MONROE — The victory was right there for the taking, but the culmination of injuries combined with missteps in key moments proved fatal for Monroe’s football season. The Cheesemakers fell on their home turf to former Badger Conference rival Stoughton 23-16 in a WIAA Division 3 Level 3 playoff game Nov. 3.
Monroe (9-3), led 16-0 midway through the second quarter but had multiple promising drives come up short the rest of the way — often committing a key mistake at the least opportune moment. The Vikings (7-5), found a way to hit it big on just a handful of plays to complete the comeback.
“We knew they were pretty good. There was no lack of effort or anything like that. We just ran out of gas,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. “We gave them every reason to believe they were going to get back into this game. We played with maybe a few less mistakes than them in the first half, and they played with definitely less mistakes than us in the second half. The way it worked out, they ended up getting the lead and winning the game.”
Kaden Kuester, nursing an AC joint injury, touched the ball five times in the first half for the Cheesemakers, gaining 41 yards and scoring touchdowns from 4-yards and 30-yards. The 30-yard score came on a sweep to the left side in which he fought off a tackler while reaching for the pylon. He laid on the ground for a few minutes before getting up and walking off the field with coaches and trainers.
Kuester is a two-way first-team all-conference player this fall and was Monroe’s leading rusher. The team’s second leading rusher, Ben Gatdula, was injured in the Level 1 playoff win over New Berlin Eisenhower. That has left Monroe with just one of its three starting running backs — Lane Meier.
“They were all-conference players. That hurts,” Golembiewski said.
After Kuester’s second TD, Wes Saunders nailed the extra point, but Stoughton was called for offsides. Golembiewski elected to go for the 2-point try. While Brady Wyss crossed the goal line on the 2-yard plunge, a flag was thrown, penalizing a Monroe lineman for aiding the runner by pushing him into the end zone. This year at the college and NFL levels, the “tush push” has gripped fans attention in a way that is only second to Taylor Swift’s occasional attendance at Kansas City Chiefs games.
Having to retry the previously made PAT, Saunders went wide right. That point proved crucial as the game went on. Saunders made up for it by slamming through a 29-yard field goal in the second quarter to make it 16-0 Monroe.
After that, the Cheesemakers offense sputtered outside of a few plays with large chunks of yards. Stoughton, meanwhile, kept knocking on the door. The Vikings turned the ball over on downs twice in the first half and once more after halftime. Monroe’s defense was able to bend and not break early, but it wouldn’t last the whole game.
“The coaches were telling us to keep doing our jobs and that the game is not over with at all,” senior DB Gavin Foulker said.
Monroe ended the first half with Meier running out of bounds at the 11-yard line as the last second ticked off the clock. To open the second half, Monroe went backwards on a 3-and-out possession, starting with a false start and ending on third-and-9 with a 10-yard sack.
“There was that old double-dip where you can get the last score of the first half and the first score of the second half, but we didn’t get it. We were close, though,” Golembiewski said. “I think a big turn in the game was when we came out and didn’t score on that first drive in the third quarter. We needed to either score or put them in a deep hole. We took a bunch of time off the clock but accomplished none of those other goals. That really kind of opened the door for them. I think if we scored on that one, we probably could have crushed their spirit.”
Meanwhile, the Vikings played relatively clean. Stoughton committed just two penalties in the game and didn’t turn the ball over on a fumble or interception. In the second half, the Vikings connected on three key deep passes, two of which were well covered by Monroe.
“They made some great plays, and our guys had some good coverage,” Golembiewski said of Stoughton’s passing attack. “They did exactly what we told them to do — the guy just threw a perfect ball and the receivers made a great catch.”
With under 2:30 to play in the third quarter, Vikings QB Drew Viney launched a deep pass down the left sideline to Jay Johnson, who was blanketed by Foulker. However, in his final step before making a play on the ball, Foulker slipped on the turf, allowing Johnson to make the clean grab and run uncontested to the end zone for a 76-yard touchdown. Stoughton then converted the 2-point conversion.
Monroe’s offense sputtered, despite Kuester returning to the field. The Cheesemakers went 3-and-out on the next drive, then fumbled away the possession on a bad pitch. The drive after that was yet another 3-and-out. The Cheesemakers gained just 95 yards of offense in the second half after gaining 209 in the first half. Of the 95 yards, 64 came on two big plays from Meier — a 38-yard run two plays before the fumble, and a dazzling one-handed grab for 26 yards on third-and-16.
Stoughton tied it up with 3:57 left in the fourth quarter. The Vikings split off LeShawn Brown into the slot, and he ran a simple seam route up the left hash. Monroe’s secondary didn’t adjust pre-snap, which left him wide open for the 34-yard score.
“We had a miscommunication. We had a stunt on when we should have checked into Gold, which would have been man coverage. That left the guy wide open,” Foulker said.
The Cheesemakers turned the ball over on downs at the Stoughton 39-yard line on the next possession, as Rosenstiel’s pass fell incomplete to Ryan Mathiason, who appeared to be drug to the ground by a Viking defender well before the ball arrived. The home sideline and bleachers screamed for a defensive holding or pass interference call, but officials saw nothing wrong with the play. Eight snaps later, on third down, Viney threw a dart 28 yards into the right corner of the end zone where Chris Cooksey made a diving catch beyond the reach of Keegan Dahmen’s coverage with just 45 seconds to play.
