Making an Impact on the Gridiron

As a youth football coach for more than 25 years, Bennie Lewis estimated that he taught the art of blocking, tackling, passing and receiving to “over 2,000” children as the leader of the Muskego Junior Warriors program.

A Muskego resident for the last 36 years, Lewis was told that he probably can’t go a day without bumping into one of his former players.

“It depends if I stay in the house all the time,” he said with a laugh. “But, yes, I usually bump into them at some of the oddest places.”

Lewis, who stepped away from coaching after the 2009 season, will be honored at the Muskego High School Gridiron Club’s fundraiser 4 p.m. Saturday at Matty’s Bar & Grille in New Berlin. Tickets are $15 and food will be served from 5 to 7 p.m.

Lewis coached at every level -- fifth through eighth grade – after taking over the Junior Warriors program in 1984.

Along the way, he prepared budding superstars and little-used reserves alike for high school competition.

“Over the years, I tried to tell kids, ‘Maybe you didn’t play a lot here. Maybe you won’t play a lot as a freshman, but you stay with it. You might develop into a good football player,’ ” Lewis recalled. “I’ve had several kids develop as a senior in high school.”

As for coaching highlights, there was not a shortage.

“Gee, I’ve had so many,” Lewis said after a pause.

At the top of the list would be three appearances by eighth grade teams in the Wisconsin All-American Youth Football League championship game.

After losing to Oconomowoc, 20-16, in the 1996 title matchup, Lewis helped guide the Junior Warriors to the championship in 2001 with a 7-0 victory over Thiensville-Mequon. It was the first title for the Muskego program since 1979.

Muskego won another championship in 2007 with a 13-12 victory over Cedarburg in what was called “one of the most exciting games in league history,” according to the AAYFL website (aayfl.org).

“He was very strict, but he could goof around with you at the same time,” said Nick Sindic, who played on the 2001 title team and was a member of the coaching staff in 2007. “You could really tell that he cared about everybody. He made sure that kids were having fun and getting along. He had that respect/fear thing working. We didn’t want to make him mad and let him down.”

Lewis was quick to share the credit for his success.

“Let me make one thing clear,” he said. “Coaching is maybe about 15 percent of it. You have to have players to be successful. At that level, I did.”

Turning 65 years old next month, the retired utilities engineer at Miller Brewing Co. has spent over half of his life in Muskego with his wife Carmen.

“We had a home in Milwaukee,” Lewis said. “We sold that and built a home in Muskego. We loved the area.”

Milwaukee’s loss turned out to be Muskego’s gain. Just ask the 2,000-plus football players whose lives he impacted.

“That is part of coaching at the youth level,” he said. “It comes with the territory.”