 1st quarter.

On the ensuing kick, More would fumble the ball on the return giving it right back to Greendale on the Cavilers' 22 yard-line. Two plays later, Greendale's quarterback Sam Brick would find Nethery who made a nice catch and sprinted into the end zone-completing a 22-yard scoring pass play. Nethery's kick was true-increasing the Panther's lead with a score of 14-0 with 3:22 still remaining in the opening quarter.

More would start their next drive on their 35, but the Panthers forced them to punt as they went 3 and out. The kick was grabbed by Greendale's Bobby Hall who raced 60-yards up the right sideline for another Panther score. Nethery would make the point after kick making the score 21-0 with :55 seconds remaining in the 1st quarter.

The Cavilers would attempt to get something going, but were forced to punt again after only getting one first down.

It was now the 2nd quarter and Greendale had the ball at midfield. Brick would drop back for a pass down field but the ball was tipped by his own player and fell into the hands of a Caviler defender.

The Cat's defense again stopped them cold and forced More to punt after just 3-plays.

On Greendale's ensuing possession, they would find themselves starting on their 35 yard-line. Three plays later, Brick would hook up with Panther sophomore Kennedy Ringelberg for a 50-yard scoring strike. Nethery would miss the point after-making the score 27-0 with just under 3:00 remaining in the 1st half.

St Thomas More looked like they had a serious drive going but a penalty and a sack in the red zone forced them backwards. Greendale eventually got the ball back on downs.

The Panther's next drive only lasted 1-play as Brick would overthrow his intended receiver and ultimately in the hands of a Caviler defender.

More could not capitalize on the turn over and would line up for a punt. They would fake this one, but Greendale was ready and stopped them short-forcing them to turn the ball over on downs. Greendale would run 1-play before the 1st half would come to an end.

The Panthers would be kicking to start the 2nd half. More would rattle off 4-plays before turning the balls over on downs again.

Greendale would take possession on the Cavilers' 44 yard-line. Five plays later, Brick would find Keenan Goyette who made a great catch for a 3-yard scoring pass. Nethery's kick would be good making the score 34-0 with 5:32 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

The Cavilers would take the ensuing kick and put their biggest drive of the afternoon together. They made it all the way to the red zone before being sacked on 4th down thus giving the Panthers the ball back and preserving their shutout.

The overpowering Panthers would start the next drive on their 20-yard-line. Six plays later, Brick would find Ringelberg way down field completing a nice 34-yard scoring strike. The extra point snap was botched resulting in a failed attempt. The score was now 40-0 with the now running clock reading 4:29 left in the game.

After the ensuing kick, More would set up on their 31. The ended up turning the ball over on downs after running 4-plays.

All Greendale had to do was take a knee and the game was over. Greendale would win rather handedly by a score of 40-0. Their record now goes to 1-2 for the year. The will host New Berlin Eisenhower next Monday (9/14) at 5:30.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

Character Is Born!

Greendale beats New Berlin West 19-6 despite injuries.
GPTC - 9/4/09

It was another perfect night for high school football. Greendale had the New Berlin West Vikings in the house for their first Woodland Conference game of the year. This would be West's second game for they lost last week to cross town rival Eisenhower 27-6. A year ago, the Vikings and Panthers got into an aerial bombardment show as both teams filled the air with footballs all night long. Greendale would eventually win that game going away by a score of 40-17, but don't let that score fool you. That was one of the best games to watch-if you were a fan that is.

The Panther coaches knew that West was a better running team this year. "We scouted West last week and it was very apparent that they wanted to run the ball." said Defensive Coordinator Gary Jagodzinski. "They run a modified 'Wing T' of which there is a lot of misdirection, so we told our guys to keep their eyes open, read the keys, and do their jobs. We did have a few lapses tonight, but they didn't let that get to them. All in all, I was very pleased."

Greendale would receive first to start the game. They would start this drive on their 23-yard-line. Greendale's quarterback Ernie Valente would start moving his team just like he did last week, but after 4-plays, he would be knocked out of the game with a mild concussion. Greendale's trainer Chris Mackenzie would make the call and erred to the safe side in keeping Valente out of the rest of the game. Greendale's #2 quarterback, senior Cordney Wren would play there the rest of the game.

He would continue to move the team all the way to the 14 yard-line before he threw an interception in the end zone resulting in a touchback.

New Berlin West would now take possession on their 20 for their first drive. They would run 6-plays before junior defensive back Joel Sirus would intercept a pass on the Panther's 12 yard-line.

Greendale wasn't able to capitalize, however, and were forced to punt going 3 and out.

The punt wasn't very good so West was looking at a short field with only 25-yards between them and the goal line. After 4-plays, West would fumble the ball on the 9 yard-line for their second turnover of the day.

Wren would now try and work his team out of a hole. Again, they failed to move the sticks and were forced to kick from their end zone going 3 and out.

This Brett Nethery punt was much better as he managed to get it to the Panther 43. At this point in time, Greendale had lost three starters to various non-serious injuries. Junior Andrew Brees, who is a receiver and kicker, Valente, who is the quarterback, and Jordan Campbell, who plays offensive and defensive line.

West would start their drive from the Panther 43. This time, the Cat's defense stiffened up-forcing the Vikings to punt after going 3 and out.

Greendale would start from deep in a hole once again. With the help of 15-yard face masking penalty, they would get a little breathing room. On the 8th play of the drive, Panther running back Luke "Jig Saw" Drumel would take a pitch and scamper to the West 27 yard-line only to have it called back because of a penalty. On the very next play, however, Wren would find junior wide out Jo Jo Sardina behind the Viking secondary and hook up with him for a nice 61-yard pass play. Six plays later, Wren would see Sardina again on a hard slant route over the middle for a Panther touchdown. Nethery's point after try was good-making the score 7-0 with 6:34 left in the 1st half.

