skip navigation

Football Alumni Round-up: Week 7 & 8

10/28/2021, 1:15pm CDT
By Colton Wilson

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 by 10 p.m. on Tuesdays.

NFL

Like most weeks, T.J. Watt has been an absolute terror for opposing offenses of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two weeks ago in a 23-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks was no different. The Pewaukee native had seven tackles, two sacks, three pass deflections and two quarterback hits. Older brother Derek plays fullback and is the team's special teams ace. Also on the Steelers defense is former Waukesha West grad Joe Schobert. Schobert starts at linebacker and is third on the team with 36 tackles.

The last of the Watt brothers recorded his 102nd sack of his illustrious career two weeks ago. J.J., the oldest of the Watt brothers, got his first sack of the season and first with his new team, the Arizona Cardinals, in their 37-14 win over the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, in last week's game, J.J. suffered an injury that could very well end his season, tearing his labrum, bicep and rotator cuff while also dislocating his shoulder.

Homestead alum Shelby Harris may very well be one of the more underrated defensive lineman in the NFL. Serving as the anchor for the Denver Bronco's defense, he causes havoc for opposing backfields. Last week in a 17-14 loss to the Browns, Harris had four tackles and a sack as well as blocking a field goal in the second quarter.

Division 1

FBS

The Wisconsin Badgers have won two games in a row and the defense has continued its dominance in those victories; a 20-14 win over Army and a 30-13 win over Purdue.

Leading that defense is linebacker and Grantsburg alum Leo Chenal. In the Army game, he recorded a game high 17 tackles, 2.5 for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Chenal followed that up with yet another all-over-the-field performanc, tallying nine tackles, 5.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks. He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Teammate and Monona Grove grad Collin Larsh handles field goals duties for the Badgers and was three for three on field goals. He made kicks from 23, 37 and 43 yards en route to Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week laurels.

Like Chenal, Will McDonald IV has been an absolute force on defense, only for the Iowa State football team. In a pair of wins over Kansas State and eighth ranked Oklahoma State, the Waukesha North standout had four tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles and two quarterback hits. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his dominating performance over the Cowboys. McDonald's 7.5 sacks on the season top the Big 12 Conference and are fourth in all of FBS football.

Mike Caliendo hit a milestone this past weekend for Western Michigan in their 34-15 loss to Toledo. The Brookfield East grad started his 50th consecutive game on the offensive line for the Broncos. Caliendo is a two-time All-MAC performer in his illustrious career, and just this week was named a finalist for the Academic Heisman. Joining him on that list is Menomonee Falls grad and UW-Wisconsin Badger, Matt Henningsen. 

FCS

Not quite as tenured as Caliendo, Joe Grundhoffer has been a mainstay on the Lafayette offensive line for the past three seasons. This past weekend, despite a 30-3 loss to Harvard, the Assumption alum started his 25th career game for the Leopards.

Division 2

Julius Wilkerson is a tackling machine for Wayne State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In the past two weeks, the Homestead grad has been all over the field. In a 16-3 win over Davenport, Wilkerson had 13 tackles, two for loss, 1.5 sacks and added five quarterback hits. In the following 41-25 loss to Saginaw Valley State, he recorded another game high 15 tackles, 3.5 for loss, and 1.5 sacks. Wilkerson leads the GLIAC in tackles with 82 on the year and is second in tackles for loss with eight. 

Payton Rose is in just his junior season at Lindenwood, but is already making a push to the top of the record books in the receiving stats. Over the past two weeks, the Cumberland grad caught his 20th and 21st career touchdowns for the Lions. In two and a half seasons, Rose has caught 111 passes for 1,915 yards and 21 touchdowns. He ranks ninth, third, and third respectively in each of those categories in program history.

Michigan Tech has a plethora of former Badger State athletes on its roster and two weeks ago, a pair of them hooked up for a game winning score in a 21-14 victory over Northern Michigan. Ashwaubenon's Will Ark tossed a 31 yard touchdown pass to Kimberly's Jordan Janssen with 18 seconds left to secure the win for the Huskies. Ark finished going 22 of 39 for 297 yards and two scores, adding another on the ground. Janssen tallied six catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns.

