Five Share in WyoPreps Athlete of the Week Award 9-18-24 [VIDEO]

Two girls’ golfers and three football players shared the WyoPreps Athlete of the Week honors for week five of the 2024-25 high school sports season. The winners for last week’s performances were Lander’s Keigann Watson and Maddie Brace of Douglas for the girls. For the boys, it was Mountain View’s Justus Platts, Big Horn’s Billy McCool, and Max Potas of Meeteetse. Watson and Brace won conference titles on the golf course, while Platts, McCool, and Potas led their football teams to big victories.

WYOPREPS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK WINNERS 9-18-24

Girls Winners

Lander junior Keigann Watson won the 3A West Conference Championship in a playoff last week in Cody. She sank one six-foot putt on the first playoff hole to stay alive and then won it on the second playoff hole with another six-foot putt for birdie. Battling winds 30-to-40 miles per hour, Watson shot a 193 total over the 36 holes at the Olive Glenn Golf Club in Cody.

Watson described playing in those conditions, how she handled them in the victory, her two playoff holes, her love for the game of golf, and more in a conversation with WyoPreps.

Douglas junior Maddie Brace captured the medalist honor at the 3A East Conference Championships in Buffalo last week. She fired a two-day total of 168 and won by four shots. Brace helped Douglas win the team title, as well. For her efforts, the coaches voted her the 3A East Golfer of the Year.

WyoPreps spoke with Brace on Tuesday as she looked back on her performance in Buffalo. Brace described her feelings after the win, which parts of her game led to the victory, the surprise of being named the 3A East Golfer of the Year, and more.

Boys Winners

Mountain View junior QB Justus Platts had a huge game for the second-ranked Buffalos in a 42-35 victory at No. 3 Lovell last Friday night. Platts finished with 444 all-purpose yards and was responsible for six TDs. He was 20-31 passing for 301 yards and 3 TDs. Platts added 143 yards rushing and 3 more TDs.

Platts told WyoPreps how his mental focus was the key to having for a big game. He described the team’s victory as fun, how his experience helped in running the offense, how he loves being the signal-caller on offense, and more.

Big Horn senior William (Billy) McCool led an offensive line that helped the Rams to a 55-0 conference victory over Wheatland last Friday night. McCool had 12 pancake blocks in the victory and played in only three quarters. He allowed zero QB sacks and zero QB hurries in the win. McCool also received a couple of offers to play football in college after the game.

WyoPreps visited with McCool about his efforts on the O-line, what it takes to get those pancake blocks, what the key to his blocking was, how he prefers playing O-line to D-line, and more.

Get our free mobile app

Finally, Meeteetse junior Max Potas played a huge role in the Longhorns 54-42 victory at co-No. 5 Dubois last Friday. Potas finished with 180 yards passing and 2 TDs. He added 84 yards rushing and 1 TD on the ground. Defensively, Max had 9 tackles, which included 6 solo stops. He had 2 fumble recoveries for touchdowns, 1 interception, and 1 pass breakup.

WyoPreps chatted with Max about his play in Meeteetse’s victory. He felt the team played well and executed, and he was just a part of it. He credited his teammates, stuck to the gameplan, described the two fumble return TDs, and more.

Congratulations to our weekly winners, Keigann, Maddie, Justus, Billy, and Max!