Monroe (1-2, 0-1 Badger South at Watertown (2-1, 1-0)
7 p.m. Friday
LAST WEEK: Milton beat Monroe 12-7; Watertown defeated Fort Atkinson 59-43.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
MONROE: Senior fullback Dempzy Foley leads the Cheesemakers with 175 rushing yards and averages 7.6 yards per carry. Sophomore Nick Bansley has two interceptions and has 156 total yards on offense on just six touches this season. Fellow sophomore offensive guard Darien Hargrove makes his second start. Senir defensive back Sam Kind and Bansley will be key in trying to slow down Watertown's spread offensive attack.
WATERTOWN: The Goslings are led by two players who were all-state last year - senior quarterback Dylan Fagerland and wide receiver Ryan Hayden. Fagerland has passed for 10 TDs and four interceptions this year. He's completing 67 percent of his passes and is coming off a game during which he torched Fort Atkinson for seven touchdown passes. Hayden, a U.S. Air Force Academy recruit, is coming off a season last year where he had 95 receptions for more than 1,600 yards and 18 TDs. Hayden has 15 receptions for 199 yards. The Goslings have four receivers with 12 catches or more this year. Daniel Denault has a team-high 22 receptions for 236 yards.
- Mark Nesbitt
MONROE - After watching the football team struggle to break off a big offensive play and deal with two injuries, few would blame Monroe for feeling snake-bitten at times.
"We don't know if we are running out of bullets or if we are running out of toes because we keep shooting ourselves in the foot," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. "The way things have gone the last couple of weeks we have to take care of the mistakes and ourselves before we can worry about Watertown."
When Monroe (1-2, 0-1 Badger South) takes on Watertown (2-1, 1-0) Friday it will be another challenge for the Cheesemakers. Watertown features the high-powered combo of all-state quarterback Dylan Fagerland, who has passed for 1,004 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, and U.S. Air Force Academy wide receiver recruit Ryan Hayden, who was also all-state last season. Fagerland and Hayden engineer a high-scoring spread offense that averages 32.3 points per game this year.
Monroe senior safety and wide receiver Brayden Zettle will miss the game due to a broken and dislocated thumb he sustained in a 27-7 loss to DeForest two weeks ago. Sophomore offensive lineman Alan Whitehead missed last week's game against Milton last week due to a knee injury and also won't play this week. The Cheesemakers switched junior Jacob Brennan from offensive guard to tackle and sophomore Darien Hargrove got his first varsity start at offensive guard last week against the Red Hawks.
"As far as conference goes and the playoffs these are all must-win games," Golembiewski said.
The Cheesemakers have been limited to just one touchdown in each of their past two games.
"We have not been scoring enough on offense, getting first downs, and it's been costing us," Golembiewski said. "We are not where we were at last year with the experience we had. These guys don't have much varsity experience. We have some young guys starting in new positions. All you can do with young guys is continue to get reps and work with them in practice. It will be how fast they can execute the plays without jumping offsides or going the wrong way. It's still very much a work in progress. There are some things that will take some time."
Senior Dempzy Foley leads the Cheesemakers with 175 rushing yards, an average of 7.6 yards per carry and one touchdown. Fellow senior fullback Travis Wolf has rushed for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns. Junior Jordan Montgomery has rushed for 122 yards. Monroe has struggled to break off a big play the last two weeks. Sophomore Nick Bansley has a total of 156 yards rushing and two touchdowns and receiving on a combined six touches. However, he's averaging just two touches per game on offense because he is one of a handful of running backs that also play a starting role on defense. Bansley is a defensive back who has a team-high two interceptions this year.
"We will try to condense some things on offense," Golembiewski said. "Every week we expect to get better than the week before."
After Monroe was held without a first down in the first half against DeForest, junior quarterback Anthany Hernandez had a 9-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter. The Norskies stymied the Cheesemakers, limiting them to 132 total yards. In the game against Milton, the Cheesemakers were limited to 153 total yards and only 38 yards in the second half.
"The Brayden Zettle injury has a domino effect on the offense and the defense because we have players in new positions," Golembiewski said.
The challenge for the Cheesemakers' 4-3 defense may be even bigger against the Goslings' spread offense. Watertown has four wide receivers with 123 catches or more this season. Watertown's Daniel Denault has a team-high 22 receptions for 236 yards. Hayden has 15 receptions for 199 yards with three touchdowns. Sophomore Kory Stas has 12 catches for 216 yards with three touchdowns.
Fagerland and the Goslings run a similar style spread offense the Cheesemakers saw against Monona Grove last year.
"They (Watertown) have an all-state quarterback," Golembiewski said. "He has to give a lot of credit to his receivers because they don't drop the ball. We can't just hope they are going to drop it because they don't drop it."
