EDITOR'S NOTE: The 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
Briggs Weigel, Jr., RB, Platteville football
PLATTEVILLE — It was Senior Night at Platteville High School last Friday, but it was junior Briggs Weigel and the Platteville running game that stole the show.
The shifty halfback rushed for a career-high 221 yards and five touchdowns on just 19 carries in a dominating 56–16 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory over Brodhead/Juda.
Platteville rushed for 451 yards, averaging almost 13 yards per carry, and seven of their eight touchdowns in the rout of the winless Cardinals (0–5, 0–3).
Weigels’ backup sophomore Jaxcyn McCartney rushed for a career-high 103 yards and another touchdown on just nine carries. Junior backup quarterback Randyn Schumacher, who was making his third start for injured senior Brody Digman, rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown, and added 145 yards and a passing touchdown on a 15-of-24 night.
Weigel’s rushing performance was reminiscent of Platteville legend Tom Wunderlin (1994–96), who finished his PHS career as the state’s all-time leading rusher with 5,703 yards (now 17th all-time) and 95 touchdowns on the ground.
Weigel did his damage Friday night behind the offensive line of juniors Will Wolfe (LT), Evan Estudillo (LG), Alex Barth (C), and seniors Gage Kastner (RG), Landon Donahoe (RT) and tight end Will Zielinski.
“We are really proud of the step forward our guys up front took,” said Platteville head coach Isaiah Altfillisch. “They played physical and did a great job establishing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We were really pleased with how we rushed the ball as a unit throughout the night and how we were able to establish the run.”
Weigel scored on a 5-yard run on Platteville’s first drive of the game, then after junior Schumacher broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run, Weigel scored again on an 11-yard run before the end of the first quarter.
Schumacher threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Zielinski early in the second quarter.
Weigel added a 1-yard TD run before halftime, and scored on runs of 28 and 1 yard in the third quarter.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Rianna Dye, Sr., MH, Platteville volleyball
Dye smashed a team-high 62 kills and recorded 18 total blocks in seven matches to lead the Hillmen to 6–1 second-place finish at last Saturday's eight-team round-round Edgerton Invitational. Platteville (22–3, 5–0 SWC) actually tied Madison Edgewood for the best record on the day, but the Crusaders were named the tournament champion via a head-to-head victory over Platteville. Dye went on to post nine kills and three blocks in a 25–17, 25–17, 25–20 sweep of second-place River Valley (19–5, 4–1) in a key SWC match Tuesday night.
Mackenzie Knuckey, So., Southwestern/Benton girls cross country
Knuckey won the girls' individual title ahead of runner-up Alaina McGowan of Darlington (19:03.9) with a winning-time of 18:54.4 to help the Wildcats finish third out of 22 complete teams at last Thursday's Boscobel Greg Bell Memorial Night Race.
Cole Schauff, Jr., RB/LB, Iowa–Grant football
Schauff led the charge in a 34–6 Six Rivers Conference victory over Potosi/Cassville last Friday night with a team-high 13 tackles and a forced fumble and fumble recovery. He also rushed for 36 yards and touchdown in the win. The first-place Panthers (4–1, 3–0 SRC) became the first team since Sept. 22, 2018 to hold the Chieftains (3–2, 2–1) without an offensive touchdown during regular season play.
Wyatt Temperly, Jr., QB/S, Belmont football
Temperly continued putting up video game-like numbers in the #3-ranked Braves' 44–12 victory over #8 Iola–Scandinavia last Friday night. Temperly rushed for a career-high 245 yards and three touchdowns, and completed 13 of 19 passes for 154 yards and two more touchdowns in the rout. He also recorded a team-high 11 tackles and one interception.
