Arrowhead vs Mukwonago Game Recap
Friday night’s game between Arrowhead and Mukwonago was about as perfect as you could as for. The weather was perfect. We had two impressive teams squaring off. The venue was possibly the best in the state. I couldn’t believe how…
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Continue ReadingFriday night’s game between Arrowhead and Mukwonago was about as perfect as you could as for. The weather was perfect. We had two impressive teams squaring off. The venue was possibly the best in the state. I couldn’t believe how amazing the stadium was. Then on the field we had some of the best talent in the state. Before kickoff I went through the Prep Redzone Wisconsin rankings and there were 17 names combined from these two schools, and after the game I know we have even more that will eventually be added. Before getting into my articles breaking down the offensive and defensive standouts from this game I wanted to run through a recap of how this game played out.
Mukwonago started the game on offense, but wasn’t able to find much success early on. The pursuit by Arrowhead’s defense was impressive from the first play. They consistently got 11 hats to the ball making it hard for Mukwonago to get it going on the ground early. After a Mukwonago punt, Arrowhead took over and put together a nice drive. QB Max Bredeson Max Bredeson 6'2" | 225 lbs | ATH Arrowhead | 2021 State WI carried the ball early and often and they were able to cap off the drive with a Bredeson TD pass to WR/DB Owen Arnett Owen Arnett 6'0" | 210 lbs | LB Arrowhead | 2021 State WI down the middle of the field. This put Arrowhead up 7-0 early in the first. On the next series, Mukwonago again couldn’t get into rhythm and had to punt. Arrowhead was able to block the punt and recover it on the Mukwonago 10 yard line setting up a great scoring opportunity. However, Mukwonago wasn’t going to just lay down and give up easy points. Their defense came out with their backs against the wall and held Arrowhead to a field goal attempt that was missed wide left to keep the score at 7-0 Arrowhead.
Defense was the name of the game in the first quarter because on Mukwonago’s next drive Greyton Gannon dropped back and was picked off by an early nominee for player of the game in Owen Arnett Owen Arnett 6'0" | 210 lbs | LB Arrowhead | 2021 State WI . This again gave Arrowhead exceptional field position. However, the defense of Mukwonago again slammed the door and forced another field goal attempt that was missed. So, Gannon and the rest of the Mukwonago offense came back out looking to get in rhythm on offense. Josh Ferrito of Arrowhead wasn’t going to let that happen though as he takes his turn to step in front of a pass and get an interception. That is where the first quarter ended essentially. Besides the one TD pass the defenses absolutely dominated this game early. Both defensive front sevens were winning the battle against the opposing offensive lines as neither team could establish the run and when they went to the air it seemed like it always ended in a turnover.
The second quarter started with Arrowhead driving down the field. They finally broke through since their opening drive as RB Jackson Tanke scored untouched on a short run up the middle. This put the score at Arrowhead: 14 Mukwonago: 0. That didn’t last long though. On the next drive, Mukwonago wasted no time to get a score of their own on the board. In two plays they drove 80 yards to score. The first play they attacked the aggressive pursuit of Arrowhead by running a reverse to RB/WR Cole Kaestner. Cole easily broke contain on the backside and raced down the sideline before he was finally brought down. On the next play, QB Greyton Gannon found RB/WR Max Braun for the TD to close the gap on Arrowhead’s lead. On Arrowhead’s next drive they weren’t able to get much going. LB Kyle Santos Kyle Santos 5'9" | 205 lbs | LB Mukwonago | 2021 State WI and LB Sam Orlando Sam Orlando 6'0" | 215 lbs | LB Mukwonago | 2022 State WI for Mukwonago along with the defensive line shut down all the running lanes giving the ball back to their offense. The Mukwonago offense used a similar plan to their last drive. This time it was Max Braun who took a similar reverse for a nice chunk of yards to get the drive going. It was clear early that Braun and Kaestner were going to be the engines that made the Mukwonago offense move. Eventually they drove down to the one yard where QB Gannon took the snap and followed his blockers up the middle for the tying score.
The Arrowhead offense didn’t let that tie last long. Similar to Gannon, Braun, and Kaestner being key for the Mukwonago offense, Bredeson, Reneau, Tanke, and Arnett were the keys for the Arrowhead offense moving the ball. On their next drive, Max Bredeson Max Bredeson 6'2" | 225 lbs | ATH Arrowhead | 2021 State WI and RB Jordan Reneau Jordan Reneau 5'10" | 200 lbs | RB Arrowhead | 2021 State WI showed off their speed, power, and contact balance as they carried the offense down into scoring position. First Bredeson took the snap and ran for 25 yards. Then Reneau took the handoff and churned his legs towards a 31 yard gain. From there Jackson Tanke stepped up again and punched in another TD to bring us to a halftime score of Arrowhead: 21 Mukwonago: 14.
