Lake Country This Month

Page 8A • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY AUGUST 2014 2 3 6 6 4 4 0 0 3 239557001 Grandfathers Wall • Mantel Chime Clocks Musicals • Cuckoos Pocket Watches OPEN Mon-Thurs 9-5:30pm Fri. 9-8:00pm Saturday 9-3:00pm $ 2,699 Reg. $ 4,754 $ 2,499 Reg. $ 4,408 $ 199 Reg. $ 375 3 Melody Choices $ 297 36" Oversized Wall Clock Clocks of Distinction! Little Swiss Clock Shop 270 W. Main Street • Downtown Waukesha 262-547-2111 www.LittleSwissClockShop.com FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS IN DOWNTOWN WAUKESHA For all things Waukesha go to LiveLoveWaukesha.com Waukesha's Information Station www.LiveLoveWaukesha.com Presented by The Waukesha Downtown Business Association FRIDAY NIGHT PERFORMANCE 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Check the schedule at WaukeshaFridayNightLive.com SATURDAYS 8:00 a.m. to Noon Come to the Market for fresh, locally grown produce, hot food, great gifts and friendly atmosphere! HEAR the sounds of Friday Night Live TASTE the products of the Waukesha Farmers' Market FEEL the Love & Life of Waukesha! ENJOY Shopping & Dining in Downtown Waukesha 239557002 Alzheimers Walk 10:00AM Frame Park 25 th Annual • 10:00 – 5:00 PM September 6 th Brookfield & Elm Grove T H I S M O N T H It's the most colorful of seasons! This autumn plan your next family-fun outing in Waukesha County. Check out our Fall Fun Guide for local events, concerts, pumpkin farms, haunted houses and much more! Inside the September edition. By Pat Neumuth Freeman Staff TOWN OF MERTON — Meat Loaf must have been out of his mind when he said two out of three ain't bad. Arrowhead High School football coach Greg Malling knows firsthand that two out of three is extraordi- nary. Three years ago, Malling took over for Hall of Fame coach Tom Taraska. The program was already at an elite level in the state, but Malling has taken the team to another level by winning titles in his second and third years running the pro- gram. Those back-to-back titles earned Malling The Freeman's Coach of the Year award. "He is supremely orga- nized in every aspect of the program and I'm talking about 12 months of the pro- gram," Arrowhead defen- sive coordinator Sal Logue said. "Also, just creating an aspect of team. Everybody is pulling in the same direc- tion and he's a master of that not only for the football program but for the athletic department." Not many people in the Arrowhead School District heard of Malling before he was hired. He coached foot- ball in Florida and Washing- ton D.C. before he applied for the Arrowhead position, wanting to be closer to his family in North Dakota. But he also wanted to be part of a such a successful program. "The welcome I got from the athletic department as a reception and how support- ing everyone is has made it easier, program-wide, department-wide, has made it a success," Malling said. "Part of it was timing, but it was also the quality of the school and the program." Malling said the task of taking over for Taraska was daunting. Taraska helped in what Malling called a chaot- ic first year, joining the staff as an assistant a few games into Malling's first year. "They helped teach me the culture of the program and the culture of the school," Malling said. "They also helped me adjust and point out some things that we had to tweak a little bit." Every new coach has his own system, and Malling's was much different from Taraska's style. Taraska uti- lized a power run game, while Malling incorporated a spread offense that passes a majority of the time. Ricky Finco, a 2014 gradu- ate, played varsity as a sophomore and, as a wide receiver, he loved the change. "He came up from Florida with the spread offense, and I'm pretty sure the commu- nity was a little skeptical with everything," Finco said. "But as it shows with what he did, it worked. It's going to work in the future as well. The community is behind him. We are all behind him, and he's defi- nitely lived up to that. "He lived up to the chal- lenge and succeeded." Finco said it took about a week to get used to the new playbook and to learn how to run new routes in the no- huddle offense. "After a week and a half, you snapped into it and it clicked for you," Finco said. "His preparation was unbe- lievable. In practice, he had his set things to do — a high-tempo practice, and he made sure what was on his sheet would get done." It has been a successful switch. Malling is 35-3 in three seasons (a .921 win- ning percentage). It's a small sample size compared to Taraska, but Taraska's career winning percentage in 361 games was .734. "When Greg came in, he put his own stamp on the program and they changed significantly on offense," Waukesha West coach Steve Rux said. "To win it back-to- back is the most difficult thing. Obviously, they play with emotion and enthusi- asm. He's done a great job over there." The offense is working. Last year, the Warhawks outscored opponents 466-146 and threw for 1,889 yards (134.9 per game). Even though Arrowhead stepped up its passing game, it was still predominately a run- ning team with 2,877 yards rushing last year. Malling and the Warhawks made it look easy in winning the state cham- pionship in 2012. A 41-21 vic- tory over Minnetonka, Minn., in the first week of the season was the closest margin of victory that sea- son. The 2013 season was much tighter, and Malling did an exceptional job getting through some adversity. Week 2 was the most antici- pated game in the state for the regular season, pitting defending Division 2 cham- pion Homestead against the Warhawks. Arrowhead was stunned with a 13-7 loss, with the Highlanders scor- ing the go-ahead touchdown with 1:42 remaining. "You win some and you lose some — and we just lost," Finco said. "He told us that this was a wake-up call and things won't be easy. That loss was probably the best thing that happened to that team." Malling said Homestead exposed some of the team's weaknesses, and that was the purpose of playing such a high-caliber team. Arrow- head plays Homestead again in Week 2 this fall before the tough Classic 8 Conference season begins. "It gave us time to work on those (weaknesses) over the course of the season. It was a huge game for us," Malling said. Another major coaching decision Malling made last year is always a tough one for a coach. Arrowhead now has two good quarterbacks in senior Blake Mielke and junior Johnny Duranso. Malling started the season with a two-quarterback sys- tem with Mielke getting slightly more snaps. Malling said Mielke is an incredible athlete, and Duranso has a lot of compo- sure. An injury to Mielke opened up more snaps for Duranso, who led the team on its playoff run. Malling said he struggled with trying to make the right decision. And he does- n't like how the quarterback position is often treated dif- ferently. "It's treated strangely as other positions," Malling said. "If you put in another three-technique, people understand. Sometimes, it's just a fit thing and all of that. It's not skills one above another. I think people get that for 21 of the other posi- tions — but not for quarter- back. Splitting time seems to be a bigger deal (at quar- terback), and I don't under- stand that." Last season had its trials and tribulations — which was hard work — but Malling said the majority of his work happens in the off- season. There are contact days, planning, condition- ing and team-building activ- ities. As the season nears, the coaches meet a little bit more, and the in-season work is all about adjust- ments. As for how much daily work he puts in the offsea- son, he said it's hard to quantify. "I watch (tape) like others watch TV — every time I get free time," Malling said. Malling credited his coaching staff with a lot of the success in his tenure at Arrowhead. He said any awards he receives as a coach have to do with the quality of coaches he has on the staff. Malling may have quality coaches around him, but he also knows how to motivate and get the best out of guys. "It's incredible to watch how poised and how suc- cessful he was at what he does," Finco said. "There's not many people that get what I'm saying unless you play for him. That's kind of what's special about him." Email: pneumuth@conleynet.com At a glance Who: Greg Malling What: Arrowhead High School football coach who is The Free- man's 2013-14 Coach of the Year Age: 40 Coaching experience: entering his 15th year of coaching, fourth with Arrowhead Wife: Ronne Education: went to high school in North Dakota, earned his bachelor's degree from Minot State University and master's degree from American University Occupation: English teacher at Arrowhead Recent coaching accomplish- ments: won his second WIAA Division 1 state championship last season Coach leads Warhawks to back-to-back state titles Malling finds stride at Arrowhead Freeman file photo Greg Malling led the Arrowhead football team to WIAA Division 1 state titles in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.Those back-to-back titles have earned him The Freeman's Coach of the Year award. 2013-14 FREEMAN COACH OF THE YEAR: GREG MALLING, ARROWHEAD FOOTBALL

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