Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

Many high school football standouts in Wisconsin go on to big things at the college level and in the pros, and this is our spot to recognize those athletes each week and help you keep up with what is going down on some of your favorite players from the past. If you have alumni news, please send it to Colton Wilson

Last week was the first edition of the Round-Up where TJ Watt was not mentioned. Not this week. The Pewaukee grad once again proved why he is one of, if not the, best defensive player in the NFL. In a 17-10 win against rival Baltimore Ravens, Watt had two sacks, two quarterback hits, two pass break ups and a fumble recovery. His fumble recovery came late in the fourth, ending the Ravens final drive and clinching a Steelers win.

Will McDonald IV shot up draft boards over this final two seasons at Iowa State and was taken with the 15th overall pick by the New York Jets this past April. This past weekend in the Jet's 31-21 win over the Denver Broncos, the former Waukesha North standout made his first big play in the NFL. McDonald who only has one tackle on the season, recorded a fumble recovery in the win.

It was mentioned last week that former Grantsburg great Leo Chenal is beginning to be an impact player on the Kansas City Chiefs defense. This past week, Chenal recorded his first sack of the season and second of his career in the 27-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Wisconsin took down Rutgers 24-13 this past weekend and a few former alumni are beginning to grow into a bigger role for the home state Badgers. Due to injuries, Jackson Acker got more opportunities at running back behind Fond du Lac grad Braelon Allen. Acker, a Verona grad, had a career high 13 rushes for 65 yards in the win, while Allen had 101 yards and a score on the ground. Defensively Ben Barten is seeing more snaps at defensive tackle. The Stratford grad and 2019 WSN Tim Krumrie Award winner had two tackles from the defensive line, continuing to up his production. CJ Goetz of Catholic Memorial continued his great year with a sack and two quarterback hits.

Tejhaun Palmer has had a very productive last few seasons at UAB. The Brown Deer grad is an explosive playmaker at wide receiver and showed why in the Blazer's 56-35 win over South Florida. Palmer had just two catches, but turned them into 119 yards and two touchdowns. He had touchdown scores of 58 and 61 yards.

The Northern Illinois Huskies rushed for 380 yards and six touchdowns in a 55-14 win over Akron this past weekend. Evan Malcore of Sun Prairie, John Champe of Brookfield East and JJ Lippe of Whitefish bay start on that offensive line, with Brock Lampe of Kenosha Bradford playing fullback. Along with that group, Abiathar Curry of Janesville Parker, Tyler Pitcel of Mukwonago and Matt Schooley of Wisconsin Rapids saw time on the line in the win. That's six offensive lineman from Wisconsin that helped clear the way this past weekend for the impressive rushing attack. Not mentioned Logan Zschernitz of Spencer and Evan Buss of Kimberly are both starting offensive lineman that are out with injuries for NIU.

Fresno State came into the weekend undefeated and one of the better non-Power 5 football teams in the country. Enter Wyoming and exit a 24-19 win by the Cowboys. Cole Godbout continued his tear on the Wyoming defensive line, recording four tackles, a sack and hauling in his first career interception.

Drake downed Valparaiso 20-14 in a Pioneer League conference game this past weekend and the kicker was the MVP of the game. Muskego grad Shane Dunning went two for two on field and two for two on PATs in the victory. He hit a career high 42 yards field and also handled punting duties for the Bulldogs. Dunning was named the Pioneer League Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring eight points in the win.

Averie Habas was a NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American at Iowa Western Community College and last year earned Honorable Mention All-Sun Belt for Southern Miss. The Rice Lake grad played in his second game this season in a 17-13 loss to Old Dominion and recorded two sacks in the loss.

Jordan Greuel is a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman for Illinois State. This past weekend the Greendale alum got his first collegiate start on the Red Bird line despite a 40-21 loss top-ranked South Dakota State.

Minnesota State-Mankato is ranked fourth in the nation in Division 2 and last week squeaked out a win over Minnesota State-Moorhead 24-21. Despite the Moorhead loss, Jack Strand continues to play at an extremely high level for the Dragons and almost had them pull off the upset. The Bloomer alum completed 37 of 66 pass attempts for 384 yards and three scores. On the season, Strand leads the Northern Sun Conference in passing yards (2,235), touchdowns (22) and is third in completion percentage (66%). Defensively for Moorhead, Josiah Behm of Fox Valley Lutheran continues to pile up tackles, recording 14, including three for loss.