After the ensuing kick, West found themselves lining up on their own 28 yard-line. The Panther's defense again forced West to punt after just 3-plays.

Greendale now had the ball on their 42. On the second play of the drive, Drumel would pop off a huge run taking it all the way to the 16 yard-line of the Vikings. Two plays later. Drumel would take it in around left end for the Panther's 2nd TD of the night. Nethery's kick would just miss wide left-increasing the Panther's lead to 13-0 with 3:44 left before half.

With halftime nearly upon them, West knew that they had to get some kind of points on the board or this game could get away on them. Well, that is what happened as Viking quarterback Dominique Bledsoe would find Chad Mathwig in the end zone for a 9-yard scoring strike. Alex Cranfill would miss the extra point adjusting the score to read 13-6 Greendale, with :40 seconds left in the 1st half. Greendale would rattle off 4-plays before the clock finally expired.

West would receive first to start the 2nd half. The Panthers had them pinned deep, but 2-plays later, running back Chris Treptow would find a huge hole taking it all the way to the Panther 35. The Cat's defense, who have been doing a great job so far kept the Vikings from reaching the end zone-forcing them to try a field goal. Cranfill would hit the 23-yard try and West would inch closer to Greendale with a score of 13-9 and 6:10 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

On the ensuing possession, Greendale would run 2-plays before Wren was hit while he was attempting to throw-causing the ball to pop lose of which West recovered.

With the ball resting on Greendale's 25 yard-line, they would attempt to reach that end zone once again. Greendale had other ideas however, as they forced the Vikings to turn the ball over on downs thus giving Wren & company another crack at scoring.

The Panther's somewhat anemic offense failed to move the sticks and were forced to kick going 3 and out again.

West now held the ball as the game went into the 4th quarter. Eight plays later, Bledsoe would fumble another snap of which Greendale's Eric Schuerman would recover. Greendale now owned the ball on their 39 yard-line.

West forced Greendale to kick going 3 and out again.

The Vikings would now start their drive from their own 23 yard-line with 8:17 left in the game. On their very first play, Wren would intercept a Bledsoe pass and return it all the way to the Viking 9 yard-line. They failed to move the sticks again and were forced to settle for a field goal. Brees, who was now back in the game, would kick a 27 yarder-making the score 16-9 with 6:38 remaining in the game.

The Vikings had to start their next drive from the 20 yard-line as Brees kicked it completely out of the end zone. In a somewhat not to urgent manor, they would start their march towards the end zone that could tie the game with a converted kick. Ten plays and a lot of time later, Greendale would force the Vikings to turn the ball over on downs giving the Panthers the ball with 1:49 left on the clock.

All Greendale had to do is pick up a first down and hold onto the ball. They did that and the clock finally ran out.

Greendale would dodge a bullet by beating West 16-9. "It would have been real easy for our guys to bag it after so many key injuries early in the game." said Head Coach Rob Stoltz. "They didn't do that! In fact, some of the guys actually stepped it up tonight, which is now showing us some character."

Greendale will host the St Thomas More Cavilers next week for game 3. The Cavilers are winless this year so they will be ready to change that this week. The game is scheduled for 7:00pm.

For game stats, click here.

All of the photographers were unable to make this game so there were no pictures taken.

For video highlights, click here.

Varsity Reserve    

Big "O" - Little "D"
R. A. Mattrisch - 9/3/09

The Varsity Reserve Panthers were supposed to be playing the New Berlin West Vikings this week, but apparently West was unable to meet their obligation due to the lack of players. With some last minute heroics, Greendale's Athletic Director, Gina Wilkins immediately got on the phone and hooked up a former conference opponent from way back in the Suburban Park days of the 90's, in Oak Creek. They were happy to make it and even happier when they left, as they defeated the Panthers 44-23 in another non-conference game.

It was pretty much the same as last week with the offence doing what was needed to get to the end zone despite several mistakes along the way, and the defense's inability to tackle well and stop the pass. "We have a lot of young and inexperienced guys back in the secondary." explained Coach Tim Gavinski. "There is also the issue of speed and height that factor in. If you're fast, you can sometimes overcome your height deficit by being in a better position. If you are tall but not as fast, your height can help you if you are having a harder time keeping up with receivers. If you are lacking both, it can be a long day."

Oak Creek would start the game kicking off to the Panthers. After a shanked kick, Greendale would start their first drive of the game from their 35 yard-line. Here they would but a clock eating 17-play drive together only to have to turn the ball over on downs after 2 penalties inside the red zone. The Knights would now take control of the football from their 17 yard-line.

Three plays later, Greendale's Manny Medina would snatch a Oak Creek pass and give it back to his team on the Oak Creek 46. Greendale failed to get a first down, however, and had to kick the ball away.

The Knights would now set up shop deep in their end of the field. Three plays later, Oak Creek was standing in the end zone after a running back took a pitch around the left side and scampered 79-yards to complete a 3-play, 86-yard scoring drive. The try for the 2-point conversion was no good making the score 6-0 Oak Creek with 48:1 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

The Panthers would start their next drive but would have to punt after 4-plays as the first quarter came to an end.

Oak Creek could do no better as they rattled off 5-plays before turning the ball over on downs after 5-plays.

Greendale's offense would now take another crack at scoring. That crack turned into reality as Panther quarterback Sam Brick would hit Sean Givens on a wheel route for a nice 51-yards scoring pass. Tyler Vraney's extra point kick was good and Greendale now found themselves leading 7-6 with 5:46 remaining in the 1st half.

Oak Creek would now try to answer back with a score of their own. After 12-plays, they would do just that as their quarter back would sneak it in from 2-yards out completing a 12-play, 66-yard drive. They would complete a pass for the 2-point try making the score 14-7 with only 55:00 seconds left before the half.

Greendale would run 5-plays before the half finally came to an end.

