FREEPORT — It was sunny, breezy, and 60 degrees on a Saturday, and the trees were without leaves. It seemed like a perfect Saturday for football.

But instead of October, it was mid-March. 

“It is eerily odd that we are here in Freeport scrimmaging New Glarus,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said after his team faced New Glarus-Monticello March 20 in a scrimmage on the field turf at Pretzel Stadium in Freeport. “It’s not 110 degrees. Practices, when we’ve been able to go outside, we’ve not had to deal with the heat.”

After nearly 16 months without putting on pads and hitting players from another team, both the Cheesemakers and Glarner Knights were ready and giddy make contact.

“The kids have been great — just getting out and being able to play. We had a great beginning. It’s been one of the best starts to a season that I can remember,” New Glarus coach Jeff Eichelkraut said. “And what a great opportunity against Monroe — a great coaching staff, great people, great team — really a great day, and then you dial up 60-degree weather on a March day, this was really fun.”

The two sides swapped time- and play-limit offensive and defensive series. From the first team, to the second team and filtering in third-string players. The junior varsities also took part.

Offense, then defense. Special teams and water breaks; social distancing and masks.

“I’m really proud of our team. We stayed healthy — which is the main thing — and we did a lot of good things. In scrimmages it’s always easy for them to hang their heads on the scoreboard, but at the end of the day it’s about getting that game experience,” Eichelkraut said. “I told our guys that I’ve never seen a trophy given out at the end of a scrimmage. ”

Monroe returns much of its skills players from last season, which made it to Level 3 of the WIAA Division 3 playoffs. Senior Trevor Rodebaugh led the Badger South in rushing with more than 1,600 yards on the ground. Senior quarterback Max Golembiewski is back as well, as is Tyler Matley, another running back. 

On the outside, tight end Caleb Bunker returns, as do wide receivers JT Seagreaves and Preston Ambrose. Logan Spear had some solid runs on the outside for Monroe, which is also looking at basically a new group on the interior line altogether. 

“They are doing a pretty good job, about on par for what they should be doing,” coach Golembiewski said. “We’ve had to scale back a bit based on what their retention is — we don’t want to overload them. We’ve had a couple injuries, too, and we could have a guy at practice on Monday playing his first time in a new position. It could be a bit of setback, so we’ll have to learn quick and move on.”

Despite looking solid in the first set on offense, fatigue started to set in by the second round.

“Today was the first day we had to worry about mental conditioning when going live. That’s something that usually gets drawn out in the first three days of practice — when guys get so tired because of the heat and activity that it draws away from their mind,” coach Golembiewski said. “We saw that today and we reminded them of how they have to work. Our second session of offense was much more lackluster than the first, and we saw some pre-snap mistakes. 

“I would really be scared if we did everything perfect in the scrimmage. I think the kids are right on track. It was really nice to see the seniors and everyone getting the opportunity to play.”

Defensively, Monroe made plays early on, including a Matley interception in the first defensive set. However, as the day went on, NGM improved on the offensive end, which gave Eichelkraut and his staff a reason to be pleased.

“You break it down and maybe there are 8 or 9 guys that are doing their job or did something really well, and the two others learned something from what they did. That’s what it’s all about,” Eichelkraut said. “I was proud of our guys to come back and take a leadership role. The seniors were resilient and came back and scored three times in that last series. That was big for us. We all leave feeling well.

“And I thought our defense played well all day — a few breakdowns, but guys were tackling well and flying to the ball. We’ll be fine.”

A newcomer on the Knights team is lanky wideout Peter Gustafson. A skilled basketball player, Gustafson brought his height and leaping ability into the fray in the scrimmage, which included a leaping catch at the goal line for a touchdown.

“Peter’s been great. We’ve all known Peter for a while, and he’s come out with a really good attitude and upbeat. He’s made a lot of contributions and gelled with the guys,” Eichelkraut said. “There’s a lot of positives there, and we’re glad he’s a part of the team. He and Rudy (Wicker) and Cade (Femrite) are our stalwarts from Monticello and we’re ecstatic to have them out here making contributions.”

Monroe opens its truncated spring season at McFarland March 26, while NGM is at Montello/Princeton/Green Lake the same day.

“They are going at it just like if it was the regular season,” Golembiewski said. “No one is discounting that there’s not going to be a playoffs or a full number of games — everyone shows up every day practicing for the day to get ready.”

Toby Golembiewski couldn’t help but be excited an optimistic beyond even the short season.

“When we show up for summer practice in July, we should be pretty slick with some of these younger guys getting this opportunity right now,” coach Golembiewksi said.