Football preview: New coach Brandon Wilde hoping to guide Palmyra-Eagle back to playoffs

PALMYRA -- At 22, Brandon Wilde is very likely the youngest head football coach in the state.

Wilde, a 2020 Palmyra-Eagle High School graduate was tabbed to replace Quentin Cauffman, who stepped away after three seasons in late July after accepting a teaching position in Milton, on Aug. 1.

Wilde, the team's offensive coordinator for the past two seasons who is entering his fourth year as head varsity boys basketball coach, is doing his student teaching in the district as a physical education instructor this fall before graduating in December from UW-Whitewater.

The Panthers, who return six starters on both sides of the ball, are resolute in their goals for this season: make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

"Our goal is 100 percent to make the playoffs," Wilde said. "We haven't won a playoff game since 2005. Both years I made it (2018 and 2019) we lost in Level 1. We'd love to have the chance to win a playoff home game. In order to achieve that, we'll need to get to at least six to seven regular-season victories after back to back seasons where we went 3-6.

"We have boys who are juniors and seniors who have sniffed success and we have a chance to rally behind those guys, barring injury. We're really that thin.

"Our biggest thing is staying healthy since we are one person deep at every position. We have just 22 in the program and had to cancel our JV season. If our top seniors and juniors are healthy, we'll have a chance to compete and do good things."

Wilde, the state's passing yards leader as a senior in 2019, had success in the Air Raid offense as a player and is excited to see what the pass-first system will be able to accomplish this year after expanding the playbook in the offseason.

After two seasons in the backup quarterback role, senior Willson Jones ascends to the top of the depth chart. Jones has logged ample snaps in his career after Joey Brown got sidelined with injuries in each of the past two seasons, accounting for 16 touchdowns (11 through the air) in 2023, and presents a dual-threat capability that has Wilde giddy about his prospects.

"Willson has the chance to be the first guy in program history to pass for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards," Wilde said. "Willson is such a dynamic player and a State Track Championships athlete. He's spent a lot of time in the weight room to get his body ready. We'll rely on him to lead the run and pass game.

"We installed some empty power run plays for him that we had good success with last year. We'll ask him to carry it 15 to 20 times. Willson's special talent is making guys miss in space. With his experience now, the playbook is wide open for him to make plays with his arm and his legs."

Jones garnered first team all-conference honors in the Eastern Suburban last year as an offensive flex player.

Senior Brett Johnson will get the lion's share of the carries at running back, where he carried it 41 times for 142 yards last season.

On the outside, replacing first team all-league wideout Noah Taylor, who set a single-season school record for 13 receiving touchdowns, and Anton Temple, who caught 37 passes for 487 yards, won't be easy. Senior Dylan Walsh, who made 23 catches for 234 yards in 2023, will be the Panthers' premier pass-catching target.

"I really see Dylan stepping into Noah's role of running combo routes in the spread passing game," Wilde said. "In other formations, he'll bunt out to the outside and be the iso package guy, a role he thrived in last season, drawing double teams late in the season.

"We'll need to be creative to send him in motion for free releases. At 6-foot-2, Dylan can jump and possesses unbelievable hands. He'll get 10 to 12 targets a game and we expect him to have a huge breakout senior season."

Seniors Logan Lebanowski and Xavier Mishler plus junior Alex Harbison figure to be regular contributors in the pass-catching game as well.

Up front, senior Dylan Reiner will play left tackle, junior LJ Kollaszar gets the nod at left guard, junior Dalton Anton will play center, junior John Burrill will start at right guard alongside Gabe Schaefer at right tackle.

"Dylan is one of the team captains and a running back turned lineman who is also a wrestler and one of our tougher kids," Wilde said. "Kollaszar is a big weight room guy and another wrestler who has some experience on the d-line from last year but is new to the offensive line.

"Dalton has played both guard and center and is a super smart kid who is going to watch five hours of film a week and know the playbook like the back of his hand. He'll be the voice at the line of scrimmage getting our blocking set. John is the strongest kid in the school and a state champion in powerlifting for his weight class last year. We'll use him to pull, trap and run behind. Gabe steps in at right tackle for his older brother, Gavyn, who isn't on the team this year."