The Panthers would kick first to start the 2nd half. Oak Creek could only muster up 3-plays before having to punt the ball away.

Greendale would start from their 39, but they too had to punt after 6-plays.

The Knights would not have to punt for their next series as they gashed the Panther defense-eventually finding the end zone by completing an 8-yard touchdown pass that completed a 6-play, 74-yard drive. They went for two again and score making the score 22-7 with 2:48 left in the 3rd quarter.

Greendale would now try and get back in the game. They would start this drive on their 39 yard-line. Eight plays later, Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski would take a swing pass and cross the goal line for a touchdown. Garcia-Bankowskii would take an option pitch from Brick for the 2-point conversion as well making the score 22-15 with 9:53 now remaining in the game.

Things started to unravel now for the Panthers. On Oak Creek's next possession, they would cross the goal line again by completing a nice 17-yard scoring strike. They would throw another pass to convert the 2-point conversion and the Knights now jumped out 30-15 with 8:15 left in the game.

On the ensuing kick, Greendale's return man would fumble after a nice 38-yard return-giving it right back to Oak Creek on Greendale's 42 yard-line.

Four plays later, the Knights were crossing the goal line again as their running back busted his way in from 25-yards out breaking several tackles along the way. The try for two was no good making the score 36-15 with 6:31 remaining in the game.

Greendale would have to flex its passing muscle as Offensive Coordinator Keith Ringelberg would launch his aerial circus. Nine plays later, Sam Brick would sneak it in from 1-yard out as Greendale would try and catch the Knights. Brick would find Kennedy Ringelberg on a crossing route for the 2-point try making the score 36-23 with only 4:48 left on the clock.

The Panthers tried an on-side kick but failed as the Knights would recover on their 32 yard-line. The Panther needed to make a stop but failed for as an Oak Creek running back sprinted in from 44-yards out for another Knight's score. The try for 2-points was good and Oak Creek pretty much sealed the deal with a score of 44-23 with 3:44 left in the game.

Greendale would make another valiant effort taking it all the way to the 1 yard-line, but it was there that they would fumble again and pretty much ended the day for the offense.

Oak Creek would run 6-plays and take a knee to end the game.

The final score was 44-23 in favor of the visiting Oak Creek Knights. Greendale would now fall to 0-2 for the year and will be traveling to St Thomas More next Tuesday to play the Cavilers. That game is scheduled to start at 4:15.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity Reserve    

Had The Cake, But Forgot The Walk!
R. A. Mattrisch - 8/28/09

The 2009 Greendale Panther Varsity Reserve football team started their season last Friday night at Greendale's Gavinski Stadium. They were hosting the same Milwaukee Lutheran school the Varsity did the night before, but would end up with different results.

After what looked like would be a cakewalk for the Panthers, ended up with a come from WAY behind victory for the Red Knights by a score of 26-25. At one point during the 2nd quarter, Greendale had a commanding lead with a score of 25-6. It only took them a quarter and a half to get those points, but that would be all the points they would get the rest of the game.

Milwaukee Lutheran started the game kicking to Greendale. Things looked very promising right off the bat for on the Panther's 7th play, quarterback Sam Brick would find Sean Givens open for a nice 35-yard touchdown pass-completing a 7-play, 60-yard scoring drive. The ball was fumbled by the holder on the extra point try resulting in a failed attempt. Greendale would change the scoreboard first by adding 6 points to their side at the 8:14 mark of the 1st quarter.

The Red Knights would start their first possession on their own 30 yard-line. Five plays later Greendale's Sebastian Garcia-Bankowski would lay the pine on someone-forcing the ball lose of which teammate Tyler Brainy would recover near mid field.

Greendale would sting the Red Knights right away for on the first play, Brick found Brett Nethery open for a 47-yard touchdown pass completion. The try for 2-points failed, but Greendale would increase their lead with a score of 12-0 and 5:45 remaining in the 1st quarter.

It was now Lutheran's turn on offense. The Panther's defense, however, had a different idea as they registered 3 consecutive sacks-forcing the Red Knights to punt from their own end zone.

Greendale would find themselves with great field position on Lutheran's 17 yard-line. On their 3rd play, they were tagged with a penalty backing them up close to mid-field. With a long way to go for a 1st down, Brick would see Givens again down field completing a 25-yard pass. On the next play, Brick would take it in himself from 4-yards out for another Panther score. The point after kick by Tyler Vraney was good making the score 19-0 with 1:44 still left in the 1st quarter.

Greendale would force the Red Knights to punt after 3 plays.

It was now the second quarter and it seemed that Greendale could do no wrong, and the Red Knights could do no right. Greendale only managed to squeeze off 5-plays before being forced to punt for the first time in the game.

Lutheran would start this drive on their 32 yard-line. Six plays later, one of the Red Knight running backs popped through the line and after several missed tackles, he would break free for a 50-yard touchdown run. The point after try was missed making the score 19-6 with 6:07 remaining in the 1st half.

On the next series for G'Dale, Nethery would cross the goal line again as he stepped in to the quarterback position for one play. He would sprint around right end and just out ran the entire Red Knight defense up the sideline for a nice 53-yard gallop to the zone. The point after kick was blocked-adjusting the scoreboard to read 25-6 in favor of Greendale with 5:20 left in the 1st half.

Milwaukee Lutheran would turn the ball over on downs after 7-plays and then Greendale would go 3 and out and have to punt the ball back.

With under a minute left in the 1st half, Lutheran would start this drive on their 42 yard-line. Six plays later, they would complete a 5-yard touchdown pass with 9.9 seconds left before the half. The kick was good and the score was now 25-13 as the 1st half came to a close.

Greendale's second half would be a completely different story. They stated it off by kicking first. Lutheran only needed 4-plays to go 58-yards for a touchdown as they ran it in from 19-yards out. The point after kick was good closing the margin by a score of 25-19 with 8:47 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Panthers would start on their 31 for their next series, but Brick was intercepted on the 4th-play of that drive.

