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 / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Davyn Edge, Sr., WR/LB, Platteville football
PLATTEVILLE — Platteville senior Davyn Edge did it all in last Friday's 47–46 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory over archrival Lancaster. Edge caught nine passes for 187 receiving yards and four touchdowns, scored a key two-point conversion in the fourth quarter after a lateral from teammate Zach McClain, then forced a key a fourth-quarter fumble — which was the only Lancaster drive of the game that didn’t end with a touchdown — on Lancaster's very next series. On the very next play he scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a 34-yard reception to give the Hillmen a 47–40 lead with 7:22 to play. Edge also finished the game with 11 tackles.
“Davyn played out of his mind and really proved how much he can impact the game on the football field,” said Arneson. “Davyn made so many amazing plays, like scoring the first touchdown right out of the half, to causing the fumble that gave us the ball back, to scoring a touchdown on the next play that got us up, and then taking a pitch from Zach on the two-point [play] and scoring it.
Edge scored on a 2-yard TD catch with 6:29 left in the first half, then caught a 26-yard pass to set up Riley Donahoe's 4-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left before halftime. Edge caught a slant pass on the first play of the third quarter, stiff-armed a Lancaster defender and took it all the way to the house for a 64-yard touchdown to pull the Hillmen within a point at 28–27. Edge caught a 9-yard Edge touchdown on 4th-and-6 with 3:29 left in the third, then scored a key two-point conversion on a lateral from McClain to give the Hillmen their first lead of the night at 41–40 with 9:28 left in the game. He finished his insane night with a 34-yard TD catch on a fly route one play after forcing a fumble midway through the fourth quarter.
“Davyn is a special player with special talent and I told him this all last year and to start the year. He knows how much he can positively impact the game and he is showing that on the field. The other thing that I love seeing from not only him, but the whole team, is their engagement with the youth and being great role models to them. They are showing that you can dominate/compete on the field with a fiery attitude and intensity, but you can also be sincere and kind off the field and be able to connect with others outside of football.”
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Ruah Franzmann-Simmert, Fr., and Kate Pronschinskie, Fr., Tri-State Homeschool girls cross county
Franzmann-Simmert finished second out of 115 runners two weekends ago at the 10-team Mount Horeb Invitational with a time of 19:03, behind only Mount Horeb senior phenom Abigail Sadler (18:07.5). Fellow Tri-State Homeschool freshman Kate Pronschinske placed ninth (20:25). Last Saturday the freshman duo placed second (20:07) and seventh (21:52) to lead the Lady Falcons to a second-place team finish at the annual Fennimore Golden Eagle Relays.
Brianna Kirsch, Sr., Lancaster girls golf
Kirsch followed up her conference-championship performance from a week ago, by shooting a 3-over-par 75 to win medalist honors by 12 strokes over Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton's Brooklyn Bussan (87) and led her Flying Arrows to the regional championship at last Tuesday's WIAA Division 2 Prairie du Chien Regional.
T.J. Pink, Jr., QB, Platteville football
Pink was nearly perfect in last Friday's 47–46 SWC victory over Division 6 #5-ranked Lancaster, completing 24 of 30 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns. Pink has completed 98 of 140 passes for 1,297 yards, 15 TDs and 5 interceptions in six games so far this year.
Blake Thiry, Jr., RB/WR/LB, Prairie du Chien football
Thiry ran for 173 yards and 3 TDs, caught three passes for 82 yards and a fourth score, and had a six tackles in the Blackhawks' 43–12 win over River Valley last Friday night.
Gavin Vaassen, Jr., WR/DB, Cuba City football
Vaassen hauled in five catches for a whopping 227 yards and two touchdowns in Cuba City's 40–0 blowout at Orfordville Parkview/Albany.
Nolan Wolf, Jr., QB, Lancaster football
Wolf's incredible performance was somewhat overshadowed due to his team's loss, but the junior QB completed 7 of 9 passes for 118 yards and three TD — all on fourth down plays — and rushed for 142 yards and another score on 21 carries in the Flying Arrows' 47–46 loss at Platteville last Friday night.
