MONROE — The Cheesemakers spent the entire offseason focused and preparing for a rematch with Pewaukee, which scored 28 unanswered second half points en route to winning the 2021 Division 3 Level 4 playoff game.
This fall, in Level 2, Monroe’s players and coaches got that chance, and the rollercoaster finish was worth the wait. Senior George Brukwicki hit Drew Indergand in the corner of the end zone with just 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and then Brukwicki ran in the 2-point conversion to give the No. 1-ranked Cheesemakers (11-0) a heart-palpitating 22-21 victory on Oct. 28 at T.R. Holyoke Field.
“I was in disbelief,” Monroe senior lineman Isaac Bunker said. “A lot of the guys — the seniors coming back — we were there on that cold November day (in 2021) experiencing the other side of this with the defeat. It really hurt because we were a good team and should have won that. It felt good to break the curse and get them back for once.”
The roaring comeback almost never had to be. Like last year, Monroe staked itself out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Also like last year, fourth-ranked Pewaukee (8-3) made the most of opportunities to not only tie the game, but take the lead in the fourth quarter.
“When things went wrong, we tanked last year,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. “We didn’t tank this year. Just having last year’s film to prep with was an invaluable resource. There was really no surprises. And to bring almost everybody back to make it almost a rematch of it.”
Tucker Markham and Alex Hernandez had TD runs in the second for the Cheesemakers, but a late momentum swing off a couple of big plays had the Pirates, the defending state champions, down inside the Monroe 5-yard-line just 30 seconds later on the game clock. A short TD run by Ryan Borckmann brought it to 14-7 at halftime.
“Loads of adrenalin after last year’s game. We were coming into this one with a chip on our shoulder,” Markham said. “We were giving it our all for sure.”
In the second half, Monroe’s defense came up big twice, only for Pewaukee to find another way to sneak in a couple of scores. In the third quarter, Hernandez fumble at his own 22 gave the Pirates the ball in prime field position, but Monroe stuffed Pewaukee at the line of scrimmage on 4th-and-1 from the Monroe 2.
As time wound down in fourth, Pewaukee faced another fourth down decision. With just over 4:30 to play, the Pirates had a 4th-and-7 at the Monroe 34. Monroe DB Gavin Foulker stepped up on the outside and stoned the Pewaukee receiver, forcing yet another turnover. Cheesemaker fans in the stands, and many players, saw the final 4:12 as a formality, with Monroe needing to just sustain a drive to run out the clock.
Instead, the ball squirted away from Keatin Sweeney just two snaps later, and Pewaukee had the ball back at Monroe’s 34. This time the Pirates converted the drive for points just four plays later on a 22-yard pass from Owen Dobberstein to Logan Schill in the back corner of the end zone with just 2:28 remaining.
On the second play of Monroe’s next drive, Brukwicki scrambled to his right and threw to a wide-open Tony Wolf in the middle of the field, who then squirted free for a 23-yard gain and across midfield. Monroe then called for a second pass play, but this time Pewaukee’s Andrew Jones came untouched on the blind side, jarring the ball loose from Brukwicki on the sack. Matthew Kuglitsch then recovered the fumble and rumbled untouched 48 yards for a TD and giving the Pirates the lead with just 1:16 left, stunning the crowd and Monroe players.
“In that moment I was like, ‘Really? This is how it’s going to end?’ But I saw we had time on the clock,” Brukwicki said.
Golembiewski stuck to the passing game for the final drive, putting the ball — and the game — in the hands of his senior QB.
On the first play of the drive, Brukwicki rolled out to his right, but tucked the ball away and ran for the sideline as all of his receivers were covered. As he went out of bounds, he was hit by two Pirates, and a 15-yard late hit penalty flag was thrown, putting Monroe right back near midfield with 1:05 left. Four snaps later, with time ticking into the low 20-seconds, Brukwicki rolled out again, narrowly breaking a tackle that could have been a sack, and found Wolf again open, just one yard beyond the line to gain.
“(Brukwicki) was flying by the seat of his pants a little bit, but he made it happen. He is fully of age out there,” Golembiewski said. He called a timeout to talk it over with 17 seconds left and his team at the Pewaukee 18.
Brukwicki was looking for just one person on the next snap: Indergand.
“In the huddle George told me he was going back pylon in the end zone, so I knew that’s where I had to go. The DB was playing me on the inside, so it worked out perfectly. I was just able to turn my body around. I didn’t even know where I was on the sideline, I just wanted to secure the ball and do a little toe-tap at the end,” said Indergand, a senior wideout.
“I’ll remember that one forever. Drew is just an animal out there. Perfect toe-tap, perfect pass,” Brukwicki said.
As Indergand got up, he motioned to Golembiewski to go for the 2-point try, and the coach wasted no time obliging.
