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

Zack Baun's NFL career never really got going for the New Orleans Saints. A change of scenery with the Philadelphia Eagles seems to have rejuvenated the Brown Deer alum. Baun was a wrecking machine in the Eagle's 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers on Friday night. He had a career high 15 tackles to go along with two sacks and two quarterback hits. He would have had a third sack, but it was negated by a teammate's penalty.

As mentioned in the NFL Preview, Leo Chenal has grown into a bigger role year after year for the Kansas City Chiefs. This being his third season, the Grantsburg graduate is making a bigger impact from his linebacker position. Chenal had seven tackles, one for loss, and two pass deflections in the Chief's 27-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens on the opening night of the NFL season.

Braelon Allen became the youngest player in NFL history to gain a yard. At just 20 years old, the former Fond du Lac standout is the youngest player in the NFL and in his New York Jet's 32-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Allen recorded his first carry and reception serving as Breece Hall's backup.

Another rookie, JC Latham shined in his first NFL start at left tackle for the Tennessee Titans. Latham played at Catholic Memorial for his freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring out and eventually becoming one of the best lineman in college football last year. In the Titan's 24-17 loss to the Chicago Bears, he graded out as a top 15 run blocker in the entire NFL.

FBS

One of the biggest storylines of the second weekend of college football was Northern Illinois' 16-14 upset of Notre Dame. The Huskies recruit Wisconsin well and that was on full display as 10 of the starters hail from the Badger state. Evan Buss of Kimberly, John Champe of Brookfield East, JJ Lippe of Whitefish Bay, Evan Malcore of Sun Prairie, and Logan Zschernitz of Spencer make up the entirety of the starting offensive line. Kenosha Bradford grad Brock Lampe serves as the starting fullback. Defensively, JaVaughn Byrd of Milwaukee King and Nate Valcarcel, Skyler Gill-Howard, and Jalonnie Williams, all from Greenfield, start.

Many other offensive lineman make up the majority of the top players in college football from the state.

Davis Heinzen of Manitowoc Lincoln started his 25th consecutive game on the offensive line for Central Michigan in week 1.

Billy Schrauth starts for the aforementioned Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Saint Mary's Springs grad started three games coming into this season.

Easton Kilty started 36 games for North Dakota over the past three seasons. The Stratford grad now starts for Kansas State.

Indiana is 2-0 and two-fifths of the Hoosiers offensive line are former Wisconsin high school football standouts. Kettle Moraine's Trey Wedig is a transfer from Wisconsin where he started eight games and now lines up for the Big Ten foe. Fort Atkinson grad Drew Evans is the other starting lineman for the Hoosiers, starting his first games in his college career.

FCS

Myles Burkett transferred out of Wisconsin to pursue a better chance at starting at quarterback. He landed at the University of Albany and started the first two games of the season. The former Franklin grad and WSN Dave Krieg Award winner threw for 485 yards and two scores over the two games, getting his first win as well in college.

Ben Hanson is in his second season at Morehead State, serving as the backup quarterback for the Eagles. The Edgewood grad got to see his first action in a 48-7 win over Kentucky Christian. Hanson threw his first ever collegiate passes, including his very first touchdown.

Nick Howard plays a unique quarterback position. The Green Bay Southwest grad was a primary rusher at Dartmouth before transferring to Butler for his final season. Howard's versatility has shined once again in the Bulldog's first two games. In the two wins he has passed for a touchdown and run for nearly 140 yards and three touchdowns.

Howard's teammate and Sussex Hamilton grad William Enneking caught a touchdown in week 1 for Butler while adding a team high 74 yards in game 2.

A few alumni got their first collegiate starts on the offensive line over the past two weekends.

Ben Buxa of Lakeside Lutheran is a redshirt freshman at North Dakota and has worked into a starting offensive lineman for the Fighting Hawks, his first in his collegiate career.

Brian Beidatsch Jr., a grad of Marquette University, has been a reserve lineman for Duquesne the past two seasons. This year, the junior lineman has achieved his first career starts along the offensive line.

