Suns rise on emotional night

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 19, 2015

Suns rise on emotional night

East knocks off West

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

When Travis Graf was hired as the West Bend East girls basketball coach, one of the first people to welcome him to the community was West Bend West coach Bernie McCarthy.

“It hasn’t been that long since I was a new coach here,” McCarthy said. McCarthy is in his third season as the Spartans coach.

“I thought he should get some support,” McCarthy said. “He was coming into a tough situation.”

Graf was thankful for that. But he also knew the East-West game was a rivalry game — and a game he had to win.

“I appreciate Bernie probably as much as anybody in West Bend,” Graf said. “When I got here, he really made me feel welcome. He went out of his to be really gracious to me. Bernie’s just a class guy.

“But I wanted to beat him tonight.”

Hannah Knop scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Suns to a 56-39 victory over the Spartans on Friday night in an emotional game on and off the court.

On the court, it was the usual nerves and excitement for an East-West game.

Off the court, it was emotional because it was the first fundraiser for the newly established Rick Riehl Memorial Scholarship.

Riehl, a former East girls basketball coach who led the Suns to the 1984 state championship, died Nov. 29 from a rare brain disease. He was 67. In 13 seasons as East’s girls coach, he was 178-101.

Before the game, Riehl’s family spoke and applauded the West Bend community for their support.

“We are so pleased to be here,” said Donna Riehl, Rick’s widow. “Thank you.”

With the help of the Riehl fundraiser, the stands were about three-quarters full, one of the largest crowds for an East or West girls basketball game in recent memory.

“I think there was a lot of adrenaline,” Knop said. “Obviously with the amount of people here to honor Rick Riehl, it was an amazing environment.”

With all the hoopla surrounding the game, it was no surprise each team struggled early. But once they got into the flow of the game, the play picked up and turned into an entertaining game.

West’s Alex Rondorf scored the game’s first basket — a 3-pointer — about three minutes in to take a 3-0 lead.

Later, Knop made a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 7-4 lead, and they didn’t trail the rest of the game.

East controlled a lot of facets of the game, including defense and rebounding on both ends of the floor. However, Graf believed his team could’ve shot better in the half.

Because of that, East only 30-20 at halftime, which was fine by West.

“I think anytime with the team that I have, you have Alex (Rondorf), you have Marie (Ferris), anytime you’re within 10 points, that’s a doable margin,” McCarthy said. “We were right there.”

West got the first basket of the second half to cut the deficit to 30-22. But East scored the next six points to take a 36-22 lead and from there, West couldn’t get the deficit to less than 10 points.

Mired in foul trouble in the first half, East’s Katelyn Zettler entered the second half with about 12 minutes remaining and found her shot.

The senior scored 10 points in the second half on her way to 16 points for the game. She made a 3-pointer with less than four minutes remaining to make it 52-34.

“I thought she played real well,” Graf said of Zettler. “She came out in the second half, she played smart, she played confident.”

Graf was excited by the contributions up and down his bench. Amy Daley had eight points and 13 rebounds. Auburn Larson had six points and six rebounds, and Gabby Bland had six rebounds.

East outrebounded West, 49-35. The Suns had four players with at least six rebounds.

Graf also praised the defensive effort by Ciara Dricken.

West was led by Alex Rondorf’s 13 points — 10 in the first half. A 3-pointer with less than two minutes remaining in the second half was the only points Rondorf scored in the half.

Prior to the shot, West missed 14 straight 3-pointers.

“That girl may be the best defender in the conference,” Graf said of Dricken. “I don’t think anybody’s going to know it either. You watch her on defense, they can’t get a step on her because she’s just too fast.”

It is East’s seventh straight victory in the series.

“We needed the win,” Graf said. “I wanted to get back to .500. We’re 2-3 in conference play. I still think we can be even better.

“I feel like if we put 36 minutes together the way we’re capable, somebody’s going to get scorched because I know what we have in us,” Graf said.

East won the freshman game, 37-21, while West won the junior varsity game, 34-32.