Viney was 20-for-36 passing for 275 yards and three TDs. Bo Iverson led Stoughton with 47 yards rushing, but the Vikings only had 35 yards on 22 rushes in the game. Seven Stoughton players had at least one reception, with Johnson leading the way in both catches (5) and yards (124).
The Cheesemakers out-gained Stoughton in total yards 319-310 and first downs 13-10. Monroe had two turnovers in the game — on the third-quarter fumble and an interception on their next snap. Meier had 125 rushing yards on 17 totes, while Wyss had 77 yards on 15 carries. Rosenstiel was 5 of 13 for 79 yards passing. Meier had three catches for 53 yards and Mathiason added two grabs for 26 yards.
Gatdula is expected to be back next season, and he is the most seasoned skill player of the junior class, gaining 740 yards rushing in 12 career games. Jacob Flom, Nathan Fuchs and Cameron Newcomer have just over 300 yards combined rushing in their varsity careers.
“They are a very solid group, and I think they have at least the same shot — if not a better shot — next year. I would definitely tell them to have fun — you always play better when you’re having fun — and embrace the moments you have with your friends and teammates,” Rosenstiel said.
Reflecting on the journey to the end of the line
The senior class had a run of good fortune. In 2021, the sophomores that moved to varsity rode the wave to the state semifinal. Last year as juniors, the team hoisted the gold ball at Camp Randall Stadium, the sixth team in program history to reach the accomplishment.
“The kids we’ve been dealing with these last couple of years are definitely team-orientated people that are going to do whatever it takes for the team to be the most successful and win football games. They don’t worry about their own personal statistics or their own personal gain,” Golembiewski said.
He went on to say that he expects them all to be successful people moving forward as adults.
“A great group of human beings that are going to be great fathers, and great husbands, and very employable — not even employable, they’re going to own their own businesses (because) they are such a great group of guys,” Golembiewski said.
This year, the team looked almost entirely different, with several returning players entering new roles and positions due to the large holes the Class of 2023 left behind.
“We had some tough matchups the first two weeks. I think from the get-go that we knew we were a team that was going to get better week by week. We just needed to gain that experience,” Rosenstiel said. “I think we peaked at the right time, and just ran into a good team right here against Stoughton.”
The team got into a rhythm once conference play began. But then in the playoff open against NBE, Kuester, Gatdula and Taylor Herbst all were hurt. Herbst took a hard hit to the head and went directly to the ER by ambulance for fear of brain and spinal injuries. Luck was on his side — there was no concussion or major damage — and he was able to make it back on the field two weeks later for the Stoughton game.
“Immediately when I came back, I was actually a little scared,” Herbst said, adding that it was his teammates that helped him mentally overcome the fear of getting hurt again. He was cleared to resume football activities on Oct. 28, the day after Monroe’s Level 2 win over McFarland. “I didn’t want to sit out a day this week once I knew I could play.”
Herbst, a 3-year starter on the offensive line, received a first-team all-conference nod this season. It concludes his time in the program, which stretches back more than a decade, as he has been a ball boy for the team — like his younger brothers — while his father, Gerry Herbst, has been an assistant coach.
“Growing up, all those players that played and seeing them come back and support us — I’ll always remember that,” Herbst said.
Walking off the field for the last time, Herbst said there was a lot of emotion for himself and his teammates — which he expected, to a point.
“There is a lot of sadness, and we knew there would be some of that, because we knew it was going to be our last game on this field — but now we know this was the last time we got to play as one,” Herbst said of his fellow seniors.
Rosenstiel also said the pain of the end was real, but he understood the time was coming and was able to see the years of positive experiences that led up to the negative ending.
“A lot of tears tonight. It hurts,” Rosenstiel said about walking off the turf of TR Holyoke Field in pads one final time. “Growing up and playing this game — watching it, loving it, playing it, practicing it — everything. I’m just thankful for everything I got to do. I got to play flag football out here, Blaze, and high school — I’ve made so many great connections and I’m just thankful for it. I look at these guys as my brothers. I grew up playing with them, and being able to play quarterback for their team, I’m grateful for it. It’s been a dream.”
Foulker also wanted to take his time leaving the stadium after the game.
“It’s really hard. I don’t think I’m really ready for it, knowing that I’m not going to play football again. I’m not going to play football again. It’s just sad — very sad,” said Foulker, who added that his most cherished memories of the program won’t be of an individual play or even holding the gold ball in 2022. “Really it’ll be just the people I grew up playing football with. We’ll always be a team together.”
This is Monroe’s first home loss in the playoffs since a Level 3 game in 2016 against Pewaukee — Golembiewski’s first year. That team also saw the injury bug devastate the lineup at the last minute.
“It’s always been a next-man-up mentality. We all have confidence in each person,” Rosenstiel said. “For us, it’s finding what works and preparing to play another football game and embracing those moments when we have them. We know that ‘just-like-that,’ it can end.”