North Dakota State almost upset Colorado on the opening weekend of college football, losing 31-26. Stoughton's Griffen Empey and Kettle Moraine's Jake Rock got their first collegiate starts, serving as the starting guards along the Bison offensive line. Sam Jung of Neenah was the leading tackling for NDSU while River Fall's grad Joe Stoffel caught a touchdown.

A pair of tight ends caught their first touchdowns in FCS action over the past two weeks.

Mitch Bartol transferred from Western Michigan to Illinois State this past season. The Kimberly grad caught his first career touchdown in the Redbird's 24-17 win over North Alabama.

Greyton Gannon came into the season with just one career catch last season for South Dakota State. The Mukwonago grad caught two passes for 47 yards and his first career touchdown in the Jackrabbit's 45-24 win over Incarnate Word.

Kyle Walljasper has been a touchdown machine in his two seasons at Minnesota Duluth, amassing 59 scores. The Fond du Lac picked right back up for the Bulldogs in week 1. He threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns, while adding 45 yards on the ground in a 35-7 win over Northern Michigan.

Duluth has 42 alumni on its roster including Cumberland grad DaShaun Ames who caught five passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Appleton West grad Sam Pitz also caught a touchdown, his tenth in his career.

Sam McGath has taken over the reigns of starting quarterback at Bemidji State in his senior season. The Brookfield East alum has led the Beavers to a 1-1 record. McGath has thrown for 344 yards and five touchdowns while adding 157 rushing yards and a score.

In Bemidji State's week 1 win over Michigan Tech, McGath's high school teammate at Brookfield East Joey Prondzinski was named the Northern Sun Special Teams Player of the Week. Prondzinski was good on two field goals and an extra point for the Beavers in the low-scoring affair.

Max Grand transferred into Augustana from the University of Minnesota this past offseason and made his mark right away in the Augie's 35-13 win over the University of Mary. Grand, an Ellsworth grad, rushed for a touchdown and caught a long touchdown in the victory.

Alex Macksam is making a name for himself in his first two starts on the Sioux Falls defensive line. The Germantown grad recorded his first career sack in week while and followed it up with two tackles for loss and a forced fumble in week 2. Teammate and Bay Port grad Matt Grzybowski has found the end zone from his running back position in the first two games for Augustana.

UW-La Crosse is ranked sixth in the nation in the D3football.com Top 25. The Eagles made quick work of Rensselaer in their week 1 match, winning 35-0. Grafton grad Zach Weir completed 12 of 14 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns, adding a rushing score. Marshfield's Wyatt LeMoine had two catches for 102 yards and two scores while Ellsworth's Jack Janke hauled in a touchdown as well. Defensively, Westby's Ryan Daines had a team high eight tackles, including three for loss, while Wausau West's Brennan Goralski and Wrightstown's Jared Pelishek each had an interception.

UW-Oshkosh squared off with ninth ranked Wheaton out of Illinois and came away with a 21-14 victory. Omro's Ben Wellhoefer recorded three tackles, including one for a loss, two pass break ups, and a game-sealing interception. Wellhoefer was named the WIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Trae Tetzlaff of Waukesha West and Jon Mathieu of Sheboygan Falls caught touchdowns for the Titans, who are now ranked 17th in the poll.

UW-River Falls jumped from 17th in the rankings to eighth after beating seventh-ranked Alma College 41-35. River Falls high school graduate Gage Timm was a terror defensively. He had an eye-popping 20 tackles in the game, including two and a half for loss.

A pair of former alumni recorded defensive touchdowns in other WIAC action.

Peyton Erickson of Rhinelander returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown in UW-Eau Claire's 21-10 win over Concordia-Moorhead.

UW-Platteville blanked Lakeland 65-0 in opening week action. Elijah Krantz of Mount Horeb returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to go along with his team high seven tackles.

We will have more Division III coverage in the following weeks, so stay tuned as hundreds are contributing around the country.