Posted: Sept. 8, 2009 |(0) Comments

It was long, it was messy, but in the end, it was a satisfying, 55-26, win for the Brown Deer football team over Wauwatosa West on Friday as the Falcons improved to 2-0 on the season.

"The kids played pretty well," said Falcons coach Rob Green. "They're overcoming adversity together, and they have a common agenda. That kind of attitude is special. If we keep working together, we can be pretty good."

Brown Deer will visit Greenfield (0-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Tosa West game was the first meeting between Green and his former offensive coordinator Matt Good, who is now heading up the Trojans.

"It's always nice to play a friend," Good said.

West took the initial lead, but then the Falcons' five unanswered touchdowns (Chris Smith run, Sean Andryauskus pass from Brett Youngbeck, Smith run, Smith punt return and Smith pass from Youngbeck) took control of the game.

The Trojans never got to within three touchdowns, as Youngbeck added a scoring run as did Lawrence Rabon and Najee Williams. Smith had 119 yards on 12 carries, while Rabon had 101 on seven carries, and Andryauskus had six catches for 145 yards.

Whitefish Bay football

He's more known for his punting, but Will Hagerup can also kick field goals.

And the Division I-level recruit's 49-yard field goal with space to spare was the first quarter launching pad that the Blue Dukes used to cruise to a 33-0 victory over visiting Slinger on Friday.

"That was a good way to start," Blue Dukes coach Jim Tietjen said. "This was a good effort all the way around. We frustrated them defensively, put points on the board, established momentum and then kept it."

The Blue Dukes (1-1) will now entertain border rival Nicolet (1-1) in their North Shore opener at 7 p.m. Friday.

Bay carried the 3-0 lead right until the end of the half until Garrett Demuth forced a fumble and the Blue Dukes recovered deep in Owls territory. Bay then cashed in with just 1.1 seconds left as Brian Kroll scored on a one-yard run to make it 10-0 at the half.

"That was just ideal," Tietjen said.

From there, the Blue Dukes dominated, as they scored 17 third-quarter points to put the game away. Kroll caught a 38-yard pass from Cal Ehrke, Ehrke had a seven-yard run for score and Hagerup hit another field goal. Kroll then finished things off with a fourth-quarter touchdown burst of 53 yards.

Both Kroll (110) and Devontae Brown (112) went over 100 yards rushing and Ehrke threw for a personal best 222 yards, and Paul Davis caught six passes for 125 yards.

Nicolet football

Falling back into bad habits was not an option for the Nicolet football team on Friday against Kenosha St. Joseph's.

The Lancers hit a touchdown pass right before the halftime break to cut the Knights' lead to 14-6 in Nicolet's home opener. In the past, this event may have led the Knights down a slippery slope to defeat.

Not this night.

"We looked at the kids, and the kids looked at each other (at halftime)," Coach Everett Jenkins said. "We said 'We can't do this for you. You have to find a way to do it for yourselves.' We could have fallen into 'Now bad things will happen to us' mode, but we didn't. We came out, put together two scoring drives and played hard."

And they earned a satisfying, 28-6, win which evened the Knights' record at 1-1 as they head into their North Shore opener at border rival Whitefish Bay at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Knights took their lead against St. Joseph's on a 60-yard touchdown run from Jarel James and a 49-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Brandon Kappel to Lamar Johnson-Harris. Once St. Joe's had closed the gap, the Knights widened it back out as big fullback Reggie Dillingham closed out two, third quarter drives with touchdown runs of three and one yards, respectively.

Jenkins was pleased with Kappel (seven of 11 passing for 109 yards) as James rushed for 101 yards on 12 carries. Nicolet had 368 total yards. The Knights started three sophomores on offense including linemen James Fischer and Keondre Walton-Cooper.

Homestead football

It was a successful road trip for the Highlanders as they hit host Wisconsin Rapids for three second quarter touchdowns in routing the Raiders, 34-7, on Friday.

"This was good for us," said Highlanders coach Dave Keel. "We went on the road against a tough opponent in a hostile environment, and we were still successful. We also had a pretty good crowd as our students traveled pretty well (for the two-and-half-hour trip)."

The defending state champs (2-0) will now open North Shore action at Grafton (0-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Two major things stood out to Keel in the victory. One, that the coming out party for senior running back Bryan Bronaugh continues to be festive every time he touches the ball. He had just six carries for 135 yards with touchdown runs of 22 and 71 yards. He also got second half help from Alex Morgan, who had 108 yards on 12 carries with one touchdown. Fellow back Shawn Brown also had a good night with a six-yard touchdown run and quarterback Matt Stern sneaked in from one-yard out for a score of his own.

The other thing that impressed Keel was that the rebuilt defense continues to make strides, holding Rapids to 251 total yards.

"Some people have really stepped up there including Doug Mueller (in the secondary) and the defensive line (led by end John Laihinen)," Keel said.

