Brookfield East thinking GMC championship

They’re so close, they can taste it.

That was the postgame mantra preached by Brookfield East head coach Tom Swittel following his team’s 44-6 dismantling of visiting West Allis Hale on Friday night.

By improving to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the Greater Metro Conference, the Spartans not only remained perfect but pulled even closer to claiming the school’s second-ever conference championship in football. The Spartans close out the season against Marquette and Sussex Hamilton, which sits in second place. If Hamilton and East win next week, the final game could potentially determine the conference title.

“If we can’t be motivated now, then we have a problem,” Swittel said. “Winning a conference championship is a goal we have. We’re close to being able to do that. It would only be the second time in school history Brookfield East has won a conference championship in football. We really want to get this done this year.”

If Friday night was any indication, the Spartans are showing no signs of letting up. The Spartans scored on their first possession on a 20-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Zach Damico to senior wideout Kyle Wirtz on a play that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

“That was a broken play,” Damico said. “We were out of sync a little bit; I had some miscommunication with the running back. I saw (Wirtz) run a bubble because that’s designated on the play, and he was open, so I just got it out to him and let him make a play on it.”

Damico said the breakdowns rarely happen, but he doesn’t panic when he’s forced to go off script.

“It doesn’t happen a lot, but it happens every once in a while,” he said. “I’m comfortable in those situations. I like getting the opportunity to see what’s out there and make a call.”

As the night wore on, it would only get worse for the Huskies, who fell to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in the Greater Metro. Damico added two 9-yard touchdown runs to go with senior linebacker Landon McDonald’s 20-yard fumble return and a field goal to put East up 31-0 in the third quarter.

The Huskies finally got on the board when senior quarterback Nick Sotiros hit senior wideout Travis Balcerzak for a 10-yard score on fourth down, but the outcome was decided by then.

Damico would score again from eight yards out, and backup Dylan Golla added a 1-yard score of his own to provide the stamp on the night.

“I did not expect to dominate this game, not at all,” Swittel said. “Hale has a quality football team. They’re good. We knew we’d have to play well tonight.”

Damico was efficient, finishing with 162 all-purpose yards on 9-of-13 passing, while East senior running back Zach Schober rushed 17 times for 128 yards.

“I just think we have to continue to put in all the hard work that we’ve been putting in all season and going back to the offseason,” Damico said. “It ultimately will pay off if we keep putting it together on Friday nights.”

With the ultimate goal within reach, Swittel said he was excited for the road ahead.

“It’s really more for the kids,” he said. “I’m just trying to win two more games. For them, they would go down in history as being a special class.”