Warriors, Bradford duel again in playoffs

Muskego - Friday night may have been frigid, but the Muskego football team didn't seem to mind.

The Warriors, who played before a bundled-up home crowd, cruised to a 59-6 victory over visiting Milwaukee Washington in the WIAA Division 1 playoff opener. Muskego found the fire despite a matchup that heavily favored the Southeast Conference runnerup.

"We knew coming into the game that we had a better record and that we still had to be fired up," senior running back Brady Simkowski said.

Muskego earns a spot in the second round of the WIAA playoffs against conference rival Kenosha Bradford, which is the only team to beat the Warriors this season on a 21-18 decision on Oct. 7.

The teams will meet again at 7 p.m. Friday at Indian Trails High School.

"We watched film, and we had a lot of mistakes, little mistakes that really cost us that game," Simkowski said. "We only lost by three, but we can get them next time."

New things in store?

Coach Ken Krause said, "We have the advantage that we played just a couple of weeks ago; that game is fresh in our minds."

He said the Warriors might have a few new elements to show the Red Devils.

"We've been toying with different stuff throughout the year," he continued. "We used a new formation in the second half of (the earlier game). We'll see what happens.

"At least, we know we were a play away from winning that game. We were right there."

On Friday, Muskego extended its record to 9-1 with the help of its pack of running backs.

Simkowski led the team with 84 rushing yards, with David Kucharski adding 79 yards and a score. Roland Dunlap and Jordan Gruettner each had 67 yards on the ground to go along with a touchdown.

The game immediately swung in Muskego's favor when Dunlap ran 24 yards for the night's first score.

Senior quarterback Eric Pachowitz ran for a touchdown and threw a scoring pass to a wide-open Robert Sindic for 31 yards.

"It's nice just that we completed a couple of passes," Muskego coach Ken Krause said. "Eric Pachowitz has really improved the last couple weeks with the throw game."

Missing kicks

One issue the Warriors seemed to have was their lack of successful extra-point attempts, as they missed a season-high four PATs.

"We've got to get better at that," Krause said. "We've got to get more consistent at that. We've been working hard at it."

The defense pitched a shutout, as Washington's lone score came on a 93-yard kickoff return by Derek Williams.

The effort was highlighted by a Peter Chaniotakis interception that was returned to the Washington 1-yard line.

Tommy Stark would also set the Warriors up with prime field position with a punt block at the beginning of the second quarter, while Dunlap and Dane Stair both had key sacks.

Despite the easy victory, Krause thinks there's still room for improvement.

"We need to be more intense," he said. "It's probably one of our least intense games as far as the sidelines and stuff. That's going to be a main focus next week (to get) our guys more fired up."

The victory marks the first time since 1996 that the Warriors won opening-round playoff games in back-to-back seasons.

No regrets for Warriors

The task will be much tougher against Bradford, which beat Milwaukee Pulaski on Friday, 45-14, and is a perfect 10-0.

Krause knows his team has to execute.

"There can't be one practice or one rep at practice that we have any regrets," Krause said. "On every rep, we have to be completely focused. That's our theme this year: no regrets. I think the first time around it was a tough loss. We just have to practice. Everything we've been practicing starts Sunday with no regrets."