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The team is born
CNI Newspapers editor Mark Maley proposes the idea of creating a suburban all-star football team. Fourteen writers who cover football for CNI Newspapers, including sports staffers John Burlingham, Mark Hutchinson, John Rech, Steve Tietz and Doug Schmidt, come together to select the first-ever All-Suburban Team. It's a player-coach sweep for Nicolet as Ed Nwagbaraocha is named the Player of the Year and Bob Collins (pictured) the Coach of the Year. -
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NOW All-Suburban Football Team
A look back at the NOW All-Suburban Football Team, which was created in 1989. -
Datka does it
Germantown coach Phil Datka earns his only COY honor after orchestrating a switch fom the wing-t to the wishbone offense. The Warhawks average 32 points per game and finish the season 8-1. Franklin linebacker Jason Herrick earns the POY plaudit. "Pound for pound, he's the best player we've ever had at Franklin, and we've had some good ones," said coach Kevin Nettesheim. -
Greendale loses a leader
Greendale coach Steve Gavinski (pictured) passes away from cancer the week of the season opener. Jim Arens, Joe Schell, Rodney Mattrisch and Bob Carlson coach the team to an 8-0 mark in the Suburban Park Conference and earn the COY honor. Greendale's field is eventually named after Gavinski. Visit www.greendalefootball.com/gavinski.htm for more on the Greendale coach. Muskego running back Troy King is awarded the POY honor. -
'The best we've had'
Hamilton running back John Damato, who later goes on to coach the Chargers, is named POY after gaining 1,546 yards and scoring 21 touchdowns. He is called "simply the best offensive back we've had at Hamilton" by coach Stan Grove, who earns the COY award, -
Venne engineers turnaround
Carey Venne, shown in his current job as head coach at Waukesha North, is named COY after leading Cudahy to a 9-0 record a year after going 0-9 in his first season. Greendale defensive lineman Matt Reischl garners POY honors after making 77 tackles and six sacks. -
Unertl starts a streak
Hamilton junior running back Matt Unertl, who goes on to play at the University of Wisconsin, earns his first of back-to-back POY honors. He rushes for 9.2 yards per carry and 31 touchdowns. Muskego's Dennis Johnson is the COY after the leading the Warriors to a 9-0 campaign a year after going 5-4. -
State champ earns honor
Eisenhower coach Jeff Setz is named the COY after leading the Lions to the Division 3 state championship. Hamilton's Matt Unertl is named POY for the second consecutive season after rushing for an average of 186 yards per game and 34 touchdowns. -
Wauwatosa East's All-Purpose Player
The Red Raiders' Jake Wolter, a four-year letterwinner in four varsity sports, earns Player of the Year honors after excelling on both sides of the ball. Wolter gained 1,304 yards rushing, caught seven passes, threw for 292 yards, returned kickoffs for 258 yards, picked off five passes and had 28 solo tackles. Wolter is currently the Tosa East head coach. -
Ray earns high praise
St. Francis coach Doug Sarver calls running back John Ray "The best football player I've ever coached." The senior is named POY after breaking 13 school records, including rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, career yards and overall touchdowns. Brookfield Central's Rick Synold is named the COY after leading his team to a 9-2 mark, including six consecutive victories. -
Muskego senior anchors the line
Muskego guard Mike Saddy (#73) becomes the first lineman to earn the Player of the Year award, helping the Warriors stage an effective ground game. He's named co-POY with Cudahy running back Chris Mitacek. Brad Knoche is named Coach of the Year after leading South Milwaukee to its first-ever state playoff victory. Cudahy QB John Navarre, meanwhile, a future record-setter at Michigan, made the team on the DL. -
Record-breaking back
Homestead back Demetrus Johnson earns POY honors after breaking 12 conference rrecords on the way to 1,504 yards and 24 touchdowns. Franklin's Scott Zwirschitz is named the COY after leading the Sabers to a 7-2 mark a year after going 1-8. His team posted one of the season's biggest upsets in a 19-14 victory over rival Oak Creek. -
Calhoun runs away with award
Oak Creek's Brian Calhoun averages 11 yards per carry and scores a school-record seven touchdowns in the season-opener on the way to earning the POY award. He later played for Colorado and a season for the University of Wisconsin, setting the single-season record for total touchdowns and rushing touchdowns before being drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. -
Finding the end zone
Cudahy's Pierre Rembert collects 28 touchdowns and 1,960 yards. on his way to POY, helping the Packers go 9-0 in the regular season. Rembert, who later played at Michigan, was part of a sterling All-Suburban backfield that also included future University of Wisconsin rushers Booker Stanley (Whitefish Bay) and Brian Calhoun (Oak Creek). -
Strickland finds a hole
