CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Evan Gates and Skylar White

Lancaster RB scores school record 7 TDs, White leads Ridge past Benton

Lancaster senior Evan Gates rushed for 271 yards and tied a 66-year-old school record with seven TDs in Friday's 5634 victory over Westby.

lan fb gates — Lancaster senior Evan Gates rushed for 271 yards and tied a 66-year-old school record with seven TDs in Friday's 5634 victory over Westby.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.

Evan Gates, Sr., RB, Lancaster football

A year ago, Lancaster’s Evan Gates led the entire state of Wisconsin in rushing with 2,294 yards on 283 carries, making him a marked man entering his senior year.

Friday night the Lancaster standout matched a 66-year-old school record when he rushed for seven touchdowns in a 56–34 non-conference victory over visiting Westby to help legendary Lancaster head coach John Hoch secure his 300th career victory. Gates’ 37-carry, 271-yard, 7-TD game earned him a share or this week’s Mast Water Technology SWnews4U.com Athlete of the Week award.

Gates scored on runs of 1, 14, 18, 10, 2, 3 and 9 yards to match the previous school record set by Ken Irish against Fennimore in 1951. The 6’2”, 190-pound running back now has 824 yards and 13 TDs on 108 carries though four games, and is currently fifth all-time in Lancaster history with 3,491 yards rushing, 774 yards behind Trevor Landon’s school record of 4,277.

“He’s running harder with each passing week,” said coach Hoch, who is now 300–115 in his 35th season as head coach. “I can look through the plays though and I think there were five or six that I called where he was going to get the ball. The other 30 were all off the option.”

Hoch became the seventh coach in state history to reach 300 wins and he is currently fourth among active coaches behind Saint Mary’s Springs Bob Hyland (441), Edgar’s Jerry Sinz (395) and Waukesha Catholic Memorial’s Bill Young (325).

Skylar White, So., MH/OH, River Ridge volleyball

The sophomore standout had an incredible seven-day stretch to lead the undefeated Timberwolves (11–0, 5–0 Six Rivers West) to three straight conference victories, including a key five-set win over defending conference champion Benton on Tuesday night.

In victories over Potosi last Tuesday, Belmont on Monday and Benton on Tuesday, White averaged 16 kills, 10.3 digs, 2.3 blocks and 2 aces in the three matches. White floored a team-high 17 kills, with just three errors in 53 attempts, and had 11 digs, three blocks and two aces in the 25–22, 22–25, 25–23, 18–25, 15–8 victory over the previously unbeaten Zephyrs (12–1, 4–1 SRC). In Monday’s 25–13, 25–16, 25–21 sweep of Belmont she posted a double–double of 14 kills, 16 digs and two blocks and last Tuesday against Potosi she has 17 kills, five dig, four aces and two blocks.

White and the Timberwolves will look to keep their record perfect Saturday at the four-team Cassville quadrangular.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):

Ian Barry, So., Fennimore boys cross country

Barry posted a pair of top-5 finishes last week to lead the Fennimore boys. First, the super sophomore finished second at the Westby Invitational on Tuesday with a time of 17:16.6, then placed fourth out of 126 runners in the small schools division of Saturday’s River Valley Invitational with a time of 17:14.28.

Ethan Bernhardt, Sr., QB, Platteville football

Bernhardt had the rare perfect game for a quarterback, completing 8 of 8 passes for 146 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first 15 minutes of the game, as Platteville made quick work of visiting Onalaska Luther (2–2) 41–0 in a non-conference game last Friday.

Preston Bousley, Weston Morley and Aaron Pulvermacher, Southwestern/Cuba City cross country

Seniors Boushley (18:10), Morley (18:15) and Pulvermacher (18:21) finished second, third and fourth to lead Southwestern/Cuba City to the boys’ team title at the eight-team Clayton Ridge Invitational on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Kelsie Goffinet, Sr., S, Benton volleyball

Goffinet had a stellar week leading the Zephyrs to a pair of Six Rivers West victories and the championship of the eight-team Seneca Invitational. Goffinet also passed out her 1,000th career assist in Thursday’s sweep of Shullsburg. Goffinet had 29 assists in Tuesday’s 25–9, 25–11, 25–21 victory over Cassville, then passed out 25 assists and had 12 digs in the 25–16, 25–11, 25–15 win at Shullsburg two days later. On Saturday, she passed out 72 assists and served up five aces as the Zephyrs (12–1, 4–1 SRC) went 5–0 to win the Seneca Invite, including a 25–21, 13–25, 18–16 win over the host Indians, that defeated Benton in a sectional semifinal match last year.

Abby Kaiser, Sr., OH/MH, Potosi volleyball

Kaiser posted 55 kills, 60 digs and a team-high 17 aces to lead the Chieftains to a perfect 5–0 record and the championship of the six-team Lancaster Invitational on Saturday. Kaiser, who enters Thursday night’s match with Benton just seven kills shy of 1,000 for her career, also led Potosi (10–3, 3–1) to a sweep at Cassville last Thursday night, posting 18 kills, 19 digs and three blocks.

Brody Milz, Sr., LB/RB, Black Hawk football

Milz played a signature role on both sides of the ball in Black Hawk’s 22–20 Six Rivers Conference victory over sixth-ranked Pecatonica/Argyle Friday night. The senior recorded a career-high 29 tackles, including 12 solo stops, made an interception and accounted for 138 yards of offense, two TDs and a two-point conversion. He ran 16 times for 82 yards and two TDs, caught one pass fro 11 yards and completed a pass for 45 yards.

Jace Serres, Jr., Platteville boys cross country

The Platteville junior finished eighth out of 196 runners with a time of 17:06 to earn one of the 15 medalist spots at Saturday’s 28-team Luther College All-American Invitational, which feature runners from three states (Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota).

Kordell Stillmunkes, Sr., RB/LB, Cuba City football

After a bumpy start against SWC favorites Platteville and Lancaster, the Cubans have found their groove in Southwest Wisconsin Activities League play. Friday night, Stillmunkes ran 18 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns, caught three passes for 51 yards and another scored and forced a key second-half fumble in Cuba City’s 30–6 victory over previously unbeaten and fifth-ranked Fennimore (3–1, 1–1 SWAL).