Milwaukee-area high school football top-10 countdown: No. 10 New Berlin West
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will be counting down our top-10 greater Milwaukee area football teams entering 2023 with analysis and reporting from practice visits. These stories will be released in a one-per-day countdown leading up to Week 1 of the WIAA high school football season.
No. 10 New Berlin West
2022 finish: 10-3 record (5-2 in Parkland Conference, 3rd), lost 48-6 to Monroe in the WIAA Division 3 Level 4 playoffs
Key losses: WR/DB Sam Tsoris, UTL Troy Blawat, OL Nate Hartung, OL Kennan Fischer, OL Evan Tyacke
Key returners: RB/ILB Jack Wesolowski, FB Brady Wojtiuk, OLB/RB Sean Ryan, ILB/RB Ty Hegarty
Visit takeaways
Eighth-year Vikings head coach Ben Chossek set the tone for the 2023 season with a simple phrase dating to 16th century expeditioners: burn the boats. For a team that came within one game of playing for a state title in Division 3 last year, there is an urgency to capitalize on the current window. Chossek said employing the phrase with his team is about inspiring commitment, and players took it to heart as a "no turning back" mindset.
All-Parkland Conference running back Jack Wesolowski has grown into a 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame entering his senior year that should pose problems for would-be tacklers this season. His 1,115 yards were third-best in the conference last season, and a healthy year should leave him in contention for the conference rushing title again.
Senior linebacker Ty Hegarty returns after being the third-leading tackler last season, with sights set much higher for 2023. When asked about his goals, Hegarty said leading the conference in tackles, winning Parkland defensive player of the year and a deep postseason run were on his short list. New Berlin West showed a propensity for making the big stops last year, as they went 5-0 in games decided by two scores or less. Three of those wins came in their playoff run.
Biggest question mark
How do the Vikings replace the production of Troy Blawat?
Passing the ball is largely an afterthought in Chossek's single-wing offense, but the Vikings are still looking to replace a productive signal-caller who handled the ball often last year. All-Parkland Conference utility player and 2023 grad Troy Blawat led the conference in rushing (1,328 yards) with 18 rushing touchdowns while adding 281 yards and four scores through the air. Wesolowski will be the lead back in 2023, but look for bigger roles for Sean Ryan, Ty Hegarty and Colton Krueger as well. The latter three in 2022 combined for 100 carries, 720 yards and five touchdowns, the bulk of which came from Ryan.
They said it
"One of the advantages of (the single-wing offense) is that you can feature the types of kids that you have in a given year. So based on how kids step up, we'll be able to adjust our scheme and the types of things we do to take advantage of those skills. We're excited to figure out how that works." − coach Ben Chossek
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Top-10 high school football countdown: No. 10 New Berlin West