Greendale caught a break on Lutheran's next series when the Red Knight's quarterback fumbled the ball and Greendale's Jake Zingsheim recovered it. Again they failed to get anything going and were forced to punt the ball away after just 4-plays.

Milwaukee Lutheran ran off 6-plays before they had to punt back to the Panthers.

Greendale would have another miscue and fumbled on their 2nd play from scrimmage-giving the Red Knights a short field. Lutheran looked like they were going in when they fumbled on the 6 yard-line of Greendale.

The Panthers would work the ball out of the hole, but they were intercepted again after the ball was tipped.

The Red Knights would then start from their 45 yard-line and ran off 8-plays before turning the ball over on downs at the Greendale 42 .

With the game clock getting low, and with a slim lead, Greendale found themselves in a 4th and 1 situation near mid field. After trying to draw Lutheran offsides, they took a time out and made the decision to go for it. Unfortunately, another miscue happened as the center didn't snap the ball-resulting in a 5-yard penalty. Greendale had no choice but to punt the ball back to the Red Knights and hope that the defense can keep them out of the end zone.

After the kick, Lutheran would set up on their 40 yard-line just 60-yards away from winning the game. Six plays later they would score from 41-yards out with a nice pass and run combination. They went for 2 but failed, but they now had a 1-point lead with 1:11 left in the game.

Greendale would start their next series from their 27, but another pass ended up in the wrong hands-thus squelching any chances of a come from behind victory.

Lutheran would run 3-plays before the game finally came to an end.

As good as Greendale looked in the first half, the opposite happened in the second half. The Panthers would lose a heartbreaker by 1-point by a score of 26-25. They were supposed to play the New Berlin West Vikings Monday, but the Vikings did not have enough players to field a team, so they had to cancel that game. Arrangements were made, however, to play Oak Creek at home on Thursday 9/3. That game will start at 5:30.

Photos by R.A. Mattrisch

Varsity    

And They're off!

Greendale defeats Milwaukee Lutheran in home opener.
R.A Mattrisch 8/30/09

The Greendale Panthers started their 2009 season Thursday night with a non-conference game against the visiting Milwaukee Lutheran Red Knights. Last year when these two teams played, Greendale crushed the Red Knights 57-21 so there was a sour taste in their mouth. After a somewhat slow start, Greendale walked away an easy winner by a score of 38-14, which left the coaches pleasantly surprised.

This year would be a little different for the Panthers, for they have a very young and inexperienced team after losing a bunch of talented seniors from a year ago. The junior class does have a lot of talent having yet to lose a game in their high school careers. They do lack the varsity level experience though. "I was very pleased with tonight's effort." Head Coach Rob Stoltz said. "We have a lot of new faces up here and we as coaches weren't really sure what to expect under fire. It was a good way to start the season but we do have a lot of work to do. The good thing is that these guys will only get better."

Milwaukee Lutheran would kick to start the game. This year's new quarterback Ernie Valente would lead his offense onto the field and start the first drive of the season from their own 33 yard-line. After 6 plays and moving the ball rather easily, Valente would complete a pass to senior wide out Cordney Wren, who made a great catch, but as he turned up the field, he was hit just right popping the ball lose and right into the hands of a defender.

The Red Knights would start their first drive of the year from their own 36 yard-line. The Panther's defense would only allow 7 yards before forcing Lutheran to punt the ball away.

The Saw is back and he's sharper than ever!

The cat's offense would start their next series on their 46 yard-line following a fair catch interference penalty. On Greendale's second play from scrimmage, Panther running back Luke "Jig Saw" Drumel who is know for his quickness and elusiveness, ran through the line behind some nice blocking and scampered 47 yards to the Red Knight's 3 yard-line. They failed to punch it into the end zone and had to settle for a field goal. Junior Andrew Brees, who is already being looked at by colleges for his kicking ability would come in and make his 22-yard attempt making the score 3-0, Panthers, with 5:37 left in the opening quarter of play.

Brees would make the end zone on the ensuing kick, forcing Lutheran to start from their 20 yard-line. The Panther's defense would hold the Red Knights to just 8 plays before forcing Lutheran to turn the ball over on downs on the Red Knight 37 yard-line.

Valente and company could only muster up 7-plays before they to turned the ball over on downs.

It was now Lutheran's ball on their 44 yard-line. Ten plays later, the Red Knights punched it into the end zone with a 7-yard pass completion from quarterback Cody Johnsen to James Enters. The point after try was good giving them the lead by a score of 7-3 with 9:59 now left in the second quarter.

The Panthers would start their first drive of the 2nd quarter from their 17 yard-line. They were forced to put, however, after just 3-plays.

Lutheran would start their next series on their 46 yard-line. They would only run 4-plays before being forced to kick as well.

The Panther's offense would now take to the field and start from their 16 yard-line. Eight plays later, Greendale found themselves standing in the end zone as Valente would scamper in off the right side from 5-yards out. Brees converted the point after try giving Greendale the lead back with a score of 10-7 and 3:27 left in the 1st half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brees would reach the end zone once again giving the Red Knights the ball on their 20 yard-line. Three plays later, senior defensive back Bobby Mikorski would intercept a pass giving the ball back to his team on the Red Knight 27. Five plays later, Greendale was in the end zone as Drumel scooted in from 5-yards out off of left end. Brees's kick was true again increasing the Panther's lead with a score of 17-7 and 1:08 left in the 1st half.

On the ensuing kick, it was the same story. Into the end zone and on the 20. It was hear that Lutheran failed to get anything going again and were forced to punt after just 3-plays. Wren would take that kick and return it to the Red Knight 37 yard-line with only 26.6 seconds left on the game clock before the half. On the very first play, Valente would roll towards his right and then decided to take matters into his own hands. Behind some great blocking down field, he would find himself in the end zone again, capping off a 1-play 37-yard scoring drive. Brees would split the uprights as Greendale now jumped out big by scoring 17 unanswered points in under 4 minutes. The score was now 24-7 with only a few ticks left on the clock.

