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Football Alumni Round-up: Week 9 & 10

11/09/2023, 3:15pm CST
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

NFL

Dare Ogunbowale has not seen many touches in the Houston Texan's backfield this season. However, the Marquette High School grad proved how important he is to the team. Early the 39-37 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the starting kicker suffered an injury, forcing Ogunbowale into kickoff duties. Midway through the third quarter tied 30-30, Ogunbowale was called upon to attempt a 29-yard field goal. The ball sailed through no problem, making Ogunbowale the first non-kicker or punter to make a field goal in the NFL in almost 20 years.

Jake Ferguson is slowly becoming an upper echelon tight end in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys. In his second season, the Madison Memorial grad is flourishing as a starter. In the past two games, Ferguson has hauled in eleven catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

The New York Jets have one of the best defenses in the NFL and despite a 27-6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, their 2023 first round pick recorded a first in his NFL career. Will McDonald IV, a Waukesha North alum, got his first NFL sack in just his seventh game played.

Like the Jets, the Cleveland Browns have an argument for best defense in the NFL. A former Homestead standout was a wrecking ball last weekend in a 27-0 throttling of the Arizona Cardinals. Shelby Harris was a menace, accumulating three tackles, two for loss, a sack, and a pass break up.

Kevin Zeitler is in his twelfth NFL season and has been one of the top guards during that time. This past weekend, the Wisconsin Lutheran grad started his 175th game in his career. Zeitler spent his first five seasons with the Cleveland Browns before playing two for each of the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants. He is now in his third season with the Baltimore Ravens.

Like Zeitler, Nick Bellore has been in the NFL for a long time. The Whitefish Bay grad is in his 13th season in the league, serving primarily as a special teams ace. Two weeks ago, Bellore played in his 190th career game. He's played for the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions and is in his fifth year with the Seattle Seahawks. Bellore has played over 3,400 career snaps.

Division 1

Addison Ostrenga got his first collegiate start this past week in an Iowa Hawkeyes 10-7 win over Northwestern. The Sun Prairie standout caught his first career touchdown in the process. Playing at legendary Wrigley Field, Ostrenga found the end zone in what was the deciding score of the game.

Last week Ohio State came into Wisconsin and beat the Badgers 24-10 in a low-scoring night game. On that Buckeye offensive line is former Saint Croix Central great Carson Hinzman. Hinzman has started every game for the Buckeyes this season in his second year on campus and started his first back in his home state.

Tejhaun Palmer has put up some big numbers this season for the UAB football team. This past weekend the Brown Deer grad had his best game in a 45-42 win over Florida Atlantic. Palmer hauled in nine catches for 179 yards and a score, including a 70 yard touchdown.

Speaking of consistently putting up numbers, Shane Dunning has been exceptional from the kicker position for Drake. A Muskego grad and two-time Pioneer League Special Teams Player of the Week, Dunning booted through a career long 53-yard field in Drake's 10-3 win over Marist this past weekend.

In other Pioneer League action, Sam Hafner was a terror in Valparaiso's 21-7 win over Dayton. The De Pere grad recorded eight tackles, two for loss in the win. Hafner also had one and a half sacks and added a quarterback hit.

Butler beat Morehead State 49-7 this past weekend as a former Marquette High School alum recorded a pair of firsts on the field. Patrick Coury recorded two tackles, one for loss, and an interception in the win. Coury returned the interception 18 yards for a touchdown, marking his first collegiate interception and touchdown.

Caleb Frazer has seen limited playing time for Northern Iowa this season, but saw extended action in a 50-6 win over Western Illinois this past weekend. The Kimberly grad had a career high six tackles, which tied for the team lead. Frazer added one and a half tackles for loss.

Joey Giorgi is in his second season starting at running back for Columbia University. This past weekend, the Lions lost to Harvard 38-24, but the Grafton grad had his second most productive day on the ground. Giorgi had 92 yards and a score on 19 carries, adding a receiving touchdown as well.


Curtis Cox of Mineral Point High School

Division 2

Curt Cox accounted for ten points in Duluth's 44-32 win over Concordia-St. Paul. The Mineral Point grad was two for two on field goals and four for four on PATs, earning Northern Sun Special Team Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. Fond du Lac alum Kyle Walljasper threw for 206 yards and three scores while Appleton West's Sam Pitz hauled in his Northern Sun leading ninth touchdown catch. For Concordia, Mukwonago's Ben Rehl and Muskego's Richard Wauer tied for the team lead with seven tackles.