The Cheesemakers' defense was stout against the Red Hawks, limiting them to six points before giving up an 80-yard TD pass on the first drive of the third quarter.
The Goslings will look to get the ball to their receivers in the open field.
"They take their chances throwing the ball," Golembiewski said. "They get their chunks of yards. They are looking at the matchups to get their receivers in open space. When we get an opportunity to make a play (interception) we have to make it and make them pay by scoring a touchdown."
It will come down to the Cheesemakers disrupting the routes of the receivers. Golembiewski also hopes to get more help and production from Monroe's offense and special teams.
"The Badger South is not going to forgive your mistakes," he said of the competition Monroe sees in the conference. "Our special teams and the return yards we have allowed is too much. We are not covering punts well and we are punting it right at them."
"We don't know if we are running out of bullets or if we are running out of toes because we keep shooting ourselves in the foot," Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. "The way things have gone the last couple of weeks we have to take care of the mistakes and ourselves before we can worry about Watertown."
When Monroe (1-2, 0-1 Badger South) takes on Watertown (2-1, 1-0) Friday it will be another challenge for the Cheesemakers. Watertown features the high-powered combo of all-state quarterback Dylan Fagerland, who has passed for 1,004 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, and U.S. Air Force Academy wide receiver recruit Ryan Hayden, who was also all-state last season. Fagerland and Hayden engineer a high-scoring spread offense that averages 32.3 points per game this year.
Monroe senior safety and wide receiver Brayden Zettle will miss the game due to a broken and dislocated thumb he sustained in a 27-7 loss to DeForest two weeks ago. Sophomore offensive lineman Alan Whitehead missed last week's game against Milton last week due to a knee injury and also won't play this week. The Cheesemakers switched junior Jacob Brennan from offensive guard to tackle and sophomore Darien Hargrove got his first varsity start at offensive guard last week against the Red Hawks.
"As far as conference goes and the playoffs these are all must-win games," Golembiewski said.
The Cheesemakers have been limited to just one touchdown in each of their past two games.
"We have not been scoring enough on offense, getting first downs, and it's been costing us," Golembiewski said. "We are not where we were at last year with the experience we had. These guys don't have much varsity experience. We have some young guys starting in new positions. All you can do with young guys is continue to get reps and work with them in practice. It will be how fast they can execute the plays without jumping offsides or going the wrong way. It's still very much a work in progress. There are some things that will take some time."
Senior Dempzy Foley leads the Cheesemakers with 175 rushing yards, an average of 7.6 yards per carry and one touchdown. Fellow senior fullback Travis Wolf has rushed for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns. Junior Jordan Montgomery has rushed for 122 yards. Monroe has struggled to break off a big play the last two weeks. Sophomore Nick Bansley has a total of 156 yards rushing and two touchdowns and receiving on a combined six touches. However, he's averaging just two touches per game on offense because he is one of a handful of running backs that also play a starting role on defense. Bansley is a defensive back who has a team-high two interceptions this year.
"We will try to condense some things on offense," Golembiewski said. "Every week we expect to get better than the week before."
After Monroe was held without a first down in the first half against DeForest, junior quarterback Anthany Hernandez had a 9-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter. The Norskies stymied the Cheesemakers, limiting them to 132 total yards. In the game against Milton, the Cheesemakers were limited to 153 total yards and only 38 yards in the second half.
"The Brayden Zettle injury has a domino effect on the offense and the defense because we have players in new positions," Golembiewski said.
The challenge for the Cheesemakers' 4-3 defense may be even bigger against the Goslings' spread offense. Watertown has four wide receivers with 123 catches or more this season. Watertown's Daniel Denault has a team-high 22 receptions for 236 yards. Hayden has 15 receptions for 199 yards with three touchdowns. Sophomore Kory Stas has 12 catches for 216 yards with three touchdowns.
Fagerland and the Goslings run a similar style spread offense the Cheesemakers saw against Monona Grove last year.
"They (Watertown) have an all-state quarterback," Golembiewski said. "He has to give a lot of credit to his receivers because they don't drop the ball. We can't just hope they are going to drop it because they don't drop it."
The Cheesemakers' defense was stout against the Red Hawks, limiting them to six points before giving up an 80-yard TD pass on the first drive of the third quarter.
The Goslings will look to get the ball to their receivers in the open field.
"They take their chances throwing the ball," Golembiewski said. "They get their chunks of yards. They are looking at the matchups to get their receivers in open space. When we get an opportunity to make a play (interception) we have to make it and make them pay by scoring a touchdown."
It will come down to the Cheesemakers disrupting the routes of the receivers. Golembiewski also hopes to get more help and production from Monroe's offense and special teams.
"The Badger South is not going to forgive your mistakes," he said of the competition Monroe sees in the conference. "Our special teams and the return yards we have allowed is too much. We are not covering punts well and we are punting it right at them."
