After four challenging games, Huskies ready for Bulldogs

West Allis - While it appears at first glance that the West Allis Hale football team was just the victim of another blowout by Sussex Hamilton in Friday's game, the Huskies were definitely once again competitive.

The final score read 51-17, which was on par with the Chargers' 42-3 thrashing of Marquette earlier this season, but a closer look at the box score reveals that the game stood at just 24-17 for Hamilton at the half.

"Sussex is an extremely physical and disciplined football team," Hale head coach Brandon Ehret said. "(The Chargers have) a very explosive offense with one of the top backs in the state (Drew Patterson, who ran for 258 yards).

"I thought we were able to match their big plays in the first half, which kept us in the game."

Hamilton tallied again in the third period to go up 31-17, then finally put away the Huskies with three more scores in the fourth quarter.

"We had some things go wrong for us that we couldn't afford to have happen playing the second-rated team in the state," Ehret said.

Who will get its first win?

Hale slipped to 0-3 in the Greater Metro Conference and 1-3 overall heading into the annual city rivalry game with West Allis Central at 7 p.m. Friday at the West Allis Athletic Field.

"We have another great opportunity in front of us, playing against Central, and as always, our kids are looking forward to the challenge," Ehret said.

The Bulldogs are also 0-3 in the GMC after a tough 28-14 loss to Menomonee Falls on Friday. They have had some trouble establishing an offense in conference play, scoring only a combined 27 points in the three games.

Sophomore quarterback Will Konecny passed for 51 yards against Falls, while Waige Fischer and Jason Alvarez both scored rushing touchdowns.

Central does have plenty of athletes, and the rivalry game is usually a tossup. The Bulldogs won last year's contest, 32-7.

Against Hamilton last week, Alex Schwab caught a 13-yard yard slant pass for a score from quarterback Nick Sotiros in the first period, then Taylor Manz connected on a 37-yard field goal with 7 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half.

Sotiros found Taylor Tomczak with an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to close out the Huskies' scoring.

He finished 16 of 35 passing for 140 yards, but Hale was still outgained 516 yards to 207.

The Huskies completed a demanding season-opening run against Lake Geneva Badger, Brookfield Central, Marquette and Hamilton.

Badger is favored to win its conference and the other three shared the GMC crown last year.

"We knew that this stretch of games was going to be a difficult one," Ehret said. "We've come a long way in a short period of time and will continue to improve week in and week out."