Common Council to discuss fate of ‘Bridge to Nowhere’

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 17, 2015

Common Council to discuss fate of ‘Bridge to Nowhere’

Housing at old Barton school also on agenda

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

The bridge over the Milwaukee River behind the West Bend Theatre in downtown may be standing on its last legs.

At Monday’s West Bend Common Council meeting, the council is expected to go into closed session and discuss the bridge’s future, according to the council’s budget for its 6:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall, 115 S. Main St.

In addition, the next step is expected to be taken to turn the Barton Elementary School property into a multi-family residential district, which means a proposed residential facility is closer to reality.

Other agenda items include discussion about the Senior Center funding request, possible grant agreement approval with Senior Center Activities Inc. and a presentation of the 2016 capital improvement plan. A petition drive is ongoing to save the bridge, nicknamed the “Bridge To Nowhere,” which hasn’t been used in almost a decade. If the bridge is going to be saved, whether it’s worth saving and paying for its restoration are among the issues.

If the West Bend Theater isn’t refurbished and if funding falls short to restore the bridge, it will likely be torn down early next year.

Mayor Kraig Sadownikow has said he can’t support something that would cost taxpayers money.

City Administrator TJ Justice declined to comment on what the closedsession discussion will entail and what it may mean for the bridge.

However, he said if any action was going to be taken about the bridge by the Common Council from closed session, it won’t be until January.

The council will hear a proposal to approve an ordinance to rezone the former Barton Elementary School, 614 School Place, from institutional and public service district and single- family residential district to multi-family residential district.

“It is a necessary piece to allow that proposal to be advanced,” Justice said.

On Nov. 17, the council unanimously approved a proposal to negotiate a new contract with Kunkel Engineering Group.

On Monday, the council will be presented the contract for vote.

Kunkel, based out of Beaver Dam, was one of six firms to put in a bid to provide municipal engineering services to the city.

Some of the highlights of the contract include:

■ A two-year deal with option to extend one year at a time for up to three years.

■ A base salary of $118,000 per year which will not increase for the duration of the contract.

■ An established fee structure for project-specific tasks outside of the base contract; fees to be adjusted annually based on rate of inflation.

“It’s a significant step in that a two-year relationship and experiment is coming to a conclusion at the end of the year,” Justice said. “It breeds new life into a relationship that’ll be extended for at least another two years.”

At the Nov. 17 meeting, Justice said it is a “great proposal” and “it bodes well for the city.”

Also related to Kunkel and the city, a request is expected to be made for a lease agreement to have Kunkel offices at City Hall.

If approved, Kunkel will have a nearly 1,000-squarefoot office on the third floor of City Hall. The rate would be $10 per square foot per annum, equaling $833.33 per month. The term of the lease will last the length of the contract and either party will have the option to terminate the lease with a written, 30-day notice.

Alderman Ed Duquaine said in November, “We find value that they’re in City Hall.”

Cowboys’ Hayden returns home

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 15, 2015

Cowboys’ Hayden returns home

Former Arrowhead star gets praise from owner

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

GREEN BAY — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said an NFL player is either ascending or declining, never steady.

Nick Hayden has been on the upswing — maybe more than any other player in the Cowboys locker room — since the day he signed with the franchise.

“He has continued to go up and go up,” Jones said. “He is the poster child.”

Jones also said in the last three or four games, “We’ve lined up with as good of a front-seven as we’ve put on the field in many years.”

Hayden, an Arrowhead graduate and Hartland native, is in that mix, which is a far cry from where he was three years ago.

A sixth-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2008 by the Carolina Panthers, Hayden is sixth on the Cowboys in tackles, including tops on the defensive line.

When he got into the league, Hayden, 29, spent the first 14 weeks of the regular season on the Panthers’ practice squad. He played in two games in 2008, making his NFL debut Dec. 21, 2008, against the New York Giants. He started his second career game the next week against the New Orleans Saints and recorded two tackles.