Last week was another record setting one for Jack Strand at Minnesota State-Moorhead. The Bloomer grad completed 26 of 38 passes for 302 yards and two scores in a 20-17 win over Winona State. Strand broke Moorhead's single season passing yards record and was named the Northern Sun Offensive Player of the Week. Strand is second in all of Division 2 football with 3,624 passing yards, third with 34 passing touchdowns, and ninth with a 67.5% completion percentage.

In other Northern Sun conference play, Maven Kretche has recorded three sacks in the past two games for Minnesota State-Mankato. The Sun Prairie grad leads the Northern Sun with 9.5 sacks. 

For Winona State, Sylvere Campbell of Martin Luther High School has hauled in twelve catches for 273 yards and three scores in the past two games.

Lastly, Bemidji State took down Minnesota State-Moorhead 27-14 this past weekend. Superior grad Jarrett Gronski rushed in for a score while Oconomowoc grad Theodus Ringgold recorded his first career interception.

A quartet of Wisconsin high school football players are in the top 10 in terms of total tackles in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Wausau West's Marc Sippel is third in the conference with 85 for Michigan Tech while teammate and Lake Mills grad Hunter Buechel is sixth with 69. Davenport linebacker and Homestead grad Julius Wilkerson is fourth in the conference with 72. The final player in the top 10 is Big Foot grad Jax Hertel of Northern Michigan with 60 tackles, sitting at ninth in the conference.

Also for Michigan Tech, Josh Cribben of Notre Dame is second in the league with 14 tackles for loss.


Saint Mary's Springs grad Mitch Waechter

Division 3

Division 3 is loaded in this edition of the Round-Up with nine player of the week winners over the past two weeks.

This past week UW-Stout took down UW-Eau Claire 38-13 in WIAC action. St. Mary's Springs grad Mitch Waechter (pictured above), completed 28 of 37 passes for 343 yards and four scores in the win. Both the yards completions are career highs for Waechter who earned WIAC Offensive Player of the Week laurels.

UW-La Crosse clinched at least a share of the WIAC title this past weekend with a 31-28 win over UW-River Falls. For the Eagles, kicker Michael Stack continued his great season. The Oshkosh West grad went four for four on PATs and made a 27-yard field goal en route to being named the WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time this season.

Last week in the WIAC, UW-Whitewater took down UW-Platteville 45-23. Defensively for the Warhawks, Dyson Klubertanz of Franklin was a playmaker. Klubertanz had two tackles and intercepted his first two passes in his collegiate career en route to earning WIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Rose-Hulman held off Hanover 44-39 two weeks ago in Heartland Conference play. Lourdes Academy grad Marshall Koch had six tackles, two for loss and a sack. He also had a fumble recovery and interception and was named the Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Koch has 49 tackles, 7.5 for loss, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception on the season. Teammate and River Falls grad Wyatt Bell has 39 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 13 pass break ups and a sack and interception for the Fightin' Engineers.

Matt Jung is the latest in a long list of Jung brothers from Neenah. The freshman safety was incredible two weeks ago for Bethel University in a 40-0 win over Carleton. Jung had six tackles and two interceptions, including a 38-yard return for a score. He was named the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week. Jung also returned an interception for a score this past weekend, bringing his season total to six interceptions and two touchdown returns.

In other MIAC action, Elijah Gringas took home Defensive Player of the Week honors this past week for Hamline in a 33-26 win over St. Scholastica. The Somerset grad recorded eight tackles, two for loss and a sack. Gringas also had a forced fumble and two recoveries on the defensive side of the ball.

Concordia-Wisconsin took care of Rockford 66-21 as Logan Navis was perfect from his kicker position. The Cedar Grove-Belgium alum went nine for nine on PATs and made his lone field goal in the win. Navis accounted for ten points and was named the NACC Special Teams Player of the Week.

The University of Northwestern-St. Paul held off Martin Luther 21-14 and a former Wisconsin high school standout scored the game winning-score touchdown. Big Foot grad Basil Demco returned a blocked punt 36 yards for a score in the first quarter, making a difference on special teams. Demco was named the Upper Midwest Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

In other Upper Midwest play, another former alumni scored a game-deciding touchdown in a win over Martin Luther this past week. Northwestern High School grad Gregory Ohman had a team high eight tackles in Minnesota Morris' 30-27 win over Martin Luther. Ohman then returned a fumble 92 yards for a touchdown with 2:26 left in the game, proving to be the game-winning touchdown. He was named the Upper Midwest Defensive Player of the Week.

Though no player of the week honors were made from this game, it should be mentioned. Ripon College blew out Beloit College 52-17 this past weekend. Jack Berens of Wausau West completed 15 of 21 passes for 220 yards and five touchdowns for the Red Hawks. Belleville's DeMarcus Conner and Neenah's Bryce Braunel both had receiving touchdowns while Ashwaubenon grad Connor Ramage carried the ball 30 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

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