Muskego earns bragging rights
Given the hurdles that come from competing during a pandemic, it shouldn’t be surprising that this has been an up-and-down kind of year for many football teams in the area.
Muskego and Franklin are still doing their thing. Menomonee Falls is having a big year. Whitefish Bay is also undefeated. However, in conferences such as the North Shore, Classic 8, Greater Metro and Parkland, there are a great number of teams hovering around .500. The middle of the pack seems larger than ever.
Slinger is one of the teams trying to distinguish itself in that bunch. Since opening the season with losses to Cedarburg and Nicolet by an average of 28 points, the Owls have won three of their last four games.
Friday, they scored a 20-14 win over Homestead at home, using two defensive stands in the final 2 minutes to seal the victory.
“That is probably the best-coached football team in our conference, hands down,” Slinger coach Bill Jacklin said of Homestead. “They take a lot of things away from you on offense. I can’t say enough about our defense.”
Slinger led, 14-0, in the second quarter and, 20-7, heading into the fourth quarter. After Homestead trimmed that advantage to six points with an 8-yard run by senior Joseph Ollman, Slinger kept the Highlanders out of the end zone twice in the waning minutes.
The first time it shut down Homestead after it had a first down on the Slinger 12. On the second the Owls didn’t allow a first down after they were forced to punt and Homestead took over at the 45-yard line with in the final 30 seconds.
The Owls held Homestead to 161 total yards and got a second-quarter interception by sophomore Avery Kurth that led to the team’s first touchdown.
Kurth is also the team’s leading rusher. Friday, he finished with 94 yards in 10 carries. The Owls also received two catches for 48 yards from senior Aydan Dautermann, who entered play averaging 34 yards per catch and leading the area with 510 yards, and 33 yards in three carries.
The performance was a far cry from the 475 yards Slinger gained in a 43-31 win over Hartford in Week 5, but it was good enough to put the Owls in position to finish the regular season over .500 if they beat West Bend East next week.
Despite its early struggles, the Owls are developing into a solid team.
“We’re starting a lot of sophomores and juniors and our team growth is huge,” Jacklin said.
“Every time we get on the field and win these kids grow more and more and I just feel we need to end on that high note and then see who we play the following week.”
Here are four more takeaways from Week 6:
Homestead's toughness shows
Few schools have been immune to postponements, cancellations or lost personnel due to COVID-19. The flip side of Slinger’s second-half surge was Homestead’s struggles this week.
The school went to virtual learning due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, and the team was faced with the possibility of not playing.
Still, the Highlanders came close to overcoming the uncertainly and short week of practice. They reached the 4yard line in the final 2 minutes but couldn’t get into the end zone to set up a possible game-tying two-point conversion.
“To have half of our available personnel and not hold a practice (until) Wednesday and Thursday and to (still) get all the way down to the 4-yard line down by six, I’m just really, really proud of the kids,” said Drake Zortman, one of Homestead’s interim co-head coaches along with who with Matt Wolf.
Time to hand the Broncos the trophy
Union Grove passed its biggest test in the Southern Lakes Conference on Friday and barring a major upset next week against winless Delavan-Darien will win its first conference title since 2008.
The Broncos have been a surprise in a conference that in recent years has been dominated by Waterford, Badger, Burlington and Wilmot.
How have they done it?
A consistent run game has been one of the keys. Senior Nick Williams, who had 131 yards on 23 carries Friday in a 28-14 win over Burlington, has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game. The only other player in the league who can say that is Elkhorn senior Jake Rockweiler.
Rockweiler has the inside track to the league’s offensive MVP, but if there was a surprise player of the year, it could be Williams. He gained just 218 yards on 57 carries last season.
The shortened playoff structure in place this year guarantees Muskego won’t win a third straight state championship this season. The Warriors, however, did make history Friday. Its 49-0 victory over Oconomowoc clinched their third straight outright Classic 8 title, a feat matched by only Mukwonago (2003-05). Muskego is the first team in league history to accomplish the feat without a losing a game.
The 2020 Warriors, meanwhile, have at least one edge on the previous two teams: Their 34.8-point margin of victory is the best of the three-year run. They margin was 33.5 points last season and 28 points in 2018.
G'Town's play speaks volumes
Germantown, another surprise 2020, continues to impress.
Its 15-0 win over Catholic Memorial snapped a 67-game streak of games in which the Crusaders scored a point. The last time they were held scoreless in non-conference play? You have to go back a year to a 2014 playoff game against Wisconsin Lutheran.
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