Brookfield Central's Ben Strickland is named POY after gaining 1,660 yards, including a school-record 316 against Brookfield East. Future first-round NFL draft pick Joe Thomas anchored the offensive and defensive lines for the Lancers. Both played at the University of Wisconsin. -
The Sack Man
Highly recruited Oak Creek lineman Rhyan Anderson is named POY after sacking the quarterback 27 times in his senior campaign. The 6-foot-6, 259-pounder was born in Florida and spent parts of his childhood in Kansas, South Carolina and Oklahoma as his stepfather was transferred to different jobs in the military. West Allis Central's Ken Krause is named COY. -
Co-POYS make their mark
Co-Player of the Year Ben Hempel rewrites Franklin's record books, finishing his career as the most prolific passer in state high school history, amassing 9,508 yards and 93 touchdown strikes. Oak Creek senior linebacker and future NY Giants tight end Travis Beckum dominates with 108 tackles, including 38 for loss and 16 sacks. -
Indians' record-breaker
Falls senior Ryan Gorecki breaks his own school records, rushing for 1,895 yards and 33 touchdowns despite having 100 fewer carries than the season before. -
Brunner steadies the line
Greendale's Eric Brunner becomes only the second lineman to be named the Player of the Year. The 265-pounder had 12 tackles for loss, six sacks and helped the team rush for 1,276 years as an offensive lineman. Brunner takes his career to Division 1 Illinois State, where he becomes a two-time first-team All Conference choice in the Missouri Valley. Brookfield Central coach Doug Lange is named COY after leading his team to the Division 2 state title game a year after going 2-7. -
Hennessy stays smooth
Greendale quarterback Mike Hennessy earns Player of the Year honors after leading his team to a 22-game conference winning streak over several seasons. A key moment came when he led the Panthers on a game-winning drive in the third overtime against New Berlin Eisenhower to keep the streak intact. He became the second of three straight Greendale players to earn the POY honor. As a junior, Hennessy quarterbacked the Panthers to the Division 3 state title game. -
Ericksen credits mother for his success
Greendale end Ben Ericksen earns the POY honor and credits his mother, who passed away when he was in eighth grade, for providing inspiration. "My mom used to tell me 'You can always do anything as long as you put your mind to it,'" he said at the time. He followed former teammate and fellow All-Suburban POY Eric Brunner to Illinois State, playing for the NCAA Division 1 Redbirds team. Whitnall's Rob Leboeuf was named Coach of the Year. -
Title-winner adds to hardware
Menomonee Falls' Cole Myhra is named POY after leading the Indians to the Division 1 championship game. He rushes for more than 1,700 yards and 22 touchdowns. Falls head coach John Baker is named the COY. The only team that defeats the Indians all year is Marquette, which takes down Falls in the Greater Metro Conference regular season, 27-7, then gets the best of Falls in the state championship game in Madison, 7-0. -
The Year of the QB
Franklin's Lance Baretz is the best signal-caller in the area, earning POY honors after finishing with 7,048 career passing yards and 75 touchdown passes. He then joined the University of Wisconsin as a preferred walk-on. Tom Swittel is named COY after his is first season at Brookfield East, in which he led the Spartans to the playoffs for the first time since 2003. -
Muskego's Gruettner a master of all trades
Jordan Gruettner never left the field his junior and senior seasons for the Muskego Warriors. The 2011 NOW Newspapers Player of the Year helped the Warriors to a 9-2 mark while excelling as a running back, lead blocker, punter and place kicker. -
James leads Brookfield East to new heights
Brookfield East's Alec James caps a brilliant senior season by being named the NOW All-Suburban Player of the Year and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Player of the Year. James was a force on defense as he led his team to a school-record 10 victories. He recorded 97 tackles, 12 sacks and four forced fumbles. He will be a scholarship athlete next season at the University of Wisconsin. -
Greendale's aerial specialist
Greendale junior Josh Ringelberg is named the All-Suburban Player of the Year after an all-state season. The Ringelberg-directed Panthers averaged 40.5 points per game as he completed 66.4 percent of passes for 2,902 yards, 40 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He also ran the ball for 583 yards and 10 touchdowns. -
Dual threats, dual winners
Zack Baun lit up the scoreboard as a running and passing threat for Brown Deer, leading the Falcons to one of their best seasons. He joined Greendale's Josh Ringelberg as Co-Player of the Year. -
Another surprising run for Homestead
Homestead's Dave Keel wasn't chosen as All-Suburban Coach of the year three years earlier when his team stunned Waunakee for the Division 2 state title. But in 2015, Keel picked up his second COY honor in the three years since, leading the Highlanders to another surprising run toward gold.
