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
Blake Thiry, JR., TE/FB/DB, Prairie du Chien football
Darlington — Junior Blake Thiry scored a pair of touchdowns, led the Blackhawks in receiving and added a two-point conversion to lead Division 5 #3-ranked Prairie du Chien to a 21–19 non-conference victory at D6 #4-ranked Darlington last Friday night.
After a scoreless first quarter, and nearly a scoreless second quarter as well, the Hawks got on the scoreboard first thanks to a 43-yard touchdown pass from Abe Amundson to Thiry with 1:59 left before halftime.
The momentum really swung early in the third quarter as the Prairie defense forced a Redbirds three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half. Hawks' lineman Keagan Dull blocked the ensuing punt attempt on the Redbirds own 38 yard line before Thiry caught the the loose ball in mid air and ran it back for his second touchdown of the game.
Prairie du Chien pushed its advantage to 21–0 on eight-yard touchdown run Drew Hird, and a successful two-point conversion run by Thiry with 3:23 left in the third quarter. Thiry finished the night with three receptions for 74 yards, and rushed for 29 yards on eight attempts.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Payton Alvarado, Sr., RB/DB, Lancaster football
Alvarado rushed for a career-high 190 yards and two touchdowns — both in the final seven minutes of the game — on 28 carries in Lancaster's 18–7 non-conference win over Cuba City last Friday night. The 5–8, 175-pound fullback gave the Arrows a 12–7 lead with a 1-yard TD run, then put the game out of reach with a 10-yard run with 2:37 left in the game.
Jaxcyn Berntgen, Jr., Setter, Platteville volleyball
Berntgen tallied 67 assists, nine kills, four aces and 30 digs in eight matches, and surpassed the 1,000-assist mark for her career, to lead the Hillmen to a 4–4 record and a sixth-place finish the 21-team UW–Whitewater Warhawk Open last Friday and Saturday.
Bret Connolly, Jr., Iowa–Grant boys cross country
Connolly won boys' race at the season-opening Iowa–Grant Invitational with a time of 17:53.7 to lead the Panthers to a second-place finish behind Fennimore at the eight-team race.
Brayden Fishnick, Sr., QB, Potosi/Cassville football
Fishnick completed 5 of 7 passes for 100 yards and one TD, while also rushing for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts to lead the Chieftains (2–0) to a commanding 44–16 victory visiting Ithaca last Friday night.
Ruah Franzmann-Simmert, Fr., Tri-State Homeschool cross country
Freshman home school student Ruah Franzmann-Simmert burst on the varsity scene last Saturday by winning the girls' race at the eight-team Iowa–Grant Invitational by nearly a minute with a time of 20:32.8 to lead the Falcons (37) to the girls team title over Prairie du Chien (59). Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton's Hanna Martensen finished second in the girls race at 21:10.4, while TSHS freshman Kate Pronschinske finished third at 22:59.6.
T.J. Pink, Jr., QB, Platteville football
The Platteville junior had a breakout performance last Friday night to lead the Hillmen (1–1) to a dominating 35–0 victory over visiting Prairie du Chien. Pink completed 19 of 26 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns, with seven different receivers catching his passes, in his second career start. He threw a 16-yard TD pass to classmate Logan Day early in the first quarter, and added a 1-yard TD pass to senior Garrison Tashner later in the opening period. Pink thew a 13-yard TD pass to Tashner on a receiver screen in the second quarter, then added a 40-yard TD pass to sophomore Jauron Blevins early in the third quarter to start the running clock.
Ella Vosberg, Jr., OH, Cuba City volleyball
Vosberg floored a team-high 67 kills, served up a team-best nine aces and made 25 digs over two days to lead the Cubans to a 5–2 record and a third-place finish at last week's 23-team Onalaska Sprawl Invitational at the Omni Center.
