EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a new web-only feature that will publish each Friday throughout the calendar year.
Belmont senior Jon Bahr was everywhere in the Braves' 44-18 victory at River Ridge last Friday night.
Bahr did his best Johnny Manziel (the college version) impression on offense darting around Ridge tacklers while also airing it out from the pocket. Bahr piled up 125 yards rushing and three first-quarter touchdowns to stake Belmont to a 19–6 lead. He also completed 9 of 14 passes for 158 yards and pair of touchdown strikes in the game and had a 40-yard punt return in the opening quarter. For good measure, he made a pair of interceptions on defense to cap an all-around fantastic evening earning this week's Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week.
Bahr scored on runs of 6, 37 and 6 yards in the first quarter surpassing 100 yards rushing in the first 12 minutes. He added a 26-yard TD pass to classmate Quinn Cushman on 4th-and-goal early in the second quarter adn added a 18-yard TD pass to sophomore Isaac Wiegel in the third quarter before leaving the game with an apparent hip injury.
Belmont is now 2–1 overall and 2–1 in the Six Rivers Conference after Friday's win. The Braves opened the season with a heart-breaking loss to Black Hawk on Aug. 22 at UW–Platteville when the Warriors scored in the final 27 seconds of the game to pull out a 32–27 victory. Belmont rebounded a week later when Bahr scored the only touchdown on a short run in the pouring rain and the Braves held on for a 6–0 over Shullsburg.
"The boys played a very good football game," said Belmont head coach Jason Weittenhiller. "We moved the ball both on the ground and throught the air. The offensive line played a great game. They were making large holes and gave Jon plenty of time to throw the ball."
HONORABLE MENTION:
Lydia Murphy, Fr., Lancaster cross country
Murphy burst on to the scene with third-place finish at the Darlington Cross Country Invitational last Saturday. She finished the 5,000-meter course in 21:03 and led the Lady Arrows to a third-place team finish out of 11 complete teams.
Brayden Johnson, Sr., Iowa-Grant football, Running back
Johnson rushed for 221 yards and five TDs, and also threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to ignite Iowa-Grant's 54-12 rout of Boscobel. Through three games, Johnson leads the SWAL in rushing with 573 yards and nine touchdowns on 100 carriers for the 2-1 Panthers.
Ryan Roling, Jr., Platteville/Lancaster boys' soccer, Forward
Roling had an impressive week scoring five goals and passing out two assists to lead the Hillmen co-op to a pair of SWC victories over River Valley and Richland Center. Roling assited on a goal, then scored the eventual game-winner in the 61st minute of a 4–3 win over visiting River Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Then Roling recorded his first career hat trick, exploding for four goals and an assist in Platteville/Lancaster's 6–0 shutout at Richland Center Thursday, Sept. 3.
Jaden Komprood, Sr., Darlington cross country
The senior standout won the individual title at the Darlington Invitational Saturday by a 47-second margin with a winning-time of 16:41 leading the Redbirds to the boys' team title and Darlington to a team sweep. Komprood paced a group of seven Redbird runners who all finished in the top 15 of the 15-team event. The boys' easliy outscored Albany 32–99 for the crown. Darlington edged Albany 56–62 to the girls' title.
VInce Momot, Sr., Platteville cross country
Momot finished sixth overall out of 170 runners with a time of 16:39 at Saturday's Verona Invitational. The defending SWC boys' individual champion finished first in Division 3 and led the Platteville boys to second-place finish in Division 3, just eight points behind La Crosse Aquinas, 62–70.
Madison Kuhl, Sr., Southwestern volleyball, Setter
Kuhl passed out a team-high 51 assists and served up 18 aces to lead the Wildcats to the championship of the Ithaca Touranment. Southwestern (8–0–1, 1–0 SWAL) swept Weston, Wauzeka and Ithaca to win the title.