Lutheran would take the ensuing kick and run 2-plays before time expired.

Greendale would be kicking to start the 2nd half. The Red Knights would start their first drive of the half on their 21 yard-line. Three plays later, they found themselves kicking again as the Panthers only allowed 6-yards in that series.

The Panthers would now start their first drive of the half at the mid-field strip. Ten plays later, they would reach the Promised Land again as Valente scored from 1-yard out. Brees converted the extra point kick blowing the game wide open with a score of 31-7 and 6:20 left in the 3rd.

Milwaukee Lutheran would now start their next drive from their 24 yard-line. They would squeeze off 3-plays before Mikorski grabbed a tipped ball for his second interception of the night.

Valente would bring his boys back out and set up on the Red Knight 44 yard-line. They would only rattle off 4-plays before turning the ball over on downs at Lutheran's 35 yard-line.

The young but experienced Panther defense forced the Red Knights to kick again after just 3-plays.

The "Men In Black" would start this series from their 44 yard-line. Behind some strong running by Valente and Drumel, they soon found themselves on the 5-yard line. Valente would then end up throwing his one and only interception of the night in the end zone resulting in a touch back thus killing that potential scoring drive.

After just 8-plays and a huge sack by senior Jordan Dominiak, Lutheran found themselves punting once again.

Greendale would start this drive from their 36 yard-line. Seven plays later, Drumel sawed his way into the end zone with a 4-yard touchdown run. Brees would convert the extra point making the score 38-7 with 5:49 remaining in the game.

The struggling Red Knights would now take possession following the ensuing kick. With the majority of the starting defense on the sideline, they would put together an 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive. The point after try was good making the score 38-14 with only 1:41 left on the game clock.

The Panther's number 2 offense was now on the field. They would run 4-plays before the game finally came to an end.

The final score would end up being 38-14. Greendale finished the night with a strong running performance as Drumel and Valente both finished with over 120-yards apiece. Valente also had a nice night through the air completing 14 of 25 passes for 174 yards. When you add everything up, Greendale finished with 464 yards of total offense and allowed 235 yards on defense.

Greendale (1-0) will now begin conference play as they will entertain the New Berlin West Vikings (0-1) next Friday night at Gavinski Field. West is coming in with a loss after losing to cross town rival Eisenhower 27-6 last week. The game will start at 7:00.

For game stats, click here.

For a video highlight of the game, click here.

For more pictures of the game, click here.

NEW FEATURE THIS SEASON!  We have another gentlemen that enjoys freelance photography. His name is Dan Herrmann. What he has set up is a special area on a different website called "Flicker". Here you will be able to see all of the pictures of the games that he shoots at. He has an email address listed there so that anyone can contacted him if you would like to have prints made. All of the pictures are numbered for reference so for a small fee, you could have large hi-res 8" X 10" PRINTED photos (only) of any of the pictures you see there. For this week's game, click here.

Photos by Chuck Cairns

News    

Weather Or Not, Village Days Officially Kicked Off The 2009 Football Season!
GPTC 8/10/09

You sometimes have to ask yourself why things happen when they do. I mean come on, it hasn't rained all summer long. In fact, we were getting to the point where the drought word was starting to be murmured. Then the one weekend comes when everyone hopes it doesn't rain, and ka-boom... the mother load! Not just a little shower mind you, but multiple storms. Well that didn't seem to stop Village Days at all but it did make it a little more interesting. When it was all said and done, we're pretty sure everyone had a good time.

One of the areas that you would have found a good time at was in the Family Games area located in front of the Greendale Middle School. There were plenty of things to eat, buy, and do. Of course one of the more favorite stops along the way had to be the GPTC's "Dunk Tank." It was there that you could inflict the shock & awe of ice cold water on your favorite celebrity guest. We had coaches, teachers, principals, alumni, current players, and even a judge enjoy the cool refreshing 48 degree water fresh from the bowels of Greendale's water system. "We try and get the tank filled right away in the morning so that some of the ice melts." said Tim Nethery who was one of the may people who helped with this year's fundraising event. "But then after a while, I thought it might not be as fun for the throwing customers if they new that the celebs on the bench were falling into bath water, so after a second thought, I didn't care any more. There is just something about seeing people scream, complain, and watching their lips turn blue that keeps the throwing public amused."

This was the 3rd year in a row that this was held. The GPTC takes the money that is made and turns right around to help out with the football programs here in Greendale. Anywhere from financing equipment, to offsetting cost for various camps, clinics, and competitions that the teams partake in each year. "We started this club several years ago with just football in mind," explained Rodney Mattrisch. "The biggest reason we geared it for just football is because it is the most expensive high school sport to fund and we just thought we would help out in any way, shape or form to keep this program at the high level it's accustomed to being at. It all comes down to making sure that our Greendale players have the best of everything, which is something that the great people of Greendale always strive for."

Of course there is yet another top notch football program in Greendale too. That would be the Greendale All-American Youth program. This year there are approximately 140 boys out playing football that are made up of 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. These same guys will eventually end up playing for the high school so needless to say when you add it all up, there are a lot of guys playing football here in Greendale.

They too need money to sustain this program and they took advantage of Village Days as well by hosting a raffle that was tied together with the famous Klements Racing Sausages. Raffle tickets were sold by each sausage who were accompanied by a member of the youth team's organization. If that sausage won, a ticket would be drawn from their bucket and a nice prize was awarded. Spear heading this event was Katie Barczak. "We thought that this would be something totally different and that everyone could relate too because everyone knows about the racing sausages," Katie explained. "Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate this year so we weren't able to hold all of the races that we had planned. The ones we did run turned out to be a lot of fun. The plan was to have a celebrity guest race with the sausages in each race. We had, teachers, principals, police officers, and even the fire chief. The only catch was that they had to race in their working apparel. I do want to thank everyone who participated as well, and the many people that help make this all possible. It was truly a team effort. And of course the true benefactors of all our effort will be the boys who play football for the youth teams."

