How the Warhawks got their revenge against the Waukesha teams
HARTLAND, Wis. — The Warhawks have been one of the most dominating football teams in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA). They have appeared in the state championship 13 times and won six of the championships since making their first appearance in 1993.
Aside from holding the record as one of the most appeared teams in the state, they are one of the few teams in Wisconsin that have won the championship back-to-back three times. After their 2015 state championship victory, their dominance declined slightly. But despite this decline, they have remained one of the most challenging teams for any of the Waukesha teams to beat.
The 2020 season was a trying time for the Warhawks. Cam Gonring, the defensive coordinator of the Warhawks, was away from the team for the whole season because he had COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator for weeks. It was a big blow to the team as most players were fond of him.
“It’s kind of hard to accept that he might not come back for the rest of the season,” linebacker Brayden Arnett said about Coach Gonring’s absence.
Then came head coach Matt Harris, who joined the team in early 2020. However, it usually takes some time for players and a coach to blend.
“Matt is an innovative offensive coach,” Ryan Mangan, the activities director at Arrowhead High School, said on the appointment of Coach Harris as head coach. “(He) gets the most out of the talent available.”
While the Warhawks were trying to remain afloat despite the absence of their coach and getting used to their new coach, they received another big blow of the season. They lost 13-31 to Waukesha West on Oct. 23, 2020, on their home ground. This was the first time any Waukesha team had won against the Warhawks since 2017. Unfortunately, even the innovative ideas Coach Harris came with couldn’t save the Warhawks from that defeat.
But by the time the 2021 season came, Coach Harris and his boys had put all that was needed in place to get their perfectly sweet revenge against the Waukesha teams. The Warhawks opened the season against Marquette at Hart Park in Wauwatosa. In their second game, they won with a comfortable score of 38-22, then narrowly lost to Homestead 22-23.
On Sept. 3, they hosted the first Waukesha team on their home ground. They beat Waukesha North with an impressive 64-6. A week later, almost a year after Waukesha West defeated the Warhawks, they had an opportunity to seal their name as one of the dominating forces in WIAA football.
Waukesha West hosted the Warhawks and, even in the Waukesha West’s home ground, the Warhawks dominated the game from the start to the final whistle. The game ended 49-0 in favor of the Warhawks without Waukesha West recording a point on the scoreboard. What a way to get revenge!
The Warhawks of Arrowhead went on to beat Kettle Moraine 16-8 the following week. They then hosted the last Waukesha team on Oct. 1. They dominated the entire game and recorded another impressive win of 54-13 against Waukesha South. The Warhawks concluded the season with two wins against Oconomowoc (21-14) and Kenosha Bradford (43-27), and two losses against Mukwonago (21-42 and 35-36).
By the end of the season, they had dominated all the Waukesha teams in the Classic Eight, where they finished 3rd ahead of Waukesha West, North and South, who came 6th, 7th and 8th, respectively.
The Warhawks showed that the best way to get perfect sweet revenge is to do it with class.
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