EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal
Eli Adams, So., RB/DB, Potosi/Cassville football
POTOSI — Trailing by five points after one half of play, coach Mark Siegert’s Potosi/Cassville football team wasted little time in the third quarter, taking control of the game with four consecutive touchdowns, all coming from sophomore running back Eli Adams en rout to a 48–26 Six Rivers Conference victory over Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg last Friday night.
Adams scored on runs of 63, 7, 34 and 5 yards, while classmate Roman Friederick made three extra-point kicks to give Potosi/Cassville a 41–20 lead going into the fourth quarter. Adams also threw a 15-yard TD pass to senior Robby Roe in the first half.
“We just had some questions we needed to have answered at halftime, and those guys really did a nice job of answering those questions,” said Siegert.
Adams concluded the game with 178 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries, giving him an average of 14.8 yards per attempt. On the season, Adams has carried the ball 32 times for 488 yards and seven TDs for an impressive average of 15.2 yards per carry, mostly in the last two games since joining the starting lineup to fill in for injured senior Ashton Spitzack.
“He’s very talented, especially for a sophomore, to be able to step in and provide those kinds of minutes and production, it’s pretty impressive,” Siegert said of Adams. “He hasn’t gotten a ton of touches, but every time he does he’s very explosive.”
Siegert was also quick to give credit to the offensive line, for making holes up front, and to the rest of the offensive unit for key blocks downfield.
“When you have these big plays, or put up those kind of yards, you know that the line is doing their job, but also when you have those explosive plays that go for 50 or 60 yards, you know that there has to be blocking downfield,” Siegert explained. “It’s not just the O’line, but it’s also the backs, the wideouts and flanker, who have to be blocking downfield in order for those to spring.”
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Logan Drone, Sr., QB, River Ridge football
Drone needed just eight plays to total 231 yards of offense and three TDs in a 46–8 win over Pecatonica/Argyle last Friday. Drone rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns on four carries, while also completing 3-of-4 passing attempts for 70 yards and another score.
Emily Fields, Sr., Setter, Platteville volleyball
Fields passed out 20 assists and had 15 digs, three ace and three kills to lead the Hillmen (11–9, 2–1 SWC) to a 25–19, 31–29, 25–20 sweep of River Valley Monday night. Fields recorded her 2,000th career assist in the win and now has 2,009 in her four-year varsity career. Fields passed out 87 assists, had eight aces, six blocks and a team-high 31 digs in five matches at last Saturday's Middleton Invitational.
Peerson Kephart, Sr., QB, Southwestern football
Kephart completed 17 of 25 passes for 258 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rushed for 88 yards and two more scores on 19 attempts in a 28–12 victory over visiting Iowa–Grant last Friday night. Kephart's 346-yard, 4-touchdown performance helped the Wildcats improve to 3–1 overall and 1–1 in the Six Rivers Football Conference.
Mallory Olmstead, So., Lancaster girls cross country
Olmstead ran a 19:46.4 to win medalist honors and lead the Lancaster girls to the team title in the girls small schools race at last Saturday's River Valley Invitational. Olmstead finished first out 69 runs in the small schools division as Lancaster nipped runner-up Boscobel, 58–62, in the 15-team race.
Waylon Palzkill, Sr., QB/DB, Belmont football
Palzkill was 6-of-11 through the air for 113 yards with two touchdowns (38 and 10), and he ran the ball 14 times for 104 yards with two more scores (45 and 10) to lead the ground attack to guide the Belmont Braves to a 44–7 victory over Wonewoc/Weston in Southern Conference 8-player football action at BHS on Friday, Sept. 10.
Kylie Reuter, Sr., MH, Potosi volleyball
Reuter slammed a match-high 20 kills and had three blocks lead coach Jolene Murray’s Chieftains to a 20–25, 27–25, 25–15, 25–21 comeback victory over visiting River Ridge (7–3, 3–1 SRW) to give Potosi (15–1, 4–0 SRW) sole possession of first place in the Six Rivers West. Two days later, Reuter slammed 16 kills in a 25–13, 25–8, 25–12 sweep at Cassville Thursday night. Reuter then posted 70 kills and 23 blocks in seven matches to lead Potosi to a 6–1 record and a second-place finish at Saturday's eight-team Lancaster round robin tournament. The Chieftains' only loss was a three-set loss to the champion Flying Arrows. Every match of the tournament was best-of-three.