MONROE — Week One of the prep football season opens with each area team reveling in optimism for the season. Here’s a look at each team’s first game:
Reedsburg at Monroe, Friday, 7 p.m.
The Cheesemakers host Reedsburg in a Badger Conference crossover. A season ago Monroe took the 105-minute drive into Sauk County and came away with a win. A couple of early big plays set the tone for the Cheesemakers.
Both teams entered Week One in 2017 with hopes of returning to the postseason — Monroe had knocked off Reedsburg in the playoffs in 2016. In 2017, Monroe reached the postseason thanks to a double-tiebreaker and a 4-5 regular season mark.
Reedsburg went just 2-7, and much of the Beavers’ decline came from the lack of ability to run the football. Traditionally, Reedsburg has pounded the ball on the ground — rushing for over 200 yards a game as a team in 2016 and nearly 300 yards a game in 2014 and 2015. But in 2017 that mark fell to less than 190 yards.
The Beavers have since graduated starting quarterback Nathan Kruser, but junior Casey Campbell returns as the team’s leading rusher and receiver. Campbell, who was honorably mention all-conference, ran for nearly 100 yards per game in five contests as a sophomore, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry, and caught five passes for 145 yards. Senior Jason Walls was third on the team rushing list with 361 yards on 86 carries (4.2 ypc).
Reedsburg also graduated a slew of starting defensive players, but return juniors Robert Losic and John Schmitt, who finished third and fourth in tackles for the Beavers as sophomores. Schmitt was honorably mention all-conference, as was now-senior Jon Zobel.
Monroe found a new offense in 2016, coach Toby Golembiewski’s first season. The Wing-T replaced a single-back pistol attack and in the first year of the new offense the Cheesemakers ran for an extra 150 yards per game. Monroe went 11-1 in Golembiewski’s first season, rushing for 342 yards a game, 4,100 yards in all, and terrorizing opposing teams with a stifling defense.
While the Cheesemakers regressed in 2017, going just 4-6 and averaging just shy of 200 yards per game on the ground, injuries decimated Monroe’s season. A healthy cast this year, in Year 3 of the new offense, should help Monroe balance its offensive output.
Evansville-Albany at Brodhead-Juda, Friday, 7 p.m.
The Cardinals are looking to jump back into the top half of the Rock Valley Conference, and a game against the rebuilding Blue Devils might be just what the doctor ordered.
Brodhead-Juda returns a lot of speed from 2017, including senior running back Jeff Williams, who was second-team all-conference on offense. Senior Nick Noonan was honorable mention all-conference a season ago for the Cardinals as well, a team that struggled out of the gate by losing its first four games. Brodhead-Juda finished the year 2-7 overall, which included losses to playoff-bound East Troy and Evansville-Albany, as well as a one-point heartbreaker to Whitewater at home.
The Blue Devils were bounced in the first round of the playoffs 56-7 to Mount Horeb and graduated much of their talent. Sully Geske, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound junior wide receiver, returns after catching 23 balls for 601 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. Geske, who averaged over 25 yards per catch, was second-team all-conference but will have a new quarterback under center after first-team QB Zach Mielke, a Wisconsin Football Coaches Association all-star, graduated.
New Glarus-Monticello at Dodgeville, Friday, 7 p.m.
The Glarner Knights finished the 2017 season in a three-way tie for first place in the Capitol South. New Glarus-Monticello (6-4, 3-1) fell in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 playoffs at Prairie du Chien.
NGM returns all-conference running back Zach Feller, who ran for over 79 yards four times a season ago and has averaged 103 yards per game since the start of his sophomore year. Also returning for the Knights is first-team all-conference linebacker Patrick Craker, Nathan Streiff, a second-team defensive back as a freshman last year, and now-senior defensive lineman Adam Marty.
Dodgeville went 4-5 a season ago, including a 1-3 mark in the Southwest Conference, missing the playoffs. The Dodgers return zero of their six all-conference players from a year ago.
Darlington vs. Glenwood City at G-E-T, today, noon
After starting 2017 with an 0-5 record the Redbirds sprung off four straight wins to close the regular season and qualify for the playoffs. Darlington then lost to Markesan, whose head coach left after the season to take over head duties at Darlington.
Glenwood City finished 2017 with a 4-5 record, including a 2-4 mark in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference. Glenwood City had over 3,400 yards of offense a season ago, including nearly 2,200 on the ground and averaged 28.7 points per game.
Eight players for Glenwood City were all-conference a season ago, but all eight graduated, including the conference’s defensive MVP, Carson Strong, who was also first-team all-conference as a wide receiver.
Dakota Dean-Immerman ran for 216 yards in eight games as a junior last year, and has the most returning offensive yards of any player on the team. Dan Loring, a junior, had 180 rushing yards on just 16 carries over three games last year as the next-strongest offensive threat.
Darlington also graduated all of its all-conference players, but senior quarterback Blake Whalen will get more opportunities to make plays in first-year head coach Travis Winkers’ offense. Whalen threw for just under 900 yards in nine games and ran for another 235 last season. Kolbe Ubersox, a senior, rang for 241 yards on 44 carries and had five catches for 72 yards in 2017.
Black Hawk vs. Southwestern at UW-Platteville, today, 2:30 p.m.
Black Hawk, the defending state runners-up in Division 7, opens the 2018 season against SWAL cellar dweller Southwestern in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Jamboree.
The Wildcats went 0-6 in conference play last year and finished the season 2-7 overall. Southwestern had both of its all-conference players graduate.
Junior Breckin Schieder returns after throwing for just over 500 yards and five touchdowns for the Wildcats, who also return junior running back Preston Pearce (235 rushing yards on 73 carries) and senior wide receiver Dylan Rieken (17 catches, 447 yards, 4 TDs).
Black Hawk lost its quarterback, top running back and wide out to graduation, but brings enough pedigree to keep teams honest. Colby Argall returns for his senior season after running for 1,459 yards and 25 touchdowns a season ago. Kyle Lovelace, last year’s backup quarterback, returns as well, throwing for 132 yards on 13 attempts last season for four touchdowns, and added 219 yards rushing and three scores on the ground.
Offensive lineman Mitchell Quinn will move to running back this year, adding to the bruising on the ground. The Warriors also return Rece Shelton, a home run-hitting wideout.
Pecatonica-Argyle vs. Highland at UW-Platteville, today, 5 p.m.
The Vikings finished 7-3 last season and 5-2 in the Six Rivers, two games ahead of Highland (4-5, 3-4).
The Cardinals return senior Derek Miller, who was first-team all-conference on the offensive line and second-team all-conference on the defensive line in 2017. Drew Hennessey had 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving as a sophomore but only played in two games as a junior. Black Hawk coach Cory Milz called Hennessey a ‘potential future Badger’ given his skill set.
Without Hennessey, Highland scored just 16 offensive touchdowns in nine games last season and had 1,700 yards of offense.
The Vikings, meanwhile, ran for nearly 2,600 yards and threw for another 750 in 10 games last season. Pecatonica-Argyle had 35 offensive touchdowns and return senior center Everett Johnson, junior kicker Bo Hendrickson, quarterback Colton Schraepfer and defensive end Zach Eaton — all of whom were all-conference selections in 2017.
Schraepfer passed for nearly 500 yards and five touchdowns in four games and added 337 rushing yards and eight TDs on the ground. Mitch Flannery averaged over 10 yards per carry last year on 47 rushes and will be joined in the backfield by junior Zander Brunker (320 yards on 44 carries). Junior Griffin Gordon (169 yards, 21 carries) and junior Easton Schraepfer (95 yards, 11 carries) could also see time handling the ball.