Minnesota Duluth has been highlighted in many of these round-ups due to the sheer amount of alumni that make up the roster. This week is no different. Two weeks ago in a 33-13 win over Concordia-St. Paul, Curt Cox accounted for 15 points with his leg. The Mineral Point grad went four for six on field goal attempts and connected on all three extra points en route to earning his second Northern Sun Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

Minnesota State-Mankato has a trio of alums that are putting in work at the wide receiver position, especially in their past two wins. Jalen Sample of Onalaska, Parker Gloudemans of Little Chute and Nyles Williams of Brown Deer combined for 23 catches, 503 yards and five touchdowns in the past two games for the Mavericks.

In our previous Alumni Round-Up, Fox Valley Lutheran grad Andrew Behm got his first start at linebacker for Akron and has been on a tear since. His twin brother Josiah has been a force all season for Minnesota State-Moorhead. Two weeks ago in a 22-19 loss to Bemidji State, Josiah had a game high 15 tackles and added an interception. On the season, he is fifth in the Northern Sun in tackles. 

Division 3

Armani Carmickle has been the former Kenosha Indian Trail wide receiver that has gotten the most attention this year as he's putting up gaudy numbers for Minnesota Duluth. However, Alex Jarvis is putting together a solid season for Carthage College. Despite a 33-30 loss to North Park, Jarvis hauled in seven catches for a career high 160 yards and two scores

Wisconsin Lutheran College picked up a pair of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference wins the past two weeks, mainly behind the legs of Brookfield East grad Justin Parbs. Two weeks ago in a 49-41 win over Rockford University, Parbs rushed 26 times for 184 yards and three scores, adding six catches, 96 yards receiving and a score through the air. For his dominating performance he was named the NACC Offensive Player of the Week. In the following 68-41 win over Eureka, Parbs carried the ball 22 times for 149 yards and two scores. Teammates Mike DuPree of Milwaukee King and Carter Schneider of Lakeside Lutheran combined for 15 catches for 375 yards and four scores in the two wins.

Lake Forest College destroyed Grinnell 79-0 last Saturday which made for a busy day for placekicker Patrick Goldammer. The former Waterford athlete made the lone field goal he attempted while he connected on all ten of his extra points. Goldammer was the Midwest Conference Special Teams Player of the Week as he tallied 13 points for the Foresters.

UW-Whitewater is undefeated this season and currently ranked third in Division 3 football. The Warhawks excel in all three facets of the game and that was on full display in a 34-28 win over UW-River Falls. With 5:32 left in the game, Racine Case grad Jaylon Edmonson returned a kickoff 46 yards setting up the eventual go ahead field goal. Edmonson was awarded the WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his crunch time playmaking ability.

UW-Oshkosh scored in bunches in a 54-31 win over UW-Eau Claire this past Saturday, led by quarterback Kobe Berghammer. The former Cumberland standout completed 15 of 22 passes for 316 yards and five touchdowns for the Titans. He was named the WIAC Offensive Player of the Week. Hauling in those passes from Berghammer were a plethora of former alumni. Kewaskum's Tony Steger, Whitnall's Stephan Flores, Waukesha West's Trae Tetzlaff and Beloit Memorial's Steven Makinen each hauled in a touchdown.

UW-La Crosse is 6-1 on the year, their lone loss coming to Division 2 Grand Valley State. The Eagles are led on both sides of the ball by former alumni. River Valley's Elijah Alt has 47 tackles on the season and leads the WIAC with five interceptions. Offensively, Oshkosh North's Cameron Sorenson has 26 catches for 375 yards and eight scores. South Milwaukee's Jake Simuncak has 43 catches for 583 yards and seven touchdowns. He also does it on special teams, apparent by his 100 yard kickoff return in a 24-23 win over UW-Platteville. Simuncak earned WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week laurels for his game-changing play.

Tag(s): News Archive  News  Alumni  Colton Wilson