The Greendale Youth organization has one more fundraiser coming up. They will be holding their 2nd Annual Brat Fry on August 21st at the American Legion Hall located on Grange Ave here in Greendale. There was a very good turn out last year so they are hoping for the same this year. Once this event is over, it's time to play some football.

For more pictures, click here.

News    

Brewer Game Outing A Huge Success!
GPTC 7/26/09

The Greendale Panther Touchdown Club and the Greendale High School football coaches thought it would be nice to host a Brewer game / tailgate outing for anyone who wanted to attended. It was meant to be a combination fundraiser slash game, but it ended up to be more fun than anything else. Forty one people attended and we're sure that none of them left disappointed. Well maybe some of them did only because the Brewers ended up losing the game.

It was thought that this would not only be fun, but it would be one last time before the football season started. Plain and simple, everyone could get together for a reason other than football. What was kind of special was that all of the high school football coaches did all of the cooking and preparing. Everyone else just had to show up and have fun. There was plenty to eat and drink and the transportation was provided to and from the game. "We wanted to take care of everything." said Coach Jermaine Murry. "Our parents and fans support us all year and this was just a little something that we could do as coaches to show our appreciation back."

The evening started at 3:30pm with the setup crew getting down to a reserved tailgate spot so that they could get everything set up. They had about a half hour to unload the truck, setup the tent, tables, and grill so that they could start cocking the brats, hot dogs, and hamburgers. By time they had the meat sizzling, the bus with everyone on it showed up. All the guests had to do was find their favorite beverage, grab a plate and dig in. Even though the sun decided not to show up, that didn't mater because the temperature was a perfect 80 degrees.

Around 6:50pm, everyone then made their way to the stadium where there were seats all together in the right field bleacher area. "There was a lot of planning involve, especially this last week, but everything came together perfectly." said Tim Nethery who handles a lot of the GPTC affairs. "My thanks go to everyone who helped out and especially the coaches of whom came up with this idea about a month ago. I thought that this was a great gesture on their part to help us raise some money for the club."

Of course not everything worked out because the Brewers did end up losing to the Braves 9-4, which just happens once in a while. That didn't deter how much fun everyone had though. After the game, all who attended made their way back to the bus, which brought them back safely to the friendly confines of Greendale High School's parking lot where the night began. "I think we are going to see about making this an annual event." said Head Coach Rob Stoltz. "This is just a great way for everyone in the Greendale football community to get together and have some fun in a very informal atmosphere. I have to thank the Touchdown Club for their assistance and continued support with our football program. I know we as coaches really appreciate all of their efforts."

For more pictures, click here.

News    

They're Back.............
R.A. Mattrisch 7/21/09

Attention all high school football fans!

The 2009 season has unofficially, officially started. The Greendale Panthers have just completed their 4-day off season mini camp, which is allowed by the WIAA during the off season. This is a non-contact type camp that caters to all positions. For the most part, it is nothing more than working on skill drills designed to get the players back into football shape. Techniques are also worked on as well as offensive plays. "Basically what we are doing is knocking off the rust and getting the guys back into a football mentality." said an excited Head Coach Rob Stoltz. "This also gives us coaches an idea as to what we have coming back and allows us to start roughing in this year's squad."

Greendale took a pretty good hit losing 21 seniors who were lost through graduation. That is a little higher then normal but this is just a fact of life. The reason the coaches are excited, however, is because they have a very talented bunch coming up. "Last year's varsity reserve went undefeated and the freshmen only lost two games so it's suffice to say that there is some talent there. You don't do that unless you have talent in this sport." Stoltz explained.

Greendale has 26 juniors, 9 sophomores, and 1 freshmen returning from last year's team so there are plenty of players with varsity experience returning. The key of course for the coaches, will be to put these guys in solid positions so that they can continue their winning ways. "It's always a challenge every year." said Assistant Coach Keith Ringelberg, "But with a little work, we always manage to get it done."

One primary area that the Panthers will need to work on will be the offensive line. "We lost some very experienced guys from last year", said Offensive Line Coach Scott Bond. "We do however, have some big bodies to work with so it will just be a mater of getting them up to speed and playing together as a unit. It may take a little bit, but it will get done and we'll be ready for the season."

The other area will be the receiving corps. The Panthers graduated all but one from last year so they will be working on a new group to step in and fill those shoes. There are a bunch of very talented receivers coming in from last year's lower level teams but they will be lacking varsity experience.

The Panther's first day of practice will officially start August 11th and their first game will be on August 27th at home against Milwaukee Lutheran.

For more pictures, click here.

R.A Mattrisch

News    

OMG! ... It Has Begun!
R.A. Mattrisch 7/7/09

"HOLY COW!" I'm not sure if you will believe this but the 2009 high school football season is just around the corner. While all of you are attending the various festivals around town, taking vacations, or just enjoying the nice summer weather, the GHS Panther football team has been hard at work preparing themselves for this up and coming season.

During the summer off-season, the GHS coaches always make sure that their players are working out and staying sharp. Needless to say, this is one of the main reasons that Greendale seems to dominate the football field every season. These workouts consist of weight and speed training down at the high school, and the dreaded hill training over at Chrystal Ridge Ski Hill. All players that are in town are encouraged to attend these sessions when they can. So far the numbers have been very good, which just proves that these guys have pride. After all, they have a major reputation to keep going!

