By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
He just might be the Can't Miss Kid. But regardless of what you call him, Nick Olla has been on target for undefeated Kewaskum's football team throughout its undefeated season.
In his team's most recent game, Olla was 10-of-11 for 146 yards with two touchdown passes. The team is 8-0 and 6-0 in the league as Kewaskum clinched an Eastern Wisconsin Conference title share in a 32-7 victory over New Holstein over the weekend.
“It was definitely my best performance passing-wise of the season and maybe my career,” Olla said. “The receivers and I were on the same page all game and I was just more patient and good things happened. I have had better rushing games this year but when one area of our game is not as successful, it seems another flourishes.”
A two-year varsity starter, Olla has played quarterback since the sixth grade. He's a dangerous passer but the stats show why he is a feared ground gainer as well: 810 yards rushing and 114 carries and 7.1 yards per carry.
“I think my biggest strength as a rusher is that I can avoid a rush pretty well and that I usually make good decisions with the football,” Olla said. “I am not one to force throws. If I happen to force one, I usually will learn from that and probably not make the same mistake twice. As for avoiding the rush, I like to make things happen on my feet if it is not open downfield.
“My strength as a runner is definitely that I am elusive. I don't have blazing fast breakaway speed but will try to make people miss. I like to cut back and will find myself on the left sometimes when the play started on the right.”
His offseason work has paid off for Olla.
“I have attended the Jeff Trickey Quarterback Camps in the summer to improve my mechanics and everything that makes me a successful quarterback,” Olla said. “I also attended the North Dakota State football camp this summer. I don't have that much time for camps in the summer because because I play summer baseball and love to do that.”
Coach Jason Pittmann said Olla's grasp of his team's offense is what especially makes him an effective quarterback.
“He's a dual threat to run or pass,” Piittmann said. “His passing has improved as the season has come along. Actually, his receivers have helped more. Nick understands his progression of reads and makes good choices. The few times he has forced things or thrown back across his body is when he has had interceptions. He knows immediately what the mistake was.”
Olla's main concern now is to quarterback his team to the state finals.
“A key to our team's success is our team unity,” Olla said. “We have a great group of kids on our team that enjoy each other and love to play football. They really don't want to let the person down next to them and will give all they got to make sure that doesn't happen again.
“We have been so close the last three years that we really want to get over the hump of the semifinals. The way our season ended last year has really been a motivator in the offseason. We have had the goal to go to state since sixth grade. Since we have goals to win conference, which we did and are proud of that. But in the back of everyone's mind is they have the goal to get past that semifinal and get to Madison.”
More Football
Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam is off to a 6-1 start in the best season Craig Hill has had in 13 years as coach. Austin Williams has gained more than 1,000 yards so far this season and has emerged as one of the state's most dangerous weapons.
"We had a good complement of running backs returning,” said Hill. “The offensive line has stepped up.”
But Williams has been standing up big on this team.
“He's been a speed threat,” Hills said. “He has done a nice job giving us an outside threat.”
Wayland Academy, with Williams and other standouts such as hard-hitting linebacker Brennan Fitzgerald, could be a state title threat.
“We told our kids we're playing well,” Fitzgerald said. “I feel confident if we play our strength with ball control. That's the key. We have to limit our mistakes and turnovers.”
Other Football Standouts
Milwaukee Riverside scored almost at will in a 58-26 rout over Milwaukee King. Ryan Givens had 16 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on an 85-yard kickoff return and a 24-yard pass from quarterback John D’Amato. The Riverside defense limited King to minus-8 yards rushing.
Hamilton opened with 28 unanswered points in a 55-7 victory over Pulaski. Quarterback Bobby Cieplewski was 13 of 18 for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Pulaski scored its lone touchdown on a 36-yard pass from Calvin Metzdorf to Ricky Santiago.
Tennis
Aly Coran is a freshman, 14 years old, a state champion girls tennis player from Homestead and has perhaps only just begun. She won the Division 1 state singles championship Saturday and increased her undefeated record to 36-0 heading into the state team tournament next weekend.
Coran was the first freshman seeded first in Division 1 since 1995, and hopes to become the fourth girl to win state all four years.
Coran beat Katy Allen of Waukesha South, the second-seeded player, 6-4, 6-1, in the final. Allen was 35-0 entering the match with Coran.
“It's a pleasant surprise,” Coran said of her undefeated season. “It's such a long season. I played a lot of tough people. At the beginning, I wasn't looking at it too much. I knew it was possible. Anything is possible.”
Throughout the season, Coran lost only one set, defeating Sophie Lillie from Whitefish Bay 7-6 in the third set.
Coran, who said she has played the sport since age 4, said groundstrokes are the strongest part of her game.
She's looking forward to the future.
“You can always get better, no matter what,” Coran said. “I want to go to the net more.”
Coach Jacki Egelhoff enjoyed watching Coran as her No. 1 singles player.
“The main thing is that she's very consistent,” Egelhoff said. “And she's so athletic. She wears her opponents down by getting the balls back and eventually they start missing.”
Coran's mother was a state champion in high school, Egelhoff noted.
“She'll have the target on her back for her next three years,” Egelhoff said. “She's always going somewhere (to play tennis).”
More Tennis
Divine Savior Holy Angels produced the doubles champion for the third time in the last five seasons.
In doubles, third-seeded seniors Lauren Gryniewicz and Scarlett Hoy won state with a 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Homestead’s fourth-seeded pair of Jennifer Smith and Brittany Watchmaker.
Other tennis winners included Caroline Starck of Big Foot/Williams Bay and doubles Elissa Halla and Natalie Foster of Manitowoc Roncalli in Division 2.