He returned to the Panthers in 2009 and played in 10 games, with two starts. Then in 2010, he played in 14 games — with 10 starts. In 2011, he was cut by the Panthers in training camp and was out of football until signing with the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 7, 2011, and played in two games. In 2012, Hayden was completely out of football. He injured his ankle during training camp and was cut by the Bengals.

He never doubted his ability or worried if he’d get a chance to play pro football again.

“I know I’m good enough to play in this league,” Hayden said. “I’ve just got to prove myself.”

There is one reason why he believed that: family.

“I’ve got a daughter and wife at home,” Hayden said. “I play this game for them, to give them the better future, and my parents. They raised me the right way. They taught that relentlessness in me, just never give up and keeping grinding away, whenever an opportunity presents itself, take full advantage of it.”

Hayden signed a two-year contract Feb. 11, 2013, with the Cowboys and made an impact right away. He has played and started in all 47 games with the franchise since he signed with them.

“This game is a lot about luck,” he said. “I’m just glad they gave me a chance. It was hard being out that whole year. When I got my name called to come to Dallas and play for them, I knew I was never going to look back.”

In 2013, he posted career highs in tackles (51) and tackles for loss (two). Also in 2013, he played against Green Bay for the first time in Dallas. He had one solo tackle and two assists in that game, which Dallas led 26-3 at halftime, but the Packers won, 37-36.

“It’s always fun playing Green Bay,” Hayden said, minus the result.

He played in Green Bay for the first time in last year’s NFC Divisional playoff game.

“It’s overwhelming,” Hayden said of playing in Lambeau Field for the first time after growing up adoring the Packers.

And that’s not taking into account that it was a playoff game.

“It’s every kid’s dream growing up in Wisconsin, to play in Green Bay,” Hayden said.

“It was definitely exciting for the first time.”

Hayden said he wasn’t any more nervous or excited for the game than he normally is for a game. If anything, it being a playoff game was what elevated the nerves and excitement.

“Once the first play goes, you’re focused and dialed in,” Hayden said.

In 2014, he had a career-high 52 tackles and four tackles-for-loss.

On Sunday against Green Bay, he had four solo tackles and two assists, including one tackle-for-loss, in his second career game at Lambeau Field. For his career, Hayden is 0-3 against the team he loved growing up.

“Every time I come back I enjoy it,” Hayden said, adding he wished the results were different. “Any time you come here to play it’s great.”

He had more than 50 friends and family at Sunday’s game.

“Big shout-out to them for coming out and supporting me,” he said. “Just couldn’t get the job done.”

His greatest Packers memory was Brett Favre’s magical game against the Oakland Raiders in 2003 a day after Favre’s father passed away.

“It was unreal to see him do that,” Hayden said. “Growing up, I idolized him a lot. Just the way he played the game, the emotion he showed. I just tried to take that and bring it to my game.”

Hayden watched on television Favre’s emotional return to Green Bay on Thanksgiving when his number was officially retired by the Packers and was reunited with legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr.

“It was awesome to see Bart Starr, Favre and all the greats come back,” Hayden said.

Hayden is happy in Dallas, but he knows first-hand he can’t take it easy — nor does he plan to.

“You can never take anything for granted,” Hayden said. “This is how it is. You’ve always got younger players coming in trying to replace you. I just go in every year and just try to do my best and have my career year, every year.”

Packers run past Cowboys

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.) and Waukesha Freeman (Waukesha, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 14, 2015

Packers run past Cowboys

By Nicholas Dettmann

Conley News Service

GREEN BAY — Rain, sleet or snow, the best way to win football games in December, especially at Lambeau Field is to run the ball effectively.

The Green Bay Packers did that Sunday in their 28-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

“An excellent team victory today, this afternoon,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Very proud of our football team. We beat a very good football team in the Dallas Cowboys. They are very well coached. I thought the schematic challenges throughout the week and what went on out here today is what you live for and what you love about the competition in this league.”

Through a steady rain, which at times was close to a down pour, rather than the below-freezing temperatures and snow football fans in this state are accustomed to at this time of the year, the Packers gashed the Cowboys’ defense for a seasonhigh 230 yards on 44 carries, the highest output in the running game by Green Bay since rushing for 231 yards in 2004 against the St. Louis Rams.