Winona State beat the University of Mary 17-7 to improve to .500 in conference play this past weekend. Many former alumni contributed to the Warrior's win. Offensively Martin Luther grad Sylvere Campbell caught three passes for 47 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Carson Sippel of Kaukauna had an interception while Clay Schueffner of St. Mary's Springs and Kyjuan Vengrowsky of De Pere combined for nine tackles, five for loss, and a sack. Regis' Tristan Root had six tackles and two pass break ups while also handling punting duties for Winona State.

Augustana improved to 6-0 and is now ranked 22nd in the country in Division 2 after a 38-6 win over Southwest Minnesota State. A pair of Rice Lake grads start in the Augie's defensive backfield. Peyton Buckley and Alex Belongia are three years apart in school, but the pair both had five tackles in the blowout win, tying for the team lead.

Wayne State held off Michigan Tech 23-21 in a close matchup in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. For Wayne State Colby Horn of Sussex Hamitlon recorded six tackles, including two and a half for loss. For the Huskies of Michigan Tech, a trio of former standouts lead the defense week in and week out. Marc Sippel of Wausau West, Hunter Buechel of Lake Mills and Josh Cribben of Notre Dame combined for 26 tackles and seven tackles for loss.

The Ripon football team took down Knox College 10-3 this past weekend and held Knox to under 200 yards of total offense. The Redhawk defense got contributions from many former alumni. Fletcher Dallas of Valders, Zane Vetter of Mayville, Clay Ritschard of Argyle, Jake Davies of Laconia, Wes Schneider of Wausau West, Zach Paul of Randolph, Gage Taylor of Burlington, and Caleb Holmes of Waukesha North all had at least one tackle in the dominant defensive performance.

Bethel University beat Macalester 49-14 and a former Ellsworth standout recorded his first career sack in the win. Sam Kollbaum, a true freshman, played in his first collegiate game and recorded his first career sack.

Evan Lischka has been a ball hawk at defensive back for Concordia Wisconsin this season. The Manitowoc Lutheran grad recorded two interceptions in a 28-0 win over Benedictine, making it five interceptions in the past four games.

St. Norbert College blew out Rockford University 58-6 behind the great play of many former alumni. Oshkosh North grad Peyton Lyon threw for 248 yards and three scores. Kewaunee grad Owen Kudick and D.C. Everest grad Delton Zuleger both had over 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns while Waukesha West's Dylan Rhodes and Kettle Moraine's Tommy Hoeft both had receiving scores. Logan Dorner of Green Bay Preble blockd a punt while Kyle Santos of Mukwonago filled the stat sheet with three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass break up.

Cudahy grad's Bryce Barbian and Emmitt Hawkins were in sync with each other in Wisconsin Lutheran's 34-14 win over Lakeland. Barbian threw for 233 yards and a score while Hawkins caught seven passes for 116 yards and that touchdown. Defensively Kyle Kubacki of Saint Francis had a sack while Chris Cooper of University School had two interceptions for the Warriors.

UW-Platteville downed UW-Stevens Point 51-10 and a few alumni stood out in the win. Milton's Zackary Bothun carried the ball 18 times for 120 yards and a score while Jaxson Garbisch of Kimberly hauled in a 71 yard touchdown catch. Sussex Hamilton grad and kicker Andrew Schweigert went three for three on field goals and six for six on PATs, accounting for 15 points for the Pioneers.

Third ranked UW-Whitewater squared off with fourteenth-ranked UW-La Crosse in a must see matchup this past weekend. La Crosse came away with a 37-34 win thanks in large part to kicker Michael Stack. The Oshkosh West grad went three for three on field goals and four for four on PATs in the win. Stack knocked through a 51-yard, game winning field goal as time expired to give the Eagles the victory. He was named the WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week. Little Chute's Nate Hieptas recorded five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble for La Crosse, earning him WIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Many other former alumni were huge contributors in this game which can be found here.

UW-Oshkosh needed overtime to take down UW-Stout 48-46 and quarterback Kobe Berghammer three school records along the way. The Cumberland grad completed 43 of 54 passes for 465 yards and five touchdowns in the win, adding 108 yards and a score on the ground. He broke the Oshkosh school records for completions, passing yards and all-purpose yards in a game. Berghammer was named the WIAC Offensive Player of the Week for the fifth time in his collegiate career.

For the Titans, Trae Tetzlaff of Waukesha West had 16 catches for 149 yards and two scores while both Kaio Harn of New London and Cade Oiler of Watertown had receiving scores. Mitch Borkovec of Muskego had a team high eight tackles. For Stout, Matt Pomietlo of Chippewa Falls had 112 rushing yards and three scores while Hudson's Ben Karls had a touchdown reception, Gervase Thompson of Northwestern and Carter Johnson of Mondovi both recorded double-digit tackles.