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Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran united as one

By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent


GREEN BAY – You may be asking yourself the differences between 8- and 11-man football.

In 8-man, the field is 40 yards across versus 53 1/3 yards for 11-player.

Additionally, there is less congestion with fewer players on the field, which typically allows skill players to use their athleticism.

If you love offense, 8-man football might be for you.

It’s not uncommon to see more than 1,000 yards gained and 100 points combined in a game.

“I think there are fewer injuries in 8-player football,” said Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran/Oneida Nation head coach Richard Hasseler. “We virtually have no 300-pound guys on the line and more freedom of movement.”

For 2019, N.E.W. Lutheran and Oneida have joined forces to play a full schedule and compete in the MONLPC-8 conference.

They will use the nickname United in place of Blazers or Thunderhawks – the two mascots which are associated with each school, respectively.

N.E.W. Lutheran has gone 18-11 the past three seasons and has enjoyed success in the state tournament, despite having only about 50 boys in the entire school.

“We’ve had some tremendous senior leadership in the past to accomplish those marks,” Hasseler said. “Our summer workouts have been good, and the kids have competed hard despite having to play much of an entire game.”

United returns quarterback Zach Luepke, who is a dual-threat athlete.

“Zach is a tremendous athlete who we are fortunate to have,” said Hasseler. “I think he will have some more targets to throw to this year.”

Marshall Bukowski returns at running back, as do split ends Nathan Pulyleart and Tristan Lynch.

In addition, Aiden Huntowski, Max Bowers, Caleb Gosse, Ali Gbaja-Biamila, Aidan Hill, Mason Kosmowski and Brandt Latour return and will anchor the offensive and defensive lines.

The above-mentioned players are from N.E.W. Lutheran.

“It will help tremendously with having our numbers in the 20s, versus basically having 11 or 12 total kids last season,” Hasseler said. “You get very limited in your play calling when you have three kids on the sidelines to rotate (laughing) and what you can do in the second half of certain games with stamina.”

United will use an I-back, wing-pro formation on offense with some pistol looks.

“We will run the ball 80 percent of the time,” Hasseler said about his offensive tendencies. “If we fall behind by quite a bit, we might have to throw more, but we’ll usually stick to what works for us.”

Defensively, United will run a 32/42/24 look without a safety.

N.E.W. was particularly stout in 2018, recording two shutouts and holding two other opponents to two touchdowns or less.

With football numbers down and some schools losing enrollment, it’s a necessity to keep 8-player football intact.

“The administrations and outcry from small community parents have been amazing to give us a voice in the state of Wisconsin,” added Hasseler. “Big-school football dominates everywhere with coverage. We took a stand and feel we deserve as much recognition as the big-enrollment schools. These kids have earned it and deserve the respect to play on Friday nights.”


                                                                 Coach Spotlight

Name: Richard Hasseler

School: Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran/Oneida Nation

Years coaching at N.E.W. Lutheran: 13

Other football coaching gigs: Green Bay Southwest High School, youth and middle school programs

Hometown: De Pere

Richard Hasseler

Most memorable coaching moment: “I’ve been coaching for 32 years. When we won the state championship in 2013 at the Jamboree [8 player] against Prairie Farm. We were behind 21-7 at halftime and came back and won 26-21 with 4 seconds left in the game. We ran a quarterback sneak on what would have been the final play of the game, and our quarterback fumbled in the end zone. Our tight end Nathan Tonjeis was there to recover it for the win.”

Coaching mentor: “Rod Kowalczyk from De Pere High School. He was the basketball and football coach for the Redbirds. I love the guy. He’s 88 years old, and he drives up and watches us practice and play games.”

Best high school player you’ve coached against: “Bo Krueger of Gillett. The guy was a bowling ball heading downfield. It seemed like every time he touched the ball, he ran for a first down.”

Goals for 2019: “To take two high schools which have totally different backgrounds and unite them as one team.”

My style of coaching is: “Football is a platform to talk about the gospel of Jesus. I want to win, but there is way more than the point total on the scoreboard. I coach with respect, and I don’t demean or put the fear into my players. I encourage each and every kid in practice and on game day. At the end of the day, it’s about having fun and preparing these kids for the crazy world that’s out in front of them.”


                                         Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran 2019 regular season schedule

8/23 – @ Algoma

8/29 – Wabeno/Laona (@ N.E.W. Lutheran High School)

9/6 – Sevastopol (@ Oneida Nation High School)

9/13 – @ Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas

9/21 – Gibraltar – 1 p.m. (@ N.E.W. Lutheran High School)

9/27 – @ Suring

10/4 – @ Wausaukee

10/11 – Florence (@ Oneida Nation High School)

10/18 – @ Gillett

  • All games begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

 

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