Weekend Warriors: Stave released, Tanguay sparkles for NDSU
Taking a look at this week's standout alumni competing at the college and pro level:
Joel Stave (Whitnall)was released from the Minnesota Vikings practice squad on Tuesday. The former Wisconsin Badgers quarterback had an intriguing career arc that included a number of wins, but also a number of fain complaints, not to mention one episode in which he supposedly developed the “yips” under then-coach Gary Andersen. He threw for 7,635 yards and 48 touchdowns in Madison but went undrafted last April.
Stave was making a bid late in the preseason to make the active roster after Teddy Bridgewater went down with a season-ending injury, but Stave was injured himself and was signed to the practice squad after the organization traded for Sam Bradford.
Joe Thomas (Brookfield Central) may be the most-discussed trade candidate every year who never gets traded. The Cleveland Browns offensive lineman was rumored to be part of trade discussions, but Browns coach Hue Jackson put those sentiments to bed.
T.J. Watt (Pewaukee) had another 1.5 sacks and five tackles as the Badgers secured the Heartland Trophy and defeated Iowa on Saturday, though the Badgers defense took another hit with the loss of Jack Cichy for the year. Alec James (Brookfield East) forced a fumble. Iowa’s Peter Pekar (Greendale) saw the field.
Brian Smith (Brookfield East) caught a 34-yard pass as Minnesota survived Rutgers, 34-32.
North Dakota State was able to limit Western Illinois, led by quarterback Sean McGuire (Franklin) in a 20-13 win Saturday, bouncing back after NDSU lost its first game of the year last week. McGuire did run for 51 yards and still completed 19 of 27 passes for 183 yards. It was a big day for Nate Tanguay (Mukwonago) who led the Bison with nine tackles and blocked a kick. The Bison blocked two kicks overall and forced three fourth-quarter turnovers.
Mitchell Brees (Greendale) had nine total tackles, including a tackle for loss, and Alec Kocour (Catholic Memorial) had six tackles but Illinois State fell to South Dakota, 27-24. Adam Conley (Franklin) contributed on a tackle for loss.
Ryan Saeger (Arrowhead) completed 4 of 7 passes for South Dakota, with Austin Simmons making the majority of the pass attempts.
Northern Illinois won its second game of the season with a 44-7 win over Buffalo. Jackson Abresch (Arrowhead) had three tackles in the win, and per usual, Levon Myers (Franklin) and Josh Ruka (Greenfield) were starters on the offensive line.
Jackson Weber (Whitefish Bay) had 10 tackles, including one for loss, and two quarterback hurries for Cornell, but the squad lost a double-overtime heartbreaker against Brown, 28-21. Next week, Cornell meets Princeton, where Jordan Argue (Arrowhead) has seen the field.
Drew Patterson (Sussex Hamilton) was named WIAC Offensive Player of the Week after another huge day for UW-Whitewater, where he ran for 150 yards and caught two touchdowns as No. 2-ranked UWW downed Stevens Point, 24-2. He has four 100-yard rushing games this season.
Last week, Clark Riedel (Waukesha West) was named WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his work at UW-Stout, when he booted five punts for an average of 44 yards, all placed inside the 20.