Milwaukee-area high school football top-10 countdown: No. 5 Muskego
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will be counting down our top-10 Milwaukee-area football teams entering 2023 with analysis and reporting from practice visits. These stories will be released in a one-per-day countdown leading up to Week 1 of the WIAA high school football season.
No. 5 Muskego
2022 finish: 10-2 (6-1 Classic 8, co-champion with Mukwonago), lost in the WIAA Division 1 Level 3 playoffs to Mukwonago, 27-14.
Key losses: FB Sam Steuber, TE Louis Schwabe, OLB Mitchell Sellhausen, DB Logan Lawonn, DL Tristan Mick, OL Liam McGuire, OL Liam Swiezynski, K Nolan Tomsyck
Key returners: QB Bradyn Horn, RB Ashton Krause, RB Max Schneider, TE Aiden Krause, OL Gabe Enerson, OL Dominic Schnier, ILB Jack Ploeckelman, DE Nick McCullough
Visit takeaways
As fall approaches in Muskego, championship expectations are high as usual for the Warriors. Dating to the 2018 season, the Warriors have either shared or won outright the Classic 8 Conference title each year with two state championships (2018, 2019) as well.
As coach Ken Krause noted, Muskego is used to mass departures each year, and entering the 2023 season that’s no different with his bell cow fullback in the Wing-T offensive attack and an all-state defensive back among the holes to fill.
It’s always valuable to have a returner at quarterback and the Warriors have that with senior Bradyn Horn, who broke the school's single-season passing record in 2022 with 1,287 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 58.5% of his passes. “I know for a lot of spread teams across the state, that doesn’t seem like a lot,” Krause said. “But Bradyn did an excellent job throwing the ball for us and that’s not something you hear from Muskego a lot. It came as a bit of a surprise to us too, but we believe in Bradyn and we’re happy to have him back.”
The Krause brothers are back with a healthy Ashton (503 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns) to help spearhead the backfield with Max Schneider (541 yards, four touchdowns), while Aiden should be Horn’s top target and a big one at that. Ashton missed some time last season with injury, but father and coach Ken and the staff expect big things from the back and his 6-foot-5 brother at tight end. “Aiden is one of the two to three best tight ends in the entire state,” coach Krause said.
The departures may be plentiful, but the Warriors have a strong 2024 class entering its final season with the program. Muskego lost four of its five top tacklers to graduation, but all-Classic 8 second-team linebacker Jack Ploeckelman returns, and the offensive line pairing of Gabe Enerson and Dominic Schnier should help keep the train rolling on the ground.
Biggest question mark
Can the defense replicate its dominance to help keep Muskego ahead in games?
The only team that allowed fewer points than Muskego last season in Classic 8 play was defending Division 2 state champion Kettle Moraine and its 69 points over seven games. Muskego allowed 20-plus points in just four games and two of those came to Division 1 state finalist Mukwonago. They won the other two (41-21 over Oak Creek, 23-21 over Arrowhead).
Out of the 11 Muskego defensive players on the all-Classic 8 teams (including honorable mention) last season, nine are no longer with the program. Ploeckelman and defensive end Nick McCullough are the only returners, with the former registering 78 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception last season, while McCullough was one of five Warriors with multiple sacks.
Can the Warriors keep teams off the scoreboard as efficiently as they did last year with new faces in bigger roles? That’ll be the key in how far this team goes in November.
They said it
“I’m so excited to get going again. We’ve got a great group of guys. I just wanna give a shoutout to Nick McCullough and Josh Schwulst. Those guys come out here every day and just ball out. We’re having fun. We’re gonna be good. I can guarantee you that. We’re gonna put out a good product here on Friday nights.” – linebacker Jack Ploeckelman on the defense and the season ahead
“Every year, we lose guys, but we always have guys stepping up at their positions. We lost some big targets last year like Louie Schwabe, but having guys step up at tight end like Aiden (Krause) and step up in other positions on offense helps us compete at all levels.” – quarterback Bradyn Horn
“We love it. We feel that championships and playoff success is the Classic 8. We are in the best conference in the state, top to bottom. Every year, we seem to have a state champion or a team in the state finals. You get so good playing such great competition, so by the time you get to the playoffs, you’re ready to go. As Bradyn Horn mentioned, we really do take it one day at a time. One practice, one weight room session, one film session at a time. We can never ever, ever, ever look ahead in this conference. There’s so many great players and coaches. I love the conference. I feel being in this conference has made our program better.” – coach Ken Krause
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee-area high school football tp 10: No. 5 Muskego