“I just remember scoring the touchdown and seeing there was 12 seconds left, and I thought to myself, ‘Let’s end it here — we have 2 yards to go and we’ve done it all game.’ I loved it. Every bit of it was perfect,” Indergand said.
Brukwicki took the snap and bellied to his left on an option. Fullback Alex Hernandez drew a linebacker to the outside, and Tony Wolf sealed off the edge. Brukwicki then cut upfield and into the end zone, sending T.R. Holyoke into a frenzy.
“Gutsy 2-point conversion call — and I liked it,” Brukwicki said. “Put the ball in my hands on an option, and I tried to make a play. We put that play in on Wednesday — to kind of throw off some things on their defense
Pewaukee still was able to snap the ball three times in the final 10 seconds, but senior Charlie Wiegel, playing in the prevent defense, intercepted the ball as time expired.
“I’m keeping this,” he said of the game ball. “Last year we had our ‘oh crap’ moment and let ourselves fade away. This time we fought back. We knew we could get it done.”
Pewaukee finished the night with 80 yards passing and 150 rushing. Monroe gained 234 rushing yards in the game, with Hernandez tallying 85 yards. Markham had 67 on 11 carries, while Sweeney had 46. Brukwicki was 4 of 6 passing for 56 yards.
“At the start of the week, I talked to coach (Shawn) Paulson, who does the substitutions for us at running back. I told him I wanted more carries, and he said I would sub in more because (Kaden) Kuester was going to be lined up on Schill, their stud wide receiver,” Markham said.
“It’s back to business for another home game on Friday,” Brukwicki said.
Up next: West Bend East (9-2)
While the Cheesemakers had Pewaukee circled on the whiteboard all offseason, they also had goals of following in Pewaukee’s footsteps and returning Monroe to state for the first time in more than 25 years — and the first title since 1994.
“Hopefully we can end this season with a win. We haven’t lost on our home field in 17 games. We don’t plan on losing on this field,” Bunker said.
“I’ve never lost on T.R. Holyoke on varsity, and I want to keep it that way,” Markham said.
Monroe gets No. 10-ranked West Bend East (9-2) in Level 3, the final home game of the season. Monroe has won 17 consecutive games at T.R. Holyoke Field, dating back to Oct. 18, 2019 against Edgewood.
“We just have to maximize every game. We have to maximize practice, because we have one more game here at T.R. Holyoke. I’m going to love it and try to enjoy every last moment,” Indergand said.
WBE, the Suns, finished tied for second in the North Shore this season and beat McFarland (21-7) and No. 5 Mount Horeb-Barneveld (36-13) in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Monroe beat both teams by a combined score of 79-19 in the first two weeks of the season.
The Suns also have wins this season against playoff-bound teams Waterford, Homestead, Sheboygan North and Nicolet. Their two losses came against conference champion Hartford and second-place Slinger.
WBE has outscored opponents 306-164 this season, and have gained 3,751 yards of offense (2,629 rushing, 1,122 passing) while giving up 2,574 (1,630; 944) on defense. By comparison, Monroe has outscored opponents 488-83 and leads the state with 4,394 rushing yards and 4,910 total yards of offense (399.5 yards per game).
Peyton Fountain is the Suns QB, and he’s thrown for 1,090 yards, 6 TDs and 6 INTs this season. He’s also added 294 yards and 9 TDs on the ground. Colton Kress is the team’s leading rusher with 1,488 yards and 16 TDs, with Cutler Schmidt second in rushing with 567 yards and 8 TDs. Nate King is the heavy-lifting WR, with 25 catches for 484 yards, nearly three times more than the second most on the team.
Brukwicki has 412 yards passing this season, with 5 TDs and an INT. Hernandez leads all rushers with 1,244 yards and 13 scores, while Sweeney has 1,196 yards and 22 TDs. Kuester has 618 yards and 12 TDs, with Lane Meier (407 yards) and Tucker Markham (384 yards, 8 TDs) also carrying a strong load of the offense. All six rushers average 9.3 yards per carry or more this season.
The Cheesemakers have benefited from a strong senior class and returning starters from last year’s team, including the entire offensive line and all but one offensive skills starter.
“Our team chemistry this season is insane. There are so many seniors, and we’ve been playing together for so long,” Markham said. “We always band together, and with the juniors, too. We are a brotherhood, really.”
Should the Cheesemakers win in Level 3, they would move on to face either New Berlin West (9-2) or Port Washington (9-2) in Level 4, the game would be played at a neutral site to be determined later.
Also remaining in the Division 3 playoff field are No. 2 Onalaska (11-0), No. 7 Rice Lake (9-2), West Salem (10-1) and Green Bay Notre Dame (8-3). The last of these four remaining teams will play for the state championship at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Rice Lake lost to Pewaukee last year.
