VIDEO CELEBRATION: Falcons win first football game in 2 years

Change has come for seniors, Central program

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

Sparked by years of frustration, a group of Westosha Central High School returning letter-winners wanted change, and made an immediate statement with a 58-0 drubbing of visiting Milwaukee Washington Friday.

The blowout snapped a 13-game skid dating back to Sept. 12, 2014 against Union Grove, when they defeated the Broncos 18-11 behind rushing touchdowns by then-sophomores Josiah McDermit and Logan Hughes.

The two were among a group of letter-winners that approached coach Tyson Mengel at the tail end of last year.

“These guys, at the end of last year, came in, and said ‘Coach, we want to change things,” Mengel said. “They get a lot of criticism at school from their peers.”

The criticism lit a fire under the Falcons entering the offseason, so they put in extra work and conditioning, and made each other accountable.

Senior receiver Austin Kurylo, another letter-winner, stated the blowout was redemption.

“It just felt good to make it known that all of our hard work has finally paid off,” Kurylo said. “It’s been getting people to hit the weight room, take part in our offseason workouts and make sure we are getting better.”

Less than three minutes into Friday’s contest, Falcons junior Keegan Jones sacked Washington quarterback Hunter Rushing in the end zone for a safety.

In the following possession, newcomer Samy Greco, who had eight carries for 68 yards, scored the first of two touchdowns on a 16-yard run to pull the Falcons ahead 9-0.

Defensively, the Falcons maintained pressure on Rushing, forcing him to throw an interception to senior Mitchell Sibilsky for a 34-yard touchdown return in the next possession.

Westosha Central capped off the 30-point first quarter with a senior Logan Hughes 1-yard run, followed by a Tre Williams 8-yard reception from McDermit.

Hughes, along with Greco and sophomore Nico Lemke, capitalized on Washington’s porous defense, Mengel stated.

“We noticed in the first drive that we could run up the middle on them,” Mengel said. “Their linebackers were not coming up very hard.”

Hughes, who had 11 carries, contributed 83 of the Falcons 222 yards on the ground and scored his second touchdown in the second quarter, taking it in for 25 yards.

“He was a total play maker, Logan Hughes, just give him the ball and run,” Mengel said.

To open the second half, Williams took a kickoff 89 yards before Greco added the second score on a 3-yard run to give the Falcons a 51-0 lead entering the final frame.

Ahead 51-0, Mengel pulled his starters, including McDermit, replacing him with sophomore Adam Simmons for the rest of the game.

The move was a phenomenal moment for Mengel.

“When I can turn to a starter, and say hey, we are going to pull you because we don’t need you anymore,” “That was the first time we have done that. It was good for me, it was good for the kids.”

Meanwhile, Lemke added the last score for the Falcons, pushing in for a 2-yard score.

With about two minutes left, Mengel and Washington coach Theoples Carney met midfield, where the visitors surrendered.

As clock expired, the Falcons squad rushed to the student section, where they received a loud applause from their peers.

“The school needed it, the students were having fun all night, it was a fun atmosphere,” Mengel said.