By Adam Krebs
editor@themonroetimes.com
MUSKEGO — The Cheesemakers let a 14-0 lead disappear in a matter of moments, and with it hopes of the program’s return to Camp Randall for the first time in a quarter century.
“You are not going to make mistakes and beat those guys,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said after his team’s 28-14 loss to Pewaukee in a WIAA Division 3 Level 4 game Sept. 12 at Muskego High School. “We didn’t make many mistakes in the first half. We had some catastrophic things happen in the second half. You make it really hard for yourself to come back and do anything — it’s as simple as that.”
The Cheesemakers (11-2) outgained the Pirates 291-267 in yardage. In fact, all of Monroe’s yards came on the ground. JT Seagreaves had 120 yards on 12 touches in his final game in a Monroe uniform. He’ll join the Wisconsin Badgers next fall. Junior fullback Alex Hernandez had 113 yards and a score for the Cheesemakers, and classmate Keatin Sweeney added 64 yards and a touchdown himself.
Pewaukee (11-2) will play Rice Lake, which defeated Menasha 36-21 in the other D3 semifinal. Against Monroe, the Pirates gained 194 yards rushing, using six backs in all. Carson Hansen led all Pirates with 77 yards on the ground, and threw for another 70, completing 5 of 8 passes. The trip to the state championship is the first in the history of the Pewaukee football program, which turned out the NFL’s JJ, Derek and TJ Watt in quick succession over the past 15 years.
“They are a really good team,” Golembiewski said. “The guys played their [butts] off. Whether we made mistakes, or the mistakes were forced, they (Pewaukee) did a good job — and they are going to do a pretty good job next week.”
Sweeney capped Monroe’s first possession with a TD run from 13 yards out on a drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock. Pewaukee marched its way 66 yards down the field on the next drive, but Monroe’s Aaron Roidt forced a fumble, and Drew Indergand recovered.
The teams then swapped punts before the Cheesemakers capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with Hernandez rumbling in from four yards out with 3:47 to make it 14-0.
Pewaukee again worked its way down the field, but a deep pass to the end zone was tipped by Chase Stoerp and picked off by Roidt, who returned it 40 yards. Three plays later, Sweeney fumbled a handoff, and the Pirates recovered and nearly scored, but time expired on the run back to the Monroe 15, and the Cheesemakers entered halftime with a two-score lead — and were set to receive the second half kickoff.
Instead of trying to sneak in an onside kick to open the third quarter, Pewaukee opted to kick it deep. The decision proved to be wise. Monroe went three-and-out on the drive, and a poor snap went through punter Henry Brukwicki’s legs. He was able to pick it up, but before being able to make a move to kick or throw, was hit and fumbled. Pewaukee’s Matthew Ciesielczyk picked it up and ran it 11-yards into in the end zone for the score.
“It happened so quick, and it’s something I will look back on. It’s going to hurt to think about,” Brukwicki said.
Monroe’s next possession lasted just six plays, and after QB George Brukwicki was sacked on third down, the Cheesemakers had to punt from nearly the exact same spot. This time on fourth down, the snap to Henry Brukwicki was quick and accurate. Unfortunately for Monroe, the Pirates bull-rushed the right side of the line, almost untouched, and Brukwicki’s punt was blocked.
“They brought some pressure, and I don’t think anybody on our punt team was ready for it,” Henry Brukwicki said.
Pewaukee had a short field to work with, starting at the Monroe 19, however, after three plays, the Pirates faced a third-and-16 from the 25. Carson Hansen, Pewaukee’s QB, avoided a rush and tossed a deep, needle-threading pass to teammate Max Sheridan. By fractions of an inch, the ball missed the hands of three Monroe defenders that converged almost perfectly at the goal line. The touchdown, with 3:58 left in the third quarter, tied the score at 14.
“I think it was the punt — the punt really was the start of the change,” senior linebacker Isaac Derrickson said of the momentum shift. “We never expected any of that to happen, at all. We made adjustments, but it was just too late.”
Roidt said the Cheesemakers came out of the halftime locker room looking to maintain the energy and excitement, but the quick succession of failed plays hit like an avalanche.
“We had a couple plays not go our way and it really swung the momentum, and just like that, it was a tie ball game. We just weren’t able to finish it off from there,” Roidt said.
The Cheesemakers offense proved to be Hyde to the first half’s Jekyll, again going three-and-out, only this time the punt got away clean, but Pewaukee took over near midfield. A sack, tackle for a loss on a run and a covered screen pass had the Pirates facing fourth-and-20 from their own side of the 50. Punter Logan Schill rolled out to his right for a running-rugby style kick, and on his landing had his leg brushed by Monroe’s Charlie Wiegel, drawing a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty, much to the ire of the Cheesemaker sideline and crowd.