Other events include various passing leagues. One of them that just complete was held at Wisconsin Lutheran College. This is a 7 on 7 style league that involves quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers on offense, linebackers and secondary personnel on defense. It's more or less a controlled pick-up game. There were over 17 other high schools involved in this league. High school coaches are not really supposed to be involved with actual coaching duties, but they could walk their dog by the field and watch if they would like.

Each game would be played on the college's main artificial turf field and would last about 1 hour. Each offense would of course try and get in the end zone. It would take the normal 4 plays to get a first down, which were 20 yards apart instead of the normal 10 yards. If the defense held, they would switch out and the other team's offense would take a shot. There was a time limit for the quarterback to throw the ball, which was counted out loud by the attending official. Because there are no pads involved, all you had to do is tag a person with two hands.

This wasn't really a tournament with trophies and all, but rather just an event to help players hone their skills. In attending this, I have to say that I was very impressed on what I saw. A lot of the guys moving up through the ranks have diffidently stepped up their game. I always find it gratifying every year because as you know, we always lose seniors through graduation. You then have a tendency to wonder what is going to happen next year when these guys are gone. Well I have a newsflash for you. This has been going on since high school football began and when you do lose a bunch of talented seniors from a previous year, there are a bunch of talented underclassmen right behind them to take their place. The key is to keep the fire hot, and momentum going from year after year. The current coaching staff diffidently know how to do that and this is why the Panthers always seem to be the team to beat.

The season is just around the corner with August 11th being the first day of practice. Rest assured that the Greendale Panther football team will be ready for this coming 2009 football season. Stay tuned now for this website will start to come alive once again and will provide plenty of news and insight for all of the football programs in Greendale. If you are a Greendale football fan, this is the only place you need to look for stories, information, results and highlights of your favorite Greendale team!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

News    

Video Premiere A Huge Success!
GPTC - 4/27/09

Between 100 and 150 people piled into the Henry Ross Auditorium at the high school Friday night to see a highlight video that was put together about the 2008 Greendale Panther football season. This 1 hour and 20 minute video painted a broad picture of what a typical year entails. It started with the winter off season work outs, then walked you through the summer work outs, the first days of practice, and finally each of the games.

The game segments were carefully choreographed to a wide variety of music and special affects so that all of your senses would be tickled as you watched this production. One member of the audiences was overheard saying, "You just don't see efforts from the pros on Sunday afternoons like I just saw here tonight. That was very impressive not to mention fun to watch."

It was the efforts and camera work of Chris Ksobiech and Chuck Cairns that separated this video from past videos. With their cameras, they were able to take you right into the huddles along with capturing plenty of field level sideline and end zone shots. This is undoubtedly a lot more interesting to people who normally have to watch games from the stands.

This DVD is still available for $25.00 to anyone who would like to purchase one. If you would like one, just click here, which will trigger an email. Just put your name, phone number, and the number of copies you would like and we will get them to you.

Click here to see the trailer.

Click here to see a sample.

News    

Ex-Panther / Now Doctor Returns to the Team
R.A. Mattrisch - 4/8/09

Some people always wonder about the mystic of playing for the Panthers. It's not just the game experiences that players take with them. There's more! Just ask any of the Panther alumni. Sure, at first it seems like a game, which gives them something to do during their high school years, but I'm here to tell you, that's not all!

Why such passion?

It's because when a player plays for the Panthers, they are given something besides just the game experiences. They are given positive input in many aspects that they can take with them to use the rest of their life. As they grow older, they realize the positive influences they gained and want to pass that on to others. They want to pass those experiences, that passion to the up and coming players of Greendale. Just ask, Coach Rob Stoltz, Coach Keith Ringelberg, Coach Scott Bond, Coach Jermaine Murry, Coach Mike Weyer, Coach Steve Stoltz, and Coach Greg Koch. These guys all played for the Panthers and they believe in this too.

The Greendale Panthers will now welcome back another former player. His name is Sean Tracy. That would be Dr. Sean Tracy MD. He will be returning not as a coach, but as the team's Orthopedic Physician. No one is more excited than he is for he now has the opportunity to give something back that was given to him too. He is planning on spending serious time working with Chris Mackenzie L.A.T (Team's Athletic Trainer) in making sure the Greendale players have the best medical supervision available. On behalf of the GPTC, the high school, and the community of Greendale, we welcome him back... back to where he once played the game.

Sean C. Tracy, MD
Team Physician

Dr. Tracy is a 1994 graduate of Greendale High School and a former Panther football player who served as a Varsity football captain his senior year. After high school he attended the University of Notre Dame followed by medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago. He completed a residency in Orthopedic surgery in Milwaukee at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Following his residency, Dr. Tracy traveled to San Diego for a year of specialized training in sports medicine. During his fellowship with San Diego Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine, he served as assistant team physician for the San Diego Padres, the San Diego State Aztecs, the Grossmont College Griffins, as well as several San Diego high schools. While in fellowship, Dr. Tracy learned the latest cutting edge techniques in sports medicine from world-renowned surgeons. He uses these techniques to restore athletes to their previous playing level, enabling them to return to play as quickly as possible. Dr. Tracy lives in Menomonee Falls with his wife Tammy, daughter Claire, and son Connor.

News    

More Greendale Panthers Committing to Play Post High School Football.
RAM - 2/20/09

Several Greendale Panther senior players have now expressed their commitment to continue their football careers at the college level next year.

Chris Ridgway (6'1" 195#) has made the decision to play football next year for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. This will make three former Panther players from the class of 09 playing for the Titians. Chris was the quarterback of a lethal offense that put the most points up ever for any team during a 9 game season in Greendale history. He started in all but one game where he was held out with an ankle injury. In the regular 9-game season, he threw for 1482 yards, 20 touchdown passes and finished with a 62.75% pass completion percentage. In the 11 games that he played, he managed to finish 4th in the state of Wisconsin with 2288 yards and 27 touchdown passes. Chris's accolades are numerous to say the least. He shared the team's Offensive Player of the Year award with teammate Jordan Biller and was selected to the 1st Team All-Woodland Conference at quarterback receiving the most votes. He also made the 1st Team CNI All-Suburban at quarterback, 2nd Team Journal/Sentinel All-Area at quarterback, 2nd Team AP All-State at quarterback, 1st Team Wisconsin Preps All-State at quarterback, and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) All-State 1st Team at quarterback. Chris will join teammates Lucas Pohlmann and Andrew Thompson at Oshkosh.

