The game of football, along with all other sports, has been known to create family-like bonds through experiences on the field. However, at Homestead High School, family on the field is taken to a whole other level with two pairs of brothers starting for the varsity football team.

This story starts way before this current football season; The Bruner brothers, Jake, senior, and Mike, sophomore, and the Woldt brothers, Tyler, senior, and Bradley, sophomore, have a long history of playing sports together.

Tyler Woldt and Jake Bruner have been playing sports together since they were young. They were on the same youth baseball teams, and they even won the state championship together with their seventh grade basketball team.

Brad Woldt and Mike Bruner were in all of same middle school sports teams together and were on the same traveling baseball team for six years, and through the countless hours of practice and road trips, the families became close friends, and the boys best of friends.

Now, all of them are big factors in the success that the Highlanders have had throughout the season.

Mike and Jake Bruner both play on the defensive side of the ball, and were both named first team All Conference.

“As defense, we consider ourselves one big family, and, ironically, I actually have someone out there blood related,” Jake Bruner said. “That’s really something special since it is not something that happens very often. Being out there is something we have talked about since we were little, and both of us getting named first team All Conference, along with the year we are having, only makes things that much more special.”

Jake Bruner has played on varsity since his junior year and was on the scout team his freshman year when the Highlanders won state. This is Mike Bruner’s first year on the varsity team, and his impact has been felt throughout the entirety of the season.

Jake and Mike Bruner have always been competitive, but this season has brought them to a new level of competition. “The Bruner brothers have a unique form of  ‘encouragement.’  They push each other through competition.  They both want to be better than the other… if you didn’t know better, you would think they didn’t like each other in practice,” Coach Matt Wolf, defensive coordinator, said.

“During practice, there’s always a competition between us. If Jake does something wrong, even if it’s a little mistake, I will call him out on it, and he does the same for me. Although there is a lot of rivalry between us, we have become better friends throughout the experience,” Mike Bruner said.

Jake has had his best season this year with 61 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery, and Mike has had 31 tackles and two sacks.

With the Bruner brothers taking care of business on defense, the Woldt brothers have had an impact on Homestead’s fast-paced offense and special teams.

Tyler Woldt has stepped up to be a big contributor to Homestead’s offense, having 286 receiving yards on the season and four touchdowns, including a game winner in the state semifinal game against Chippewa Falls.

Bradley Woldt has shown his speed on his punt returns. He has returned nine punts and has averaged 21 yards per return. One of his nine had gone all the way for six points.

“This opportunity is what I’ll miss about playing with Bradley. We grew up and played sports together all of our lives, and one day it’ll all be over,” Tyler Woldt said.

Both Bradley and Tyler Woldt play on special teams as well as offense. Bradley has played a little bit of everything this season; he started off as running back and punt returner, and now, in the last couple of games of the playoffs, was put in on defense at middle linebacker.

“Both Michael Bruner and Brad Woldt have really elevated their game and made a significant impact on our season. It is truly exciting to be working with such talented young men who work very hard to be successful,” Head Coach Dave Keel said.

The families have nothing but gratitude and pride for being able to see their boys play together on the same field one last time. With all of them playing so well, it is no surprise that Mr. Bob Bruner, father of the Bruner brothers, would say that he is “living the dream” when it comes to watching his boys play together at a high level of competition.

“It has been an amazing season and so much fun to watch both sets of boys playing together for Homestead. Since the second grade, these boys have grown up together as friends, playing on different travel teams–baseball, basketball and football. Usually with Jake and Tyler playing one way, Mike and Brad somewhere else,” Mr. Rick Woldt, father of the Woldt brothers, said.

Not only is there a family relationship, but all four of the boys have been friends since grade school, creating something like a family of their own. In fact, Mr. Rick Woldt and Mr. Bob Bruner took on the role of coaches throughout the kids’ middle school sports, including both little league baseball and Cardinal football.

“We literally have grown up with those kids, running each other to practice and games and carpooling. That’s why we think it’s so special for them to play together now. It’s those four boys right back in it,” Mr. Bob Bruner said.

“Jake and Tyler were two people I have always looked up to while playing sports. I’ll really miss not having them here to push me to get better in everything that I do. I look at them both as my big brothers,” Brad Woldt said.

Now, all four of them have the chance to compete together one last time at the highest stage of high school football: the state championship game at Camp Randall.

The brothers have made memories that will last a lifetime, and, along the way, all four of them have become more than friends: they have become a family, both on and off the field.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Hannah O'Leary

Mike Bruner, number 34, celebrates with the defense after a big stop against a very good Whitefish Bay team.