Three plays later, Monroe forced another fourth down, though with the ball on their 37, the defense stayed on the field despite Pewaukee’s punt formation. Schill took the snap but faked a kick, instead throwing across the middle. Monroe’s Jace Amacher made a play on the ball and wisely batted it down to the ground instead of intercepting it.
Except another flag was thrown, this time for defensive pass interference.
The Pirates took the fresh set of downs at the Monroe 22 and scored four plays later, burning another two-plus minutes of clock, making it 21-14 Pirates with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter.
“We certainly never gave up or lost that hope, but the penalties were pretty rough. We gave it all we had and left it on the field,” Derrickson said.
“We had some plays that didn’t go our way, and we had some passes that went incomplete. There are definitely some plays we want to have back,” Seagreaves said.
The Cheesemakers again struggled on offense, gaining just four yards on three plays. On fourth down, George Brukwicki threw an interception. Five snaps later, the Pirates made it 28-14 with just 2:56 left. Monroe’s final drive also ended with an interception on the sideline, and Pewaukee drained the final 1:26 on a couple of runs, ending the game.
“It’s hard. All the work we put in. These guys — we’ve played a lot of football for a long time, from Blaze through high school. It’s sad to see it end,” Roidt said.
The road to Level 4, and what to do next
The trip to Level 4 was the first since 2000 for Monroe. Seagreaves, who has played on varsity since his freshman season, was proud of the effort he’s seen of his teammates over the years.
“Everyone always had the same goal,” said Seagreaves, which was winning football games. “We win games not for ourselves, but for each other. I think that’s really important to me and I will take that on from here.”
Isaac Derrickson played his last game in a Monroe uniform, and embraced Amacher before walking off the field, holding the sectional runner-up plaque in front of them in a show of accomplishment.
“I think we’re a big, strong brotherhood, and that bond hasn’t broken throughout the year. I think that’s kept up locked in,” Derrickson said. Years down the line, “I’m going to think about this moment, Derrickson said. “I’m going to think about the possibilities; what lies ahead; all the good moments we had as a team.”
Derrickson said the team played not just for themselves, but for the 2021 graduating class that got to play just five games as seniors — all this past spring. “They didn’t get to experience this last year. We wanted to take it as far as we could to honor them.”
Golembiewski embraced the opportunity to play so much football in a short period of time — 18 games in eight months. With the short offseason, it almost seemed like one drawn out season with an open bye in the middle.
“I’m going to miss the hell out of the seniors. I love those guys, and I just can’t say enough about them, and how fun these last, really, this calendar year of 2021 has been — since March — of working with those guys,” Golembiewski said.
Monroe officially ends the season 11-2 overall, as the WIAA and Wisconsin courts vacated all 11 of Madison Edgewood’s wins this season for using an ineligible player. The Cheesemakers were also crowned the Rock Valley Conference champions, as Edgewood’s forfeit moved Monroe to 7-0 in league play. Monroe has won the conference title in both seasons in the Rock Valley after moving over from the Badger South.
“There’s only team that walks away not feeling like this, and unfortunately it’s not us,” Henry Brukwicki said. “It really hurts right now, but I think when we look back on this months and years down the road, we’ll be really happy with what did. We’ll remember this forever.”
Hernandez finished as Monroe’s rushing leader (1,378), just eight yards ahead of Sweeney. Seagreaves came up six yards shy of 1,300. Sweeney had 19 TDs, Seagreaves 16 and Hernandez 14. Liam Hermanson led the team with 116 tackles on the season, while Seagreaves and Sean Rufenacht had six sacks each. Indergand had four INTs. Senior Lucas Flom brought consistency to the kicking game, hitting 32 of 36 extra points on the season. Monroe was 3-for-11 before Flom took over.
Next year’s Cheesemakers will return their quarterback, entire offensive line, two running backs and strong pieces on defense, like Rufenacht and Kaden Kuester on the line, Charlie Wiegel and Tucker Markham at linebacker, and Indergand in the secondary.
“They need to bring the intensity every day — win every day and work hard every practice. We tried to set the tone in practice, and I think those guys can continue that trend. Hopefully they can continue that next year and continue next season,” Roidt said.
Roidt and Henry Brukwicki saw themselves grow into leadership roles this season, and believe that their younger teammates can take over that role next season. Many have already began that transition, actually, according to Henry Brukwicki.
“Some of those guys are already leaders, and they will fit in to those leadership roles just fine. I think the team next year is going to be super great,” Brukwicki said. “I loved playing with those guys and it hurts to leave them. I hope we’ve left on a good note.”