The third quarter went back to how the first quarter went. The defenses dominated. For Mukwonago, LB Kyle Santos Kyle Santos 5'9" | 205 lbs | LB Mukwonago | 2021 State WI , LB Sam Orlando Sam Orlando 6'0" | 215 lbs | LB Mukwonago | 2022 State WI , DL Cole Dretzka, DL Skyler Schneider, DL Michael Kassens, and DL Aaron Kaucic were the key players. Their front seven decided how each drive ended. If they could shut down the run they would get the ball back to the offense. The key play in the third quarter for the Mukwonago defense was on a third down when Kyle Santos Kyle Santos 5'9" | 205 lbs | LB Mukwonago | 2021 State WI blitzed up the middle untouched and got a good hit on Bredeson causing an incomplete pass and a 4th down. Arrowhead tried the 57 yard field goal, but it was missed. For Arrowhead, DB Josh Ferrito, DL/OL Nate Hess Nate Hess 6'2" | 250 lbs | DL Arrowhead | 2021 State WI , DL/OL Nick Blatnik Nick Blatnik 6'3" | 255 lbs | OL Arrowhead | 2022 State WI , DL Brady Bashaw, and LB Jacob Parsons all made impacts on defense. It was a bit harder for them because Mukwonago started to take it to the air more in the second half. They weren’t as predictable as the Arrowhead offense was that was happy to run the ball every down it seemed like. I can’t blame Arrowhead for their run heavy offense. They have the skill players to do it and with an offensive line made up of big and athletic kids in Nick Blatnik Nick Blatnik 6'3" | 255 lbs | OL Arrowhead | 2022 State WI , Nate Hess Nate Hess 6'2" | 250 lbs | DL Arrowhead | 2021 State WI , Edwin Beilke, Joey Okla Joey Okla 6'4" | 280 lbs | OL Arrowhead | 2022 State WI , and Joey Woida you have to let them go out and physically dominate their opponents. The only score in the third quarter came after Mukwonago fought their way deep into Arrowhead territory before the Arrowhead defense finally stopped them and forced a field goal 22 yard field goal attempt that they made to bring the score to Arrowhead: 21 Mukwonago: 17 after three quarters.
The first half of the 4th quarter went how most of the game went. A back and forth defensive battle. A key play that seemed to really break the game open was when Mukwonago had the ball and were facing a third down. QB Greyton Gannon went to the air with the ball, but DB Jake Bloomer for Arrowhead came up with a very timely pass breakup to force a punt with under 9 minutes to play. When Arrowhead got the ball they didn’t take too much time to finally get their first score of the second half. Jackson Tanke took the handoff, got to the sideline on the right side of the offense, broke through some arm tackles, and raced 45 yards for his third score of the game. This put Arrowhead up 28-17 with 7:30 remaining.
After the kickoff, Mukwonago’s offense looked like it was primed to score. Gannon found Max Braun for a 57 yard completion to get them deep into Arrowhead territory. However, then it became Arrowhead’s turn to dominate on defense with their backs against the wall. Huge TE Garrett Gillette Garrett Gillette 6'5" | 225 lbs | TE Mukwonago | 2021 State WI was the key target in the endzone as Mukwonago tried to get the score, but on first down Josh Ferrito made a great play to break up the pass. On the next play LB Jacob Parsons flew through the line to make a tackle for loss. On third down there was a pass interference that allowed Mukwonago half the distance to the goal, but it wasn’t a first down. They replayed the down. On the replay of the down DL Joey Woida came up with the huge tackle for loss on the play. It got crazy on fourth down. Gannon lopped a pass into the endzone. It looked like the catch had been made over the cornerback, but then extra help came from Sam Kredell. Kredell was able to deliver a hit that separated the ball from the receiver creating a huge turnover on downs. Arrowhead turned that momentum into the final dagger of the game. A few plays into the drive Arrowhead QB Max Bredeson Max Bredeson 6'2" | 225 lbs | ATH Arrowhead | 2021 State WI took the snap and went 77 yards for the touchdown, basically untouched. This pushed the score to Arrowhead: 35 Mukwonago: 17 with 5:37 remaining in the game.
Mukwonago didn’t go quietly though. I loved watching this game because there was so much talent and neither team showed any quit. They battled until the final whistle. On Mukwonago’s final drive they worked their way into the redzone. Gannon floated one into the corner of the endzone. It appeared that the ball had been intercepted, but TE Gillette came in and used his size and strength to rip the ball away from the defender and instead of a turnover it ended up being an impressive touchdown.
Unfortunately, Mukwonago wasn’t able to recover the onside kick attempt and Arrowhead was able to run out the clock giving us a final score of Arrowhead: 35 Mukwonago: 23. That score doesn’t do justice to how good this game was. The stars showed up. Some kids I didn’t know about made me remember who they were. It was everything you could want in a Friday night game! If you want to check out a few of the video highlights that I captured of some of these key plays you can check them out here!