Post Messenger Recorder -

When we say "year" we mean year, as in the better part of a calendar year. Imagine not one but two seasons of high school football (a football junkie's dream) sandwiched between March and October in the same year with but a brief respite in between. Such was the case in 2021, and in all likelihood will never be seen again.

At first blush, the idea of football in the Spring sounded crazy, what with the vicissitudes of Wisconsin weather a concern. But thanks to the collaboration of the WIAA and the WFCA it happened, and on March 26 the novel Spring-COVID season kicked off. Once that ball left the tee it was football, pure and simple. Game on!

NGM opened with a trip to Princeton and after 518 days returned home with a dominating 47-6 victory. Game 2, April Fool's Day, brought Poynette to New Glarus to face the NGM Air Raid offense and a 34-7 win by the Knights. Senior wide receiver Nathan Streiff collected 12 passes to become the first player in program history to catch over 100 in a career. Senior quarterback Darris Schuett threw for 411 yards. (Each player would set career program records before the season came to a close).

After a trip to Orfordville and a 50-20 blowout, NGM was riding high and 3-0. Brodhead-Juda came to town and, facing the TV crews of Madison's channels 15 and 27 (billed as the area's "Game of the Week"), escaped with a narrow 23-22 win. Cuba City and Columbus respectively would serve up some large helpings of humble pie and NGM found themselves at 3-3, setting up the finale with arch rival Belleville.

Bringing their 5-1 record and #7 state ranking to the NGM gridiron, the Cats would trail most of the game until the fourth quarter when quarterback Trevor Syse would lead his team to two touchdowns in 69 seconds of play and pull out a 21-20 thriller for the visitors.

The NGM final record of 3-4 is a bit misleading. Scatter just a few points across two games and they are 5-2. This team would send four players off to play college football (Cole Walter, Mason Martinson, Nathan Streiff and Darris Schuett), a first in school history. Streiff and Schuett would accept offers to play in the coveted WFCA All-Star game at Titan Stadium at UW-Oshkosh.

Enter the Fall Season

August 26th arrived in the blink of an eye. A quick check of the helmets confirmed that their refurbish was complete, paint dry, and ready for play. On an 88 degree night, the Cougars of Clinton would visit and escape with yet another 1-point win at the hands of NGM, 27-26. It was the debut of NGM's sophomore quarterback Max Marty as he threw for three TD passes, ran for another, and racked up 287 yards passing.

Week 2 brought another 88 degree evening and a trip to Belleville with the hopes of avenging the 1-point loss that ended the Spring season. Those hopes would remain unrequited when the Wildcats delivered a 35-6 blow. (The Belleville bunch would go on to a banner season, making it all the way to the state semi-final game and one game away from the title at Camp Randall Stadium). Brodhead-Juda would next deliver a 54-14 drubbing and at 0-3, the loss of the previous season's seniors was beginning to be felt.

Just when things looked the darkest, NGM beat a very good team from Prairie du Chien 28-27, and the feeling of winning a 1-point game felt like redemption. Junior Ethan Friedrich announced his presence to the football world with a magical performance on both sides of the ball.

The feeling was not a lasting one as the Dells, Platteville, and River Valley combined to send NGM to a 1-7 record. Only a home finale with Dodgeville and the annual celebration of Senior Night remained on the schedule.

The NGM seniors and team as a whole responded with 537 yards of offense and a 40-0 shutout. If there was ever just one play above all others that could stand out across an entire season (or two), it was Emery Johnson's run (as captured here again by Sue Moen) in which he used one player's helmet and another's backside to catapult his way to a first down. The sidelines and press box erupted with "did you see that...did you see that?!"

Lost and buried in a 2-7 season is the growth and life's lessons learned by those who played in it. Difficulty, frustration, and "failure" is the training ground for future success.

And then came the shocking announcement that Head Coach Dr. Jeff Eichelkraut tendered his resignation shortly after the last game. A man who has literally given his heart and soul to this program is deserving of more ink, but I sense my Editor's ruler is about to come crashing down on my knuckles for violating precious column-inch-space. Stay tuned, this will be a column yet to follow.