PESHTIGO — The Peshtigo High School Football team is under new leadership, and new skipper Michael Berth and his staff have a singular focus: putting the fun back in football.
Berth, who has coached Peshtigo’s seventh and eighth-grade team for the past nine seasons, is excited to make the jump to the varsity level and revitalize the program.
“We have a whole new coaching staff, whole new offense, whole new defense, whole new mentality,” Berth said. “We are trying to make it fun to be a Peshtigo Bulldog and play football here again.”
Coming off of a winless season, Berth takes over a program in desperate need of some renewed energy.
“We haven’t been very successful on the scoreboard in the last couple of years,” Berth said, “but we are trying to get the kids to believe in themselves again, start scoring some points, making some tackles, hooting and hollering, get some people in the stands and get kids excited when they wear their jerseys on Friday nights.”
Peshtigo’s recent history on the gridiron shows only four marks in the win column in the last five seasons. The Bulldogs have lost 11 consecutive games dating back to a thrilling 30-20 win over tri-cities rival Marinette in 2022. The program’s last winning season came in 2018, when the Bulldogs went 7-3.
Berth, who graduated from Peshtigo in 2010, knows what it is like to be part of a winning program in Peshtigo.
He was a part of some glory years for the Bulldogs. During his tenure at PHS, the Bulldogs won 30 games culminating in a 10-2 mark during his senior season.
“I played here at Peshtigo,” Berth said. “My dad is coaching with me. He played here at Peshtigo. Our three younger coaches played at Peshtigo, and we want to get that excitement back about being Peshtigo. Instead of being a Monday morning quarterback, saying ‘oh they should do this, they should do that,’ when the opportunity arose, I said ‘hey let’s throw my hat in the ring’, and we are going to do everything we can to turn this thing around.”
Having coached at the middle school level Berth knows that the program has access to some very successful athletes.
“We’ve got talented kids, just for whatever reason it hasn’t fallen into place on the football field,” he said, “but I really think we are going to put the foundation down and turn this thing around this year.”
The next step is getting as many athletes into the program as possible. Entering the team’s final week of preseason preparation, the roster is composed of 36 players, a number Berth would like to see move into the 40’s.
“I wish we had five or six more kids, that would really help,” he said. “I got hired in March, and as soon as I got the job, I was up at the school going to the weight room and trying to get kids excited and interested in playing. When you’ve been struggling as much as we have, I think we have to sell them on the field instead of me just telling you ‘oh it’s going to be good, it’s going to be good.’ If we can start stringing some good games together, scoring some points, win a couple of games, I’m hoping next year that these kids tell their friends, ‘hey it is different, we are turning it around’ and then next year we could get up into the 40’s.”
While the team did not record a victory last year, there is good news for Bulldog fans.
That team featured only one senior, leaving this year’s squad with much more experience. The 2024 roster features 18 upperclassmen including a dozen seniors.
“This year we will have a much older team,” Berth said, “so I’m hoping we can count on those veteran guys.”
Among those veteran players are seniors Carter Roeder, Caleb Klimek and Canon Bickel who each earned 2nd-team All-Conference accolades last season, Roeder at Linebacker and Klimek and Bickel on the offensive line.
“We really want to lean on those guys,” Berth said. “We are starting a new offense, and those are going to be our pillars.”
Meanwhile, the 6’5”, 280-pound Jenson Schwittay gives the Bulldogs a big body to work with while Tristan Krejcarek and Dathen Sechen are fresh off of a trip to the WIAA State Championship track meet as part of Peshtigo’s record setting 4x100m relay team.
“Schwittay is going to be a mauler,” Berth said, “and Tristan and Dathen are really fast, and we want to get them in space.”
Nathen Kleikamp gives the Bulldogs another quality athlete that Berth expects to have a major impact.
“Last year, Kleikamp was playing whatever hodgepodge spot he could fit into,” Berth said. “This year he has given out great effort, and I expect him to be our starting running back. He’s giving 110% every time, and if you’re unfortunate enough to be in front of him when he’s running, he’s going to hit you.”
The Bulldogs will be tested immediately this season.
Their first two opponents, Coleman and Oconto Falls combined for a 19-6 record last year. Peshtigo will open the season Thursday when they host perennial rival Coleman.
The Cougars are coming off a 10-3 record, including a 46-6 win over Peshtigo and a 31-21 win over Luther in the WIAA playoffs.
“We play Coleman the first game, and I think that is a great way to start the season,” Berth said. “They have a well-coached team. They’re physical. That’s going to be a great measuring stick for us. In my opinion that’s going to be one of the best teams we play the whole year, and if we can come out and compete against them and establish ourselves against those guys, I think that will be a really good springboard for the rest of the year.”
Peshtigo will open its Packerland Conference slate at home against Mishicot on Sept. 6. The schedule also features home games against Surgeon Bay (Sept. 13) and Marinette (Sept 27) before they close out the regular season with three consecutive road games at Bonduel, Kewaunee and Oconto.
Peshtigo Bulldogs 2024 schedule
Denotes Packerland Conference game
Aug. 22 — vs Coleman, 7 p.m.
Aug. 29 — at Oconto Falls, 7 p.m.
Sep. 6 — vs Mishicot, 7 p.m.Sep. 13 — vs Sturgeon Bay, 7 p.m.Sep. 20 — at Southern Door, 7 p.m.Sep. 27 — vs Marinette, 7 p.m.Oct. 3 — at Bonduel, 7 p.m.Oct. 11 — at Kewaunee, 7 p.m.Oct. 18 — at Oconto, 7 p.m.
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