Two Hornets in All-Star Game

Andrew and Brent Jeske had one last stop on their high school football tour; the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star Game held at J.J. Keller Field, the home of the UWOskosh Titans. The pair of brothers were selected to play for the North in the small school team matchup on Saturday, both of them contributing to a dominant defense that held the opposing South team to just seven points. The North went on to claim victory, defeating the South 25-7.

Anyone familiar with the All-Star game will know that it is more than just the game. It is a week-long experience, with the members of the teams having several days of practice to familiarize themselves with both each other and a new playbook. The North team had two-hour practices twice a week at a UW-River Falls facility in preparation for the game, during which the players needed to learn a completely new style of play.

“Going from playing the same defense for the past four years to switching it up and playing a new one for a week; it was kind of different,” Brent Jeske, who played linebacker in Saturday’s game, said.

“It was a little intense,” Andrew Jeske added, who played defensive end. “We were a little out of shape, but it whipped us right back in.”

Not only did the two Jeskes need to step out of the comfort zone of the scheme that they were used to playing in, but they were also playing with completely new teammates as well. It was a bit of an eye-opener when Monday’s practice began and everyone could show off what they were capable of.

“It was very competitive, actually,” Andrew said of the practices. “I was with the defensive line, so we would compete with the o-line every day. Most teams we would play would have one three-star guy, but everyone there was the star player in their conference.”

“It didn’t really click until the first practice, when everybody was just as good, if not better,” Brent stated. “This week gave me a wake-up call. You go to the collegiate level and guys are just as good as you, that they are there for a reason.”

But while it may have come as a small surprise, it was more of a motivator than a deterrent.

“It was a lot of fun,” Brent said, “But it wasn’t really until the second day that we really connected. Everyone was kind of shy and didn’t really talk right away, but on the second day we really clicked.”

The new, temporary teammates could push each other in ways that they perhaps had not experienced before, and while it took a little bit of time, camaraderie was forged amongst them.

This teamwork was evident on the field Saturday, both on the field and on the sidelines.

Both offenses got off to slow starts, which is probably to be expected in games like these where some intricacies of the new schemes could not be learned in just the short time the team had with each other. However, the gaps in knowledge could often be made up for by the peer athleticism and the trust that they had built with their new teammates.

Both were on display on the first scoring play of the game, where the North’s Ashton Quade from Ellsworth caught a deep pass and then sprinted past the rest of the field for an 82-yard touchdown. Quade was caught up in a flurry of congratulatory head slaps and high fives from his newly acquired teammates, most of whom he likely had just met only a week prior.

The North built on this lead, scoring once more before halftime to go up 12-0. A turnover as they were trying to run out the clock, however, would set up the South with prime field position and they’d score with 13 seconds remaining in the half. Their lead may have been cut in half, but the North would not let momentum shift to their opponents. They dominated the second half, the offense supplying two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter while the defense held the South scoreless throughout the rest of the game.

The two Jeskes were on the field for a good portion of the game, often at the same time.

“It’s like I’ve got a permanent friend wherever I go,” Andrew said, “so that’s kind of awesome.”

“To share this with him, one last high school game, it was pretty neat,” Brent added.