“The line blocked great,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “They’re battling through injuries, all those guys, everybody who played tonight. I’m proud of those guys.”

Corey Linsley, the usual starting center for the Packers, didn’t play because of an injury. JC Tretter played in his place.

“It was a good job by them tonight,” Rodgers said.

The play up front was so good, Rodgers teased his offensive linemen late in the game leading by two touchdowns.

“I kind of teased them in the huddle there on the last drive and said we’re throwing it,” Rodgers said. “(I) got a couple funny looks in there from TJ (Lang) and Josh (Sitton), and I said, ‘I’m just kidding, we’re giving it to Eddie to finish this thing off.’” For Lacy, it was his third 100-yard game in his last four games, giving him 433 yards rushing (108.3 per game) in that span.

“Eddie’s extremely well liked,” Tretter said. “He’s a great guy. He’s a great teammate. So when he does something like this, you’re excited for him.”

He wasn’t alone. James Starks had arguably his best game of the season.

Starks had 71 yards rushing on 11 carries, including a 30-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give Green Bay a 21-7 lead. He also caught four passes for 32 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s a weapon for us,” Rodgers said.

Lacy and Starks combined for 195 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“The adjustments that our run-blocking unit was able to make throughout the football game and handle the number of things they threw at us was impressive,” McCarthy said.

The Packers improved to 94 with the victory and have a one-game lead in the NFC North over the Minnesota Vikings (8-5) with three weeks remaining in the regular season. The Packers have road games at Oakland and at Arizona before the regular-season finale at home against the Vikings.

The victory also puts the Packers on the doorstep of a seventh-straight trip to the playoffs and a fifth straight division title.

The No. 2 seed in the playoffs, which guarantees a first-round bye, is still mathematically possible for Green Bay. The Packers will likely have to win out, while Arizona will have to lose one of the games it doesn’t play the Packers — Week 15 at Philadelphia or Week 17 at home against Seattle.

If another playoff push is in the works for the Packers, Rodgers re-emphasized what needs to happen: run the ball effectively.

“We’ve got to run the ball in the winter time,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers finished 22 of 35 passing for 205 yards and touchdowns. In the second half, he was only 7 of 11 for 34 yards passing, but he didn’t need to pass the ball. That’s how good the offensive line played.

“I feel like they just played a better game than us,” Dallas defensive tackle Nick Hayden said. “We weren’t physical enough as a whole defense. It’s on us. We’ve just got to play better.”

“The physical part was the biggest thing,” he added. “Tackling, doing our assignments. Those were the main keys for them gashing us and they did a great job against us.”

For Hayden, it was a homecoming.

The former Arrowhead star had four solo tackles and two assists, including one tackle-for-loss, in his second career game at Lambeau Field. For his career, Hayden is 0-3 against the team he adored growing up in Hartland, including 0-2 at Lambeau.

Hayden said he had about 50 friends and family at the game.

“Every time I come back I enjoy it,” Hayden said, adding he wished the results were different. “Any time you come here to play it’s great.”

As for the Cowboys, they dropped to 4-9, but are still in the hunt to make the playoffs. They trail Washington and Philadelphia by two games in the dreadful NFC East with three weeks remaining.

Dallas isn’t going to give up, especially knowing they host NFC East-leading Washington in Week 17. Dallas beat Washington, 19-16, on Dec. 7. Washington beat Chicago on Sunday to improve to 6-7 and are tied with Philadelphia, which beat Buffalo, 23-20, on Sunday.

“This team hasn’t lost fight yet,” Hayden said. “It’s been a rough season for us obviously, but as long as these guys believe and keep going, fighting, we’ve still got a chance.”

Packers’ banged up O-line steps up

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Dec. 15, 2015

Packers’ banged up O-line steps up

Green Bay stays hot in December

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

GREEN BAY — Since Mike McCarthy took over as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 2006, winning in December has been commonplace.