There will be changes defensively for the Panthers too, as Wilde tabbed his father, Kevin, the school's athletic director, to return as defensive coordinator, replacing Derek Reeves, who had been with the program for eight years and is focusing on coaching the school's track and field team.

"My dad is all about getting pressure on the quarterback and loading the box," Wilde said. "Last year, we had a tough time stopping the run against schools with bigger personnel. We'll be deploying a 3-3 stacked scheme this year with two stacked over the center and two stacked over each tackle and Brett in the middle as linebacker.

"That gives us seven guys focused on the run each play and we'll be manned up in the secondary with the other four. We will make it a priority to stop the run and get off the field on third down by sending six to seven guys on each play."

Kollaszar and Schaefer will start at the defensive end spots with Burrill at nose guard. Junior JJ Thomas, Lebanowski and Riener will play outside linebacker positions with Johnson manning the middle. Senior Lucas Skelton and Harbison will start at corner with Walsh and Mishler both starting at safety.

Palmyra-Eagle departs the Eastern Suburban for the Trailways Conference this season, a move that appears favorable on paper.

Wilde figures Johnson Creek, the unbeaten Trailways champ from 2023, along with Lourdes Academy figure to be the preseason favorites but is not counting out two programs -- Randolph and Cambria-Friesland -- who have had recent postseason success in Division 7.

"We didn't have the size or depth to compete in the ESC," Wilde said. "We were happy with our offense and would get in shootouts and then just run out of steam. In this league, we'll be facing a bunch of other teams that, like us, will be playing nine to 10 guys both ways.

"Johnson Creek under Tim Wagner is a great program that's always well-coached and prepared. Lourdes is known for great quarterback play while C-F and Randolph are diehard small football towns who like to pound the rock 40 times a game and try to outman you in the box. If we're looking to make the playoffs, we have to beat at least one of those teams."

2024 Panthers Schedule

Aug. 23 East Troy

Aug. 30 Kenosha Christian Life

Sept. 6 at Parkview/Albany

Sept. 13 Dodgeland

Sept. 20 at Johnson Creek

Sept. 27 Randolph

Oct. 4 at Westfield

Oct. 11 Lourdes Academy

Oct. 18 Cambria-Friesland

**All games start at 7 p.m.

Panthers Roster

Name Pos. Height Weight Grad Year

Alex Harbison HB|WR|CB|PR 5' 10" 150 2026

Willson Jones QB|S 6' 1" 180 2025

LQ McDonald OLB|WR 5' 8" 145 2026

Dain Dusing WR|CB 5' 5" 115 2028

Zane Sprager WR|CB 5' 10" 160 2026

Logan Lebanowski WR|TE|OLB 6’ 175 2025

Xavier Mishler WR|SS 6’ 1" 170 2025

Lucas Skelton WR|CB 6' 2" 160 2025

Stephen Harrison WR|CB 6’ 150 2027

Landon Ireland WR|CB 5' 8" 130 2027

Devon Semrad HB|OLB 5' 10" 155 2025

Dylan Walsh WR|PK|P|FS 6' 2" 165 2025

Ryan Brodzik QB|S 5' 8" 140 2026

Brett Johnson HB|WR|MLB 6’ 185 2025

Brody Harrison OG|DT 5' 10" 190 2028

Justin Thomas OT|OLB 6’ 180 2026

Dylan Riener OT|LS|ILB 5’ 11" 180 2025

Gavyn Schaefer OG|DE 5' 10" 245 2025

Aiden Jones OT|DT 6’ 165 2028

Gabe Schaefer OT|DE 6’ 220 2027

LJ Kollaszar OG|DE 6' 2" 215 2026

Lawrence Rupinski OG|DT 5' 10" 170 2027

John Burrill OG|DT 5' 10" 255 2026

Dalton Anton C|DT 5' 10" 230 2026