TONTOGANY — The Dzierwa family has been a part of the Otsego Football community for 18 years. They have
been there for the highs of winning the Suburban Lakes League title in 2005 and the lows of a winless
season in 2009.
Now with head coach Matt Dzierwa at the helm, and his sons Joseph and Noah leading the way on the field,
the program is finally able to claim a conference title once again.
It started in late 2002 when Matt was hired as an assistant coach for the Knights. Noah was just an
infant and Joseph wasn’t even born yet.
Neither was old enough to remember the last time Otsego won a league title in 2005, but today with Joseph
at quarterback and Noah at wide receiver, they certainly will never forget what they helped do 15 years
later.
“It’s pretty cool … us as a family, we’ve been in this family for quite a while now and it’s pretty cool
that we are going to be a part of something that hasn’t happened in a long time,” Noah said.
They both have had a large hand in the successful season. Going into the game this past Friday, Joseph
led the NBC in passing yards (1,155) and passing touchdowns (15). Noah led the league in receiving with
376 yards on 25 receptions.
All of that came through just five games. For perspective, in a full season of football, Joseph would be
on pace for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. Those are passing numbers that you just don’t see in the
run-heavy NBC.
Both brothers are gifted on their own, — and have a plethora of talent around them — but for Noah the
fact that his brother is throwing to him makes it that much easier.
“We know what we are doing at certain places and we just kind of know what is happening in the other
person’s head because we’ve been together for so long,” he said.
As the third piece to the puzzle, their dad isn’t too bad either.
“I mean he’s a pretty good coach, he teaches a lot outside of just football, too, with the players and
everyone, he teaches more about life than just about football,” Joseph said.
Families like this in sports aren’t uncommon, and every family has their different way of handling
things.
For many, it can be hard to find the separation from home life and life on the field, but for the
Dzierwas, that is something that they strive to achieve.
“Practice is practice, games are games, and you know we really don’t talk much at home about football. We
live it everyday, we live it in school,” Matt said. “Most of the time when we get home, we don’t talk
much about sports. There are other things to talk about which is fine but there needs to be a separation
and I think it is pretty healthy.”
Matt started teaching math at Otsego High School the same year that he was hired as an assistant football
coach. He sees his kids in class, on the practice field and at home.
He realizes that this can be both a blessing and a detriment, but he also said that it isn’t something
that every parent and child gets to experience.
“As a parent I mean you know I’m fortunate to be around my kids everyday, which is good and sometimes
bad. But for the most part it’s a pretty cool experience — you know there’s a lot of dads and parents
that would love to coach their kids. You know, be around their kids and I’m fortunate enough to have
that experience,” he said.
Being in high school only happens for four years and Matt just wants his kids to enjoy it, no matter the
outcome of the games on the field.
“In the end to be honest with you it’s high school football. You want to give the kids a great
experience, you try to make it the best for them if all possible but in the end it’s high school
football, they’re high school kids. They’re just kids,” he said.
The two brothers might very well take the field together for the last times in these 2020 playoffs set to
start next week.
“It gets emotional sometimes, just thinking ‘hey it’s almost done.’ Noah’s done in a couple of weeks and
that’s it and it’s over with, then I’ll go watch them play basketball and baseball,” Matt said. “It’s
bittersweet.”
