Advertisement

Milwaukee-area top-10 high school football countdown: No. 4 Mukwonago

zac bellman, milwaukee journal sentinel
·4 min read

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will be counting down our top-10 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.

Running back Mason Radobicky and quarterback Tyler Schlut take over for graduated Wynn Stang and Evan Herbig in the Mukwonago backfield.
Running back Mason Radobicky and quarterback Tyler Schlut take over for graduated Wynn Stang and Evan Herbig in the Mukwonago backfield.

No. 4 Mukwonago

2022 finish: 12-2 (6-1 in Classic 8, T-1st), lost in WIAA Division 1 state title game 34-30 to Kimberly

Key losses: RB Wynn Stang, QB Evan Herbig, WR Trevor Boucher, LB Riley Fischer, LB Gavin Adams, LB Colin Viola, CB Cole Girard

Key returners: OL Nathan Roy, LB Gaige Taugher, RB Mason Radobicky, DL Walker Powers, K Ryan McCormack

Visit takeaways

  • All-Classic 8 Conference first-team kicker Ryan McCormack returns one of the stronger legs in the area. The senior was drilling kicks from 50 yards and beyond during the practice session we visited. McCormack converted 9 of 11 field goal attempts and 71 of 75 extra point attempts as a junior, while Mukwonago won two games by three points or fewer.

  • The offensive line struck an imposing presence, even without left tackle and University of Minnesota commit Nathan Roy participating in the session we observed. Joining Roy (6-foot-6, 280 pounds) in the starting lineup will be junior left guard Ben Contreras (6-foot-1, 255), senior center Grant Stromberg (6-foot, 225), senior right guard Ethan Willmann (6-foot-2, 270) and junior right tackle Aaron Dworczyk (6-foot-3, 275). However Mukwonago looks to replace the production of Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year Wynn Stang, it will have the bodies up front to move most teams off the line of scrimmage.

  • Senior quarterback Tyler Schlut, who saw some time in lopsided games last season while playing behind Evan Herbig, looked athletic in and out of the pocket last Friday in practice. His versatility as a long-striding runner and deep thrower could open up the playbook as he gains confidence.

A starter since he was a sophomore, linebacker Gaige Taugher will be the leader of the Mukwonago defense.
A starter since he was a sophomore, linebacker Gaige Taugher will be the leader of the Mukwonago defense.

Biggest question mark

How does the second level perform on both sides of the ball?

Up front on both offense and defense, size and skill project to provide opportunities for skill players at the second level. Behind many experienced players on the line of scrimmage however will be players stepping into new roles. On offense, running back Mason Radobicky and quarterback Tyler Schlut take over for the graduated Stang and Herbig respectively. The line can make the holes and provide the protection, but what Radobicky and Schlut do with the ball will determine whether drives finish in the end zone. Defensively, stopping the run and rushing the passer are paramount goals for a front led by senior defensive lineman Walker Powers. Behind that line will be a linebacking corps that has lost three of its four leading solo tacklers from last season (Fischer, Adams, Viola). Senior Gaige Taugher said building trust has been key in the early days of camp, and that his message to the less experienced players taking on new roles has been to react to the ball and fall back on the basics.

They said it

"When you’ve built a quality program, and once we start winning some games deep, it becomes senior-led. Tradition never graduates is basically what I'm getting at, and even though we had a bunch of guys graduating − we lose first team all-state linebacker Riley Fischer − Gaige Taugher is really, really good as well, and was playing as good as any LB in the state at the end of last year. He’s going to be the quarterback of the defense. He's going to make all the calls. He’s started since his sophomore year so he's kind of the leader of the D right now. We got Walker Powers at Level 1 who was probably our best D-lineman last year as a junior, and an all-conference kid in the Classic 8 last year. Then we got Jack Savasta back at Level 3 in the (defensive) backfield. So we have enough senior leadership, and now we have other seniors that have been stepping in and filling those roles that were vacated by graduation." − head coach Mike Gnewuch

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Top-10 high school football countdown: No. 4 Mukwonago