MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Aug. 20–27)
Prep football season kick offs this Friday

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial

Prep football preview: Milk Can Game, Fennimore at Iowa–Grant, Friday, 7 p.m.

LIVINGSTON — The Fennimore football team opens the new season Friday night at Iowa–Grant

Position battles were decided at last Friday when third-year head coach Tyrell Rosemeyer got his first look at this year’s team against outside competition at last Friday’s four-team Prairie du Chien scrimmage.

“The scrimmage went well,” said Rosemyer, who is 6–13 heading into his third season at FHS. “The Golden Rule of scrimmages is that it is a good scrimmage is when your team comes out healthy and we accomplished that for the most part. We still have a lot of work to do with cleaning up some mental mistakes, but after the scrimmage it is clear that this team is physically ready to play good football.”

The biggest position battle decided last week was at quarterback in Fennimore’s new Gun Wing-T offense. 

Senior Ethan Sheckler held off a strong challenge from junior Dawson Crubel. Sheckler was the Golden Eagles’ starting quarterback a year ago and completed 35 of 81 passes for 443 yards, 2 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in six starts. He missed a pair of games with a broken bone in his hand, and Fennimore missed out on a Week 7 game against Parkview/Albany, when the Vikings had to forfeit due to a lack of healthy players.

Sheckler also rushed for a team-high 368 yards, one TD and five two-point conversions on 112 carries a year ago as a junior. Crubel completed 8 of 14 passes for 66 yards in his two starts filling in for Sheckler last year.

“Ethan is our starting QB going into Week 1,” said Rosemeyer. “Dawson and Ethan were neck and neck all pre-season, but Ethan’s running ability and senior leadership won him the starting spot for Week 1. Dawson will get reps at quarterback, wide receiver and special teams. As with every position, it is still a competition week to week to see who is the starter. 

“Dawson and Ethan have both blossomed at QB and the coaching staff has the utmost confidence in both of them moving forward this season.” 

The Fennimore offense also returns senior H-back (FB/TE) Drew Crubel (6-19 rushing), sophomore halfback Reece Kelley (20 carries, 98 yards), and junior linemen Corbin Demo (OT) and junior John King (G). Senior Matthew Winch is also back, but will start at offensive tackle this fall after playing running back a year ago as a junior. Senior Reece Ammon (C) and sophomore Brayden Washburn (G) will fill out the rest of the offensive line.

Senior Madden Crubel will share carries with Kelley, while sophomore Logan Koestler will compete for playing time at H-back. Junior Jude Kinney is starting at tight end, while juniors Shawn Jahnke-Fiedler and sophomore Brody Roth will start at wide receiver with juniors Corey Dresen and Casey Dresen rotating in.

Madden Crubel and Drew Crubel will start at defensive end and Demo and King will rotate at nose tackle in Fennimore’s new 3–5–3 scheme.

“The offensive and defensive line win games, so those positions are our top priorities as coaches,” added Rosemeyer. “We have shuffled some players around to get our best 11 players on the field at all times.”

Winch will again start at middle linebacker after leading the team with 60 tackles a year ago. Sophomore Cooper Imhoff earned a starting spot a inside linebacker alongside Winch and Sheckler after a strong week of practice and a solid scrimmage. Kinney will start at one outside linebacker spot, while sophomores Logan Koestler and Jakob Kretschman will rotate at the other OLB spot. Roth will start at one cornerback with the Dresen twins rotating at the other cornerback, with while Jahnke-Fiedler (14 tackles, 1 INT) returns as the starting free safety.

Friday's 53rd annual Milk Can Game will also be the debut for new IG head coach Hayden Link. 

Link, who works in the Office of Recruitment at UW–Platteville, has spent the last four years as an college assistant coach at UWP. This will be his 10th year of coaching football after previous stops at Green Bay East, Green Bay West, Menominee Indian H.S. and two high schools in Omaha. Neb.

"This is my first year wearing the ball cap of head coach," said Link. "I am anxious to get this Milk Can game going, but the scrimmage last Friday showed that we still have a ways to go. We struggled with run blocking but hopefully we'll have tightened that up this week because Fennimore's gunning for us."

