Fortunately, despite the very dismal '97 season, the team returned 15 veterans, combined with a very strong draft, made for a very talented, deep team, one with size speed, experience, and ALOT of heart...All which helped Coaches Tellep and Guzay lead the team to not only its first winning season in two years, but also to its 2nd championship, going from worst to first.....

After starting off with a tough 7-0 loss to a tough Irish team in the blistering sun, it looked like it was gonna be 1997 all over again....But, that all changed in the very next game against the Lions when fullback Mike Bezak hit wide open halfback Ronnie Greenfield with a perfect 40yd pass on the 1st play of the 3d quarter to break a 0-0 tie, soon followed by Davey Solomons 10yd td run, and they won their 1st game in 2 yrs, 12-0, and turned the season completely around... The team then reeled off 8 straight wins, including a 13-7 win over the Irish to put them into a first place tie, which is how they finished the regular season with identical 5-1 records....This set up a one game playoff between the two, in the beginning of a grueling playoff schedule, playing 4 games in the next 10 days...They beat the Irish 18-6, making them 1st place winners of the regular season....They then went on to badger the Badgers 33-8 in the first round of the playoffs, then Lash the Lions in the title game 33-12 to make them Lakewood Middle School Champions of 1998!!!!!!...

In a rematch of old rivals, a young but tough Lions team had upset the Irish with an impresive 13-0 shutout, and were once again coached by Rich Green....The Lions were going for the 3-peat, a streak that had started with their victory over the Hawkeyes in the '96 title game....The Hawkeyes moved the ball well to open the game, behind their all-world backfield of Mike Bezak, Ronnie Greenfield, Davey Solomon, and Pete Lazard, a big strong line led by tight end Keith Richards, Mike Johncock, Jamie Utrata, Matt Paul, Mike Strover, Derrin Lewis, and a suffocating defense...Derek Lewis was starting outside linebacker and also led the 2nd quarter team on both sides of the ball..

The Hawkeyes scored first on a pass from QB Pete Lazard to TE Keith Richards, the extra point failed and the team lead 6-0 going into the 2nd quarter...But, on the first play of the second quarter, the Lions broke a 65yd td run off tackle to tie the score....Thats the way the half ended tied 6-6...But in the second half, it was all Hawkeyes, led by Bezak's running and Ronnie Greenfield's defense....First it was FB Mike Bezak scoring around left end to make it 12-6, and they never looked back...Ronnie Greenfield scored on an interception, his third such score in three games, followed by Bezak and Greenfield both scoring on broken pass plays, then followed by a Greenfield td on an option play from Bezak, and with Lazard completing extra point passes to Richards, when the dust had cleared, it was 33-6...the Lions scored a meaningless td while all the 2nd and 3d teamers were playing at the end of the game...The Hawkeyes had the win and the championship!!!! They completed an amazing turn around, from worst to first!!!!

"...these were finest group of young men we've ever had the pleasure to coach..." - The Hawkeye Coaches

1998 RECORDS...

OPP ------	SCORE -------	REC ------	PLACE --------
Irish	0-7	0-1	3d
Lions	12-0	1-1	2nd
Badgers	21-6	2-1	2nd
Irish	13-6	3-1	1st (tie)
Lions	12-6	4-1	1st (tie)
Badgers	33-6	5-1	1st (tie)
Irish*	18-6	6-1	1st
Badgers**	33-8	7-1	1st
Lions***	33-12	8-1	Champions!!!
* 1st place playoff game	** 1st round playoff game	*** title game

1999 ...As much fun as 1998 was, 1999 wasnt... After such an exciting and fun 1998, expectations were sky high for 1999...Unfortunately, reality was what they got, and finished the season at 0-7....There were only 8 veterans that returned from the '98 championship team....the team was made up mostly of 6th & 5th graders....Each team had about 10 5th graders...And, to make matters worse, Coach Tellep missed alot of practice time due to work. Coach Guzay certainly had his hands full..The team was very young, and unexperienced...They took their lumps early, but hung in, and worked hard and by the end of the season they were very tough, especially defensively, but just couldnt seem to get over the hump offensively ....They fought hard, but always seemed to come up short, like in their overtime loss to the Irish in the last regular season game..They fought back to tie the score at 6 in the final 2 mins of the game, only to miss the extra point...Then lost in overtime on yardage....They were eliminated from the playoffs the following week by their archrivals, the Lions, 6-0, in another very hard fought battle in a very cold sleet storm....The team overcame alot of tough breaks, they worked very hard, the coaches coached very hard, the supporters supported very hard, they all tried every thing they could think of, but in the end, they just fell short......It was a very tough, frustrating and disappointing season for all....Not the way they were hoping to end the decade and the century... But, hopefully, the kids learned alot, and had some fun along the way, because, thats what its all about.............1999 saw the return of 5th graders, in a big way...About 55, in all came out for football this year....Squad size was up to 30 per team......it also marked a change in quarter length...1st, 3d, & 4th quarters were changed to 7 mins...and 2nd quarter was changed to 10 mins...and halftime was shortened to 2 mins....1999 also saw the return of exHawkeye star player Adam Solomon...this time as assitant coach to help with the backs, and the 2nd quarter team...his help was greatly appreciated.

HISTORY PAGE 4 (2002-)
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