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 / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
and A.J. Gates, Herald Independent
Hunter White, Sr., RB/DB, Potosi/Cassville football
JOHNSON CREEK — As quickly as their 18–0 lead had turned into a 22–18 deficit, coach Mark Siegert and his Potosi/Cassville football team flipped momentum back in their favor.
The visiting Chieftains rallied in time to secure a 48–28 WIAA Division 5 Level 2 playoff victory at No. 2 seed Johnson Creek Friday night.
The Chieftains ran for 392 yards on 39 attempts, an average of 10.1 yards per attempt, thanks to their two-headed monster in Hunter White and River Sahr. White, who set a new program record with six touchdowns, finished with a game-high 214 yards and four touchdowns on 14 rushing attempts. He also had two receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns, while also running and throwing for a pair of two-point conversions.
“Hunter White had a game,” said Potosi/Cassville head coach Mark Siegert. “I wish I had him on my fantasy team. He had a great night, and our offensive line obviously had a lot to do with that too, so they need to get some love for that. Both backs went well over 100 yards and we ran the ball for almost 400 yards, and for a level-two football game that’s not easy to do.”
Sahr wasn’t far behind his junior running mate, finishing with 178 yards and one touchdown on a team-high 23 carries.
Potosi/Cassville improved to 10–1 on the season, and will next host No. 5 seed Cashton (8–3), which upset No. 1 seed Black Hawk/Warren, 34–28, in South Wayne. The Six Rivers champion Warriors (10–1) gave PC its only loss of the year in the regular season finale three Friday’s ago.
Siegert’s squad also got a 31-yard touchdown run from White late in the first quarter and a 46-yard TD pass from quarterback Aaron Edge to White early in the second. On their first play of their fourth offensive possession, White raced 58 yards for what appeared to be another score, but was wiped out on a holding penalty and eventually an incomplete pass on third down forced Potosi/Cassville into its first and only punt of the game.
Receiving the kick to begin the second half, Johnson Creek methodically put together their second scoring drive of the evening, going 71 yards on 13 plays and scoring on a 10-yard TD pass. A successful two-point conversion pass made it 18–15 midway through the third quarter.
In an attempt to maintain momentum, the Bluejays executed an onside kick, which they recovered on the P/C 45-yard line. It took just one play for the home team to take the lead on a 45-yard run around end by Hartz, followed by the extra-point kick by Hayden Wagner.
With 7:28 to play in the third quarter, the visitors from Potosi/Cassville now found themselves trailing the host Bluejays 22–18. But coach Siegert’s squad responded with a four-play scoring drive that covered 67 yards and was capped off with a 45-yard TD run by White. The missed extra-point kick left the score 24–22 with 5:49 showing on the clock.
Johnson Creek’s next offensive possession ended with a lost fumble on their third play, which was recovered at the 49-yard line by Potosi/Cassville defensive end Ben Infield.
On their very next play, Aaron Edge found a streaking White down the middle of the field for a 51-yard touchdown pass, followed by a two-point conversion run by White to make it 32–22 in the blink of an eye.
The P/C defense got the ball back to their offense at the 24-yard line, and in one play, White was again off to the races, scoring on a 76-yard run to blow the game wide open. Sahr’s two-point conversion run gave P/C a commanding 40–22 lead with 1:23 to play in the third quarter. White capped the night with a 14-yard TD run with 7:02 to provide the final margin of victory.
Maddie Driscoll, So., Lancaster girls cross country
WISCONSIN RAPDIS — Competing in Division 2 for the second of their three-year promotion due to the WIAA’s competitive balance initiative, the Lancaster girls cross country team was represented by sophomore Maddie Driscoll and senior Kylie Olmstead this year.
Both were making return trips to the state meet, where Driscoll finished sixth at state last year as a freshman and Olmstead 22nd last year as a junior.
Driscoll had her sights set on capturing a D2 individual state title this season, but had to contend with Deerfield/Cambridge senior Emmerson Drobac, who not only was the defending state champion, but finished 40 seconds ahead of Driscoll a week earlier at the Deerfield/Cambridge Sectional.
With a first-mile split of 5:42, a second-mile split of 6:10 and a final 1.1 mile split of 6:37, Driscoll finished second of 150 runners with a time of 18:26.7.
Drobac, who captured her second individual state title, had a first-mile split 11 seconds faster than Driscoll, a second-mile split two seconds faster and a final 1.1-mile split four seconds faster.
“We knew it would be really tough to beat her, but the thing that I was really proud of was that was by far the closest Maddie has run to her,” explained coach Reynolds. “She cut a full 21 seconds off from how far she was behind her at sectionals. We wanted her to start aggressively and then kind of hold on for that middle mile. Maddie always finishes the third mile tough. It did get a little unnerving right before the two mile, where she got passed by an Assumption girl though."
“In that last mile we knew there was going to be some good competition in the pack with multiple girls that ran under 18 minutes. They all pulled up right behind her, but by the time I got about 500 meters from the finish I could see them coming and Maddie had reestablished second place,” Reynolds said. “When it comes down to the finish and it’s close, I’d put a lot of money on Maddie, because she always really, really digs deep. She has the toughness and the grit, and when you combine that with some serious foot speed, she really does a nice job finishing fast and tough."
Running in her final high school meet, Olmstead wanted to finish strong, and she did exactly that. With a first-mile split of 5:55, a second-mile split of 6:43 and a final 1.1-mile split of 7:19, Olmstead finished 27th overall with a time of 19:56.0.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Dante Glendenning, RB/LB, Darlington football
Glendenning rushed for 85 yards and 2 TDs, caught one pass for 21 yards, and made a team-high 12 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss, in Darlington's 35–6 WIAA Division 6 Level 2 victory over No. 4 seed Fennimore.
Mackenzie Knuckey, Fr., Southwestern girls cross country
Knuckey finished fourth out of 152 runners with a time of 19:15.1 in the WIAA Division 3 Girls State Cross Country Championships last Saturday at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
Brianna Vazquez, Jr., and Adalee Berget, Sr., Darlington girls cross country
Vazquez placed 18th out of 152 runners with a time 19:56.7 to lead the Darlington girls to the WIAA Division 3 State Championship last Saturday at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. Berget, who was Darlington's No. 1 runner all season, battled through a side cramp much of the race, and still managed to finished 21st to aid the Redbirds' state title performance.