Link inherits a rebuilding program that is coming off back-to-back three-win seasons, and a 12–32 stretch over the past five years.

After losing second-team All-R&V receiver/running back Ashton Schmitz (30-437-3 rec.) and option quarterback Cyle Steffl (50-96-656-6 passing, 117-550-4 rushing), Link will build his new-look spread offense around senior running back Gavin Hinderman (52-207-4 rushing), sophomore quarterback Brock Hinderman (EDIT: Hinderman missed Friday night's season opener with a shoulder injury) and senior Landon Friesen, and juniors Sam Lundell and Owen Wyatt, and sophomore Davin McHone will start at wide receiver. (EDIT: Senior Lucas Christensen starter at QB against Fennimore).

"The depth of our receiver room was a pleasant surprise when I arrived here," said Link. "The senior class has shown leadership and grit with a lot of new changes. They have bought in and it's made the transition smoother for everybody. The match-up between the Panthers and Golden Eagles was a conference game for more than five decades until IG left the SWAL (for football only) in 2020."

The 2024 season marks another year of a conference mover for the Panthers, who are now once again in the Six Rivers Conference for football, after playing two years in the Ridge & Valley, after two years in the SRC, after more than a decade in the SWAL. 

The Golden Eagles opened last season with a 30–12 non-conference win over the Panthers. Fennimore has beaten IG seven straight times dating back to a 13–6 win in 2016, but still trails the all-time Milk Can series 33–20. 

“I love how the Milk Can Game has become a Week 1 tradition and I hope it always continues,” said Rosemeyer, who played in four Milk Can games (2005–08) during his playing days at FHS. “I always think back to our Milk Can Games when I played for Fennimore and how competitive and fun those games were. They were some of the best games I was a part of in high school and the rivalry is still going strong today.”

MILK CAN GAME ALL-TIME  RESULTS
(Iowa–Grant leads all-time series 33–20)
YEAR WINNER SCORE
1970 — Fennimore 28–0
1971 — Iowa–Grant 7–0
1972 — Iowa–Grant 20–14
1973 — Iowa–Grant 26–0
1974 — Iowa–Grant 12–0
1975 — Iowa–Grant 25–0
1976 — Iowa–Grant 13–0
1977 — Iowa–Grant 22–0
1978 — Iowa–Grant 8–0
1979 — Iowa–Grant 35–6
1980 — Iowa–Grant 13–0
1981 — Iowa–Grant 12–0
1982 — Iowa–Grant 13–12
1983 — Iowa–Grant 3–0
1984 — Iowa–Grant 13–0
1985 — Fennimore 7–6
1986 — Iowa–Grant 27–6
1987 — Iowa–Grant 28–0
1988 — Iowa–Grant 42–6
1989 — Iowa–Grant 48–6
1990 — Iowa–Grant 20–18
1991 — Iowa–Grant 24–14
1992 — Fennimore 28–9
1993 — Iowa–Grant 35–0
1994 — Fennimore 33–0
1995 — Iowa–Grant 32–6
1996 — Iowa–Grant 37–7
1997 — Iowa–Grant 17–7
1998 — Fennimore 22–13
1999 — Fennimore 22–12
2000 — Fennimore 13–12
2001 — Fennimore 41–36
2002 — Fennimore 28–14
2003 — Fennimore 21–20
2004 — Iowa–Grant 27–17
2005 — Fennimore 18–0
2006 — Iowa–Grant 23–21
2007 — Fennimore 33–9
2008 — Fennimore 51–9
2009 — Iowa–Grant 24–0
2010 — Iowa–Grant 25–13
2011 — Iowa–Grant 20–0
2012 — Iowa–Grant 42–21
2013 — Iowa–Grant 27–7
2014 — Iowa–Grant 31–21
2015 — Iowa–Grant 22–12
2016 — Fennimore 13–6
2017 — Fennimore 28–8
2018 — Fennimore 35–0
2019 — Fennimore 36–8
2020 — NO GAME
2021 — Fennimore 47–0
2022 — Fennimore 30–12
2023 — Fennimore 30–12