Homestead boys soccer

Usually the Highlanders get to their first win a little faster than this, but after an 0-3-2 start, coach Rich Dorn was just happy to make it back to .500 with the help of two victories and a title in their own Homestead Cup this past weekend.

"We don't know where we rank overall in the scheme of things (statewide)," he said, "but I can safely say now that we're a good team."

Homestead started the week at 3-3-2.

The Highlanders routed Milwaukee Riverside, 7-0, on Friday and then beat Sheboygan North, 4-1, in the final on Saturday.

Homestead's rough start was due in part to a number of injuries, which have forced people to step up. Dorn said he is now comfortable with about 15 people on his roster as a result of all the subbing.

Highlighted performances include midfielders Andrew Lamers and Nico Soto and forwards Chris Lange, Alex Levin and Carson Francis.

Nicolet girls volleyball

Competing against some of the best, the Knights tied for the title in the Muskego Invitational on Saturday.

In the last match of the day, Nicolet lost a 25-20, 19-25, 15-11 thriller to the host Warriors, which created the tie for the title with Nicolet, Muskego and Burlington.

"It was a great test for us," Nicolet coach Dann Jacobson said. "They (the Warriors) are one of the top two or three teams in the state, and we hung in there with them the entire match. … The team showed great skill and determination all day. They are off to the best start in the past 20 years."

Nicolet, which opened defense of its North Shore crown with a sweep of border rival Bay on Sept. 3, began the tournament by burying West Allis Central and Kenosha Tremper in pool play. Then in the gold division playoffs, the Knights overpowered Burlington 25-22, 19-25, 15-10, before losing to Muskego.

Jacobson felt that outside hitter Melissa Morello was "the best player in the gym" this day as she had 46 kills and 39 digs. Rachel Morello had 76 assists, Krystalyn Goode 11 blocks while Sam Lautmann and Dana Kenney had nine aces apiece.

Homestead girls cross country

Defending WIAA State Division I girls cross country champion Whitefish Bay has ruled the roost in the North Shore for more than a decade, but the Blue Dukes may have some challengers this fall, as Homestead put in an emphatic effort in dominating the 18-team West Allis Central Bulldog Invitational on Friday.

"The kids are having a good time," said Highlanders coach Victor Vilar. "I've been pleased with their ability to run smart races and pack, and their bonding has been really special to watch."

Homestead will get their first crack at Bay Thursday at the Arrowhead Invitational.

The Highlanders used balance to score just 62 points to outdistance North Shore rival Germantown (129) and Wisconsin Lutheran (135) in the Bulldog, run on the flat and fast McCarty Park course.

Homestead, which was eighth in the state meet last season, put all seven runners in the top 26 in the 120-plus runner field.

Lauren Holtz led the way, taking fourth in 14 minutes, 52 seconds. Other scoring runners included Sarah Miller in 11th (15:31), Caity Bobber, 14th (15:40), Kelsey Boyle, 16th (15:43) and Carrie Rice, 17th (15:45). Also running for the Highlanders were Keali Bjork in 19th (15:51) and Andrea Dolsky in 26th (16:04).

Dana Griepentrog was the individual champ for Homestead as the Highlanders also won the junior varsity race.

Homestead tennis

A different venue, a new set of opponents, the same results for the top-state-ranked Highlanders, as they turned in an individual match record of 27-1 in winning the Cardinal Classic Dual Meet Invitational at Middleton last weekend.

The defending state champions routed Onalaska (7-0), third-ranked in state Division 2 Manitowoc Roncalli (6-1), Middleton (7-0) and 10th-ranked in Division I Madison West (7-0) in winning their third major invitational title of the season.

They will close out the invitational portion of the season this weekend with the Nicolet Sweet 16 event that will include Brookfield Central (fourth in the latest poll), Divine Savior Holy Angels (6), Eau Claire Memorial (8), Green Bay Southwest (9), Kenosha Tremper (honorable mention), Neenah, Whitefish Bay (3), as well as the host Knights (2).

Play will begin at 2 p.m. Friday and continue at 9 a.m. Saturday at Nicolet and various other courts in the area.

Bay, Shorewood girls swim

In a spirited nonconference dual meet, the Greyhounds 400-yard freestyle relay team of Elli Sellinger, Ellen Stello, Lauren Lanphere and Clare Chamberlain claimed their event in 3:45.05 to give Shorewood an 87-83 win over their North Shore area rivals Sept. 2.

The group, which also won the meet opening 200 medley relay (1:54.7) also accounted for five individual firsts as Chamberlain claimed the 200 individual medley (2:14.55) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.78), while Stello took the 100 butterfly (1:01.49) and the 500 free (5:24.41) and Sellinger grabbed the 100 free (54.55).

Earning wins for Bay were Elissa Maercklein in the 100 backstroke (1:03.95), Maggie Smith in the 50 free (25.03), Lauren Van Loon in the 200 free (2:04.17) and the 200 free relay team of Annie Maercklein, Claire Riordan, Van Loon and Smith (1:45.46).