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Riley Nowakowski of Marquette selected to receive John Anderson Award

11/20/2019, 1:00pm CST
By Travis Wilson

Wisconsin Sports Network and WisSports.net are happy to announce Marquette's Riley Nowakowski as the 2019 recipient of the John Anderson Award as the most outstanding senior linebacker in Wisconsin, part of the WSN Senior Football Awards.

Nowakowski got a bit more involved on the offensive side of things as a senior but remained a stalwart on the defense. Another huge season saw him put up 126 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, three sacks, four forced fumbles, and two interceptions in 2019.

Playing outside linebacker for the Hilltoppers, he's adept at setting the edge and working across the line of scrimmage as well as playing in space. He holds offers from more than 20 Division 1 schools.

"Riley is a fierce edge setter that forces opposing running backs to cut up the alley to our safety for little gain or be tackled for a loss by him," said head coach Jeff Mazurczak. "He also returns kicks for us, has an 85 yard kick return for a touchdown, a 90 yard interception return for a touchdown, and four rushing touchdowns. He is very explosive and could play multiple positions in college. His character and exceptional work in the classroom have earned him offers from all eight of the Ivy league schools and all three service academies."

Finalists for the award were Nowakowski, Brett Boram of Menomonee Falls, Cole Dakovich of Catholic Memorial, Ben Kreul of Catholic Memorial, Vinny Nigro of Marquette, and Call Verlanic of Bay Port.

Past winners include Arrowhead's Derek Landisch (2010), Wisconsin Rapids' Vince Biegel (2011), Green Bay Southwest's Nathan Paup (2012), Mukwonago's Dominic Cizauskas (2013), Wausau West's Jake Whalen (2014), Menomonie's Mason Stokke (2015), Bay Port's Matt Lorbeck (2016), Catholic Memorial's C.J. Goetz (2017), and Grantsburg's Leo Chenal (2018).

The award is named after John Anderson, a former Waukesha South standout who received All-Conference and All-State recognition on both offense and defense for the Blackshirts. He would go on to star for the University of Michigan for four seasons where he twice earned All-Big Ten honors. Anderson would be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft and go on to a successful 12-year career. Upon his retirement he was the Packers all-time leader in tackles with 1,020 (the Packer only have stats compiled since 1975) and still holds that record today. He was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1980's and the Packers Hall of Fame in 1996.

The voting panel for the WSN Senior Football Awards consisted of:  Travis Wilson, WSN General Manager and Head Football Writer;  Norbert Durst, WSN Content Manager; Dennis Semrau, ESPN Madison; B.J. DeGroot, WSCO The Score 95.3 in Appleton; Curt Hogg, NOW Newspapers; Dan Barwick, WSN Contributor; Colton Wilson, WSN Content Producer; Fan Vote

About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.

Tag(s): News Archive  News  Travis Wilson  Senior FB Awards