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 by 10 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Melvin Gordon is now in his seventh season in the NFL and second with the Denver Broncos. The former Kenosha Bradford and Wisconsin Badger standout scored the only two touchdowns for the Broncos in their 17-10 win over the Washington Football Team. Through 90 games of his career, Gordon has now scored 62 total touchdowns, 48 on the ground and 14 through the air.

Not quite to 90 games, Max Scharping has been a mainstay on the Houston Texans offensive line since his entry into the league in 2019. The former Green Bay Southwest athlete started his 30th career NFL game, all with the Texans, in a 38-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

FBS

The home state Wisconsin Badgers are on a roll, taking down ninth-ranked Iowa 27-7 for their third straight win. Tight end and Madison Memorial grad, Jake Ferguson finally found the end zone, snagging his first touchdown catch of the season. Defensively the usual suspects filled the box score, however reserve linebacker C.J. Goetz got in on the action. The Catholic Memorial grad recorded his second sack of the season to help stifle the Hawkeye offense.

Derik LeCaptain came into the season slotted as a linebacker for the Minnesota Golden Gopher defense. Last week in a 41-14 win over Northwestern, the Southern Door alum took some reps at running back with the team up big. Late in the fourth quarter, LeCaptain took a carry, bounced off a handful of tacklers, and scored on a 24 yard touchdown run; the first of his career.

FCS

Justin Growel was one of the best defenders in all of Division 2 college football in 2019 at Lake Erie College. The East Troy grad had 69 tackles, 21.5 for loss, nine sacks and four forced fumbles as he was a D2 All-American. He now suits up for Eastern Illinois and despite a 38-15 loss to Southeast Missouri, found his way back into opponent's backfields. Growel had his first sack of the season as well as forcing a fumble.

Last spring Brandon Malkow was forced to sit out the entire abbreviated season for Western Illinois due to a season ending injury.  The Turner High School grad has now started over 20 games on the offensive line for the Leathernecks in his college career; starting his 21st game in a 38-31 win over Illinois State.

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has two former Badger State at the top of its leaderboard in tackles on the season.

Northern Michigan's Will Borchert tallied eight tackles and a fumble recovery in a 44-24 loss to Ferris State. Borchert, a Mukwonago alum, pushed his season tackle total to 87 which is second in the conference behind a fellow alum.

At the top of the tackling leaderboard is Wayne State's Julius Wilkerson. The Homestead grad has put up gaudy numbers the last three weeks, including this past Saturday in a 41-25 loss to Saginaw Valley State. Wilkerson had a team high 15 tackles, 3.5 for loss, and one and a half sacks. He currently sits at 89 tackles on the season, leading the GLIAC.

Northwest Missouri State is 7-1 on the season and features a former Catholic Memorial Crusader on its offensive line. Gabe Bautz started his 35th career game for the Bearcats in his college tenure. Gabe isn't the only Bautz on the team though, as younger brother Sam is a freshman reserve offensive lineman.

Mineral Point High School grad Curt Cox has been a great asset at kicker for Minnesota Duluth. Last week in a 34-21 win over Minot State, he connected on both of his field goals and went four for four on extra points. For the third time this season Cox was named the Northern Sun Special Teams Player of the Week. On the year, Cox has made 11 of 15 field goals.

The Ripon Redhawks scored a 48-10 win over the winless Beloit College last Saturday behind a pair of big performances from a couple of alumni. Offensively, Cormac Madigan passed, rand and caught a ball. The Laconia grad carried the ball 24 times for 177 yards and five touchdown, completed all five of his passes for 37 yards and caught one pass. Madigan was named the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his Swiss Army Man-like performance. Defensively, Argyle alum Clay Ritschard had a team high seven tackles and returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown. Ritschard earned Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week laurels.

Elliott Grays has been an efficient pass catcher for the University of Chicago this season. This past Saturday in a 78-3 win over Grinnell, Grays hauled in his only catch for a 60 yard touchdown. The Madison Memorial grad only has eleven catches on the season, but has turned that into 243 yards (a whopping 30.4 yards per catch!) and five touchdowns.

Charles Kobe did something in Lakeland University's 45-16 win over Eureka College that I have never seen nor heard of before. The Nicolet grad was an ace, a weapon, a game changer on the special teams side of the ball as he blocked three punts for the Muskies. That ties a Division 3 single game record. Kobe was named the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

St. Norbert picked up a huge 77-7 win over Rockford University as many alumni contributed to the victory. Oshkosh West grad and quarterback Ben Kohl threw for 195 yard and four touchdowns while adding 91 yards and two scores on the ground. Shawano's Jack Hanauer rushed for a score while Hortonville's Parker Lawrence and Lomira's Alex Meisenheimer each hauled in receiving scores. Defensively, Joe Jung of Neenah and Alex Campbell of Columbus each had an interception.

UW-Whitewater continued their perfect season by throttling UW-Eau Claire 48-6 this past Saturday. A pair of Eagles took home WIAC honors in the process. Wide receiver and Sparta alum Ryan Wisniewski had eight catches for 120 yards and three touchdowns en route to WIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Defensively, Oak Creek grad Thomas Wojnowski returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown and intercepted a pass to earn WIAC Defensive Player of the Week laurels.

Keeping pace with Whitewater, UW-La Crosse downed UW-Stevens Point 56-3 to stay unbeaten in WIAC play. Jake Simuncak of South Milwaukee recorded his second special teams touchdown of the year, returning a punt for a score and earning WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Hudson's Max Stubbendick and New Berlin West's Tyler Stoltenburg both hauled in their first touchdown catches of the season.