Lucas Pohlmann (6'4" - 245#) looks to be heading to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh next year for college. There he will join fellow teammate Andrew Thompson and play for the Titians. Lucas played left tackle on offense and right defensive end on defense. He was selected to the Woodland All-Conference team for his efforts on the offense line. He and the rest of he offensive teammates were responsible for putting up 358 points, which is the highest regular season point total in the history of Greendale football. This offensive line also only allowed 1 quarterback sack this year, but if you were to ask them, they would tell you that Ridgway should have thrown the ball already. Lucas started last year on the offensive line and owns one of the bigger bodies on the team. He was also selected as one of the team captains. 

Jordan Biller (5'9" - 205#) has committed to play for the Pioneers of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville next season. He had an outstanding season playing running back for the Panthers this past year. He was selected 1st Team All-Woodland Conference at running back, CNI All-Suburban 1st Team at running back, Journal/Sentinel All-Area Honorable Mention at running back, Greendale's Co-Offensive Player of the Year, and he will be playing in the WFCA All-Star football game held in Oshkosh later this summer. He scored 12 TDs and finished the season with 1050 rushing yards, which is amazing for a spread offense that relies mainly on the passing game.

Dan Dacquisto (6'3" - 200#) has committed to play for the Warhawks at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dan was one of the team captains and played outside linebacker and safety for the Panthers last season. He was also selected to the 1st Team All-Woodland Conference at linebacker, received High Honorable Mention status for the CNI-All Suburban squad, and was Greendale's Defensive Player of the Year.

Joe Hansen (6'1" - 255#) will also join fellow teammates Dan Dacquisto and Mike Picciolo at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Joe was a co-captain and anchored an impressive offensive line at center the last two seasons. He too was voted in as 1st Team All-Woodland Conference, and 1st Team CNI-All Suburban at center.

Andrew Thompson (6'3" - 225#) has committed to play at Coach Rob Stoltz alma mater for the Titians of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Andrew was a co-captain and a member of the offensive line for the last two seasons at guard. This is the same o-line that in the past two years, have given up less than a hand full of fingers total in quarterback sacks. They also have put up huge numbers in the Panther's offensive production. He also played the defensive line at end. Andrew was voted to the All-Woodland Conference for both OL and DE, was an Honorable Mention on the CNI-All Suburban team and was the Panther's Linemen of the Year.

Kyle Nethery (5'10" - 175#) will be joining teammate Jordan Biller at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville next year. Kyle played receiver/running back and was also a co-captain that was considered the emotional leader and the heartbeat of the team by Head Coach Rob Stoltz. He has been on the varsity squad the last three years and was a member of very elite receiving corps. He didn't have a lot of stats per-say, but he was the best blocking receiver on the team, which is important for a spread offense. He also was considered a lethal weapon on specialty teams. He was almost always the first to make the big hit on punts and kickoffs.  Because of this, he received the Specialty Teams Player of the Year award for Greendale. Probably the most meaningful award is determined by the Greendale coaches. Because of Kyle's leadership ability, his work ethic, and his unselfish desire to do what ever it took to make his team better both on and off the field, he was awarded the Pride of The Panther Coach's Award for the second year in a row, which has never happened before in Greendale history.

News    

2009 High School Schedule Is Out.
GPTC 1/23/09

The schedule is now out for the 2009 high school football season. Greendale finds themselves playing their first 3 games at home. They also find themselves with 5 regular season homes games this year versus 4 last year. To see this year's schedule, just click here.

Also this year will be a revamped Woodland Conference. Because Shorewood lacked a football program, they were taken out of the picture and South Milwaukee was added in. The conference will also go back to two inner divisions. The names for the divisions are interesting for they apparently borrowed the term from the NFL's Central division, which is known as the Black & Blue division.

The BLACK division will consist of: South Milwaukee, Greenfield, Wauwatosa West, Whitnall, Greendale, and New Berlin Eisenhower.

The BLUE division will consist of Cudahy, New Berlin West, Pewaukee, Brown Deer, St Francis, and St. Thomas More.

Equipment can officially be handed out no earlier than August 10th while practices can't start before August 11th. Greendale opens their 2009 season on August 27th with a non-conference game against Milwaukee Lutheran at Greendale.

For a downloadable copy of the entire Woodland Conference schedule, click here.

News    

Another Member of Greendale's Elite Receiving Corp Verbally Commits.
WISSPORTS.NET - 2/2/09

Greendale wide receiver/defensive back Mike Picciolo (5-9, 175) verbally committed to Division III UW-Whitewater following an official visit to Whitewater's campus on Saturday.

A standout on both sides of the ball, Picciolo was a WFCA honorable-mention all-state, WFCA All-Region, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Honorable-Mention All-Area and first-team All-Conference selection as a defensive back. He also earned CNI Newspapers first-team All-Suburban all-purpose and first-team All-Conference honors at wide receiver. Picciolo totaled 41 receptions for 614 yards and nine touchdowns on offense and 29 solo tackles, 15 assisted tackles and one interception on defense as a senior.

News    

Ericksen Verbally Commits to Illinois State University
GPTC - 1/22/09

After many months of visits, meetings, and soul searching, Greendale's Ben Ericksen has verbally committed to attend Illinois State University on a full scholarship. There he will join former Panther great Eric Brunner and play for the Red Birds.

For more on the story, click here.