Sunday’s 28-7 victory over the visiting Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field was the Packers’ fifth win in their last six December games, dating back to 2014. Green Bay is 18-3 at home in December under McCarthy, including winning 14 of the last 15.

The secret is simple: run the ball, especially at Lambeau. That’s what the Packers did, gashing the Cowboys defense, which ranked 15th in the NFL against the run going into the game, for a season-high 230 yards, the most by the Packers in a game in 11 years.

“That’s the way we need to play here at Lambeau Field and particularly that’s the way you have to play in December,” McCarthy said after Sunday’s victory.

In their last 20 games in December, the Packers are 16-4 and averaging 135.8 yards rushing per game. Plus, in three of the last five years, the Packers’ best output in the run game happened in a December game.

In 2014, the Packers averaged more than 190 yards rushing in four December games. This season, they’re averaging 148.5 in two games.

The surge shown in Sunday’s game is just what the Packers needed, especially with an offensive line that’s been banged up seemingly since training camp.

“The line blocked great,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Sunday. “They’re battling through injuries, all those guys, everybody who played tonight. I’m proud of those guys.”

On Sunday, starting center Corey Linsley was inactive. JC Tretter played in his place. On Friday’s injury report, each of the Packers’ offensive line starters — Linsley, David Bakhtiari, Bryan Bulaga, TJ Lang and Josh Sitton — were listed, with Bulaga, Lang and Sitton having limited participation in practice all week. Linsley didn’t practice at all.

“Those guys, they care about it,” Rodgers said. “They put a lot of time in, and it was a good job by them tonight.”

With the line playing well, running backs Eddie Lacy and James Starks shined.

A week after rushing for 4 yards on five carries Dec. 3 against Detroit, Lacy had his best game of the season. He rushed for a season-high 124 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. His previous high this season was 105 against Chicago on Thanksgiving. It was the third time in four games Lacy had at least 100 yards rushing in a game, the first time he’s done that in his career.

“I’ve always believed in Eddie,” McCarthy said. “I mean, we all make a couple bad decisions along the way. That doesn’t change my opinion on any player. He needed to refocus and he did that. You could see that from when we stepped on the field in the early week practice, Tuesday.”

Lacy’s bounce-back performance was popular amongst his teammates.

“Eddie’s extremely well liked,” Tretter said. “He’s a great guy. He’s a great teammate. So when he does something like this, you’re excited for him. ... It’s a great day for him.”

Starks also had arguably his best game of the season against the Cowboys. The 2010 sixth-round draft pick rushed for 71 yards on 11 attempts with a touchdown, and caught four passes for 32 yards and a touchdown.

Lacy and Starks combined for 251 of Green Bay’s 435 yards of offense against the Cowboys and scored three of the four touchdowns.

“We want to be a one-two punch and we want to go after teams aggressively like that,” McCarthy said.

Starks is also in the middle of the best season of his career.

He has 515 yards rushing on 128 carries (4.0 per carry). His career best is 578 yards on 133 carries in 2011, a year after he burst onto the scene for the Packers during the team’s run to the Super Bowl XLV title when he rushed for 315 yards in four playoff games.

And Starks has been good in the pass game this season.

He has career highs in receptions (39), receiving yards (369), total yards (884) and touchdowns (three).

“He’s a weapon for us,” Rodgers said.

Is Green Bay’s run game back and thriving? The Packers hope so.

“That’s what you need in the winter time, so we’ve got to keep doing that,” Rodgers said. “We’ve got to get Eddie his touches. Every time he’s had over 20 touches, he’s gone over 100 yards. (Then) you put James in there and you’ve got a great 1-2 punch, so we’ve got to keep finding ways to get them the ball and then have some good playaction stuff off of it.”

The Packers are on the road for the next two games against Oakland and Arizona before returning home to host Minnesota to finish the regular season. At 9-4, the Packers are on the doorstep of a fifth-straight NFC North title and a seventh-straight trip to the playoffs, which seemed almost unlikely when they lost four of five games after a 6-0 start.

“We’re putting ourselves in a position to get in the playoffs,” Rodgers said.