SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Darlington's Zeke Zuberbuehler

Senior QB accounts for 5 TDs in rout of second-place Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg

Darlington senior quarterback Zeke completed 10 of 14 pass attempts for 197 yards and four first-half touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 67 yards and 39-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, and intercepted two passes on defense to lead Darlington to a 42–16 victory over Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg in a battle for first place in the SWAL. - photo by Casey Lindecrantz

Zeke Zuberbuhler 2026 — Darlington senior quarterback Zeke completed 10 of 14 pass attempts for 197 yards and four first-half touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 67 yards and 39-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, and intercepted two passes on defense to lead Darlington to a 42–16 victory over Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg in a battle for first place in the SWAL. - photo by Casey Lindecrantz

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

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial

Zeke Zueberbuhler, Sr., QB/DB, Darlington football
DARLINGTON — The Division 5 #1-ranked Darlington Redbirds haven't had to rely on the capable passing abilities of senior standout Zeke Zuberbuehler this year.

But in last Friday's first-place showdown with visiting Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg Zuberbuehler and the 'Birds aired it out in a dominating 42–16 victory over the Knights to clinch at least a share of another Southwest Wisconsin Activities League conference title.

The Division 1 Air Force Academy recruit completed 10 of 14 pass attempts for 197 yards and four first-half touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 67 yards and 39-yard touchdown early in the third quarter as Darlington (7–0, 5–0 SWAL) raced out to a 42–0 lead before BSMS's Connor Doyle scored on a pair of four-quarter TD runs during running time. He also made two tackles on defense and intercepted a pair of passes to end BSMS drives.

The do-it-all Zueberbuehler passed for 1,376 yards and 19 TDs, rushed for a team-high 1,261 yards and 21 TDs, recorded 45 tackles and five interceptions (for 127 yards and 1 TD) on defense a year ago to lead the Redbirds to the WIAA Division 6 state title.

He opened Friday night's scoring with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Dempsey three minutes into the game, then connected with Levi Lancaster for a 45-yard score three minutes later.

Dempsey and Zuberbuehler connected again for a 9-yard TD pass early in the second quarter, then Calum Crist hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the half and Yasser Andino-Andino's fourth extra point made it 28–0.

Following Friday night's outburst, Zuberbuehler has now completed 40 of 58 passes for 710 yards, 10 TDs and 1 interception, and rushed for 384 yards and 6 touchdowns on 67 carries.

The Redbirds will look to clinch the outright SWAL title tonight at Cuba City (5–2, 2–2 SWAL). The Cubans upset SWC co-leader Prairie du Chien (5–2, 4–0 SWC) in a non-conference crossover game last year.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Owen Drier, So., Richland Center/Ithaca boys cross country
Drier (15:50.4) held off Dodgeville/Mineral Point senior Johnny Robinson (15:56.2) to win the boys’ overall individual title at Saturday's 58th Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational while leading the Hornets (89) to a second-place team finish in the large school division behind McFarland (61).

Ruah Franzmann-Simmert, Sr., Tri-State Homeschool girls cross country
Franzmann-Simmert zoomed to the overall individual victory in the girls’ varsity race at Saturday's 58th Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational, beating the field of 186 runners with a winning time of 17:53.6, more than five seconds faster than Mount Horeb sophomore Isla Odgers (17:58.9), the girls large school division individual champion, who led the Vikings (30) to the large school team title well ahead of runner-up Monroe (96). The TSHS Falcons only had four varsity runners Saturday and thus did not have a complete team to place in the team standings.

Alaina McGowan, So., Darlington girls cross country
McGowan finished second in the small schools division and fourth overall at at Saturday's 58th Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational with a time 18:36.5 to lead the Redbirds (61 points) to a third-place finish in the small school girls standings behind Southwestern/Benton co-op (34) and Lancaster (58).

Toay Ragatz, Jr., QB/LB, Lancaster football
Ragatz completed 6 of 8 passes for 187 yards and 2 TDs, and rushed for a team-high 142 yards and four more scores to lead the surging Flying Arrows (3–4, 3–1 SWC) to their third straight victory, a 49–14 Homecoming win over River Valley (0–7, 0–4) last Friday night.

Kinley Richard, Fr., Platteville girls cross country
Richard, who only began running cross country this year, broke her own school record for the second time in eight days at Saturday's 58th Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational to lead the Platteville girls (128) to third-place team finish in the large school division. Richard finished 10th overall and seventh in the large school division with a new school record time of 19:09.2. Richard first broke Platteville’s girls 5K record the previous Saturday at the Janesville Craig Midwest Invitational with a time of 19:20.80.

Hunter White, Sr., RB/DB, Potosi/Cassville football
White carried the load for the Chieftains, rushing for a game-high 198 yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries, and scored the game-winner on a 5-yard run with 2:14 left to lift the short-handed Potosi/Cassville co-op to a 33–27 Six Rivers Conference victory at Wauzeka–Steuben/Seneca last Saturday afternoon.