The fall sports season for all the Rockford-area teams has drawn to a close, but the winter athletes are just getting warmed up.
Which means we will continue to find stars for you to vote on for the Rockford Register Star high school Athlete of the Week poll, sponsored by Gustafson's Furniture & Mattress. You can now vote on the AOTW for the week of Nov. 24-29. We ask that you vote only once per day, to keep the polls fair.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore Rockford-area sports: 15 eye-popping numbers from Byron football's IHSA 3A state title win
To nominate an athlete for our AOTW poll, send an email to [email protected] by 10 a.m. Monday mornings, with information and stats on why you think they deserve to be nominated.
Almost every week for the rest of the school year, we will compile a list of athletes from the Rockford area who had standout weeks and let you, the reader, vote on who you think deserves the AOTW award. Every week you will be able to find the nominees as well as the poll at rrstar.com.
The AOW poll will stay open until noon on Friday.
This week's nominees are:
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAlex Ambrose, Boylan basketball
The junior, who led Boylan in scoring during the Titans' victory in new head coach Luke Weber's debut last week, scored 21 points in Boylan's 63-54 win over Lutheran in Boylan Thanksgiving tournament action last Friday.
Kole Aken, Byron football
Aken's one-handed touchdown catch in the first quarter kickstarted his best game as a receiver out of the backfield in his career. His only two catches of the season came on Friday, and both went for touchdowns, and both were clutch.
Rockford Register Star's Athlete of the Week pollCaden Considine, Byron football
Considine came up big for Byron in its biggest, and most dramatic, football game of the year. The senior fullback and linebacker had 367 yards rushing and three touchdowns, as well as two catches for 63 yards, on offense. On defense, he led the way with 13 tackles and a QB hurry, and also made the game-saving defensive stab at a pass that was sailing toward a Unity receiver in the end zone as time ticked away.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGannon Dunker, Lena-Winslow football
This junior lineman, and just the entire Le-Win line in general, dominated this entire playoff run for the Panthers, and especially during Friday's blowout win in the title game. Le-Win rushed for 448 yards, averaging 8.8 yards per carry as a team in the finale.
Zion Gautier, Byron football
This senior defensive end was key to the Byron defensive performance in Friday's state-title game, coming up with three sacks and four tackles for loss, as well as four tackles. The 6-3, 180-pounder was all over the field in the tight battle for first, that went to Byron.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIan Scharre, Hononegah bowling
Scharre, just a freshman, started last Friday's NIBPA preseason high school bowling tournament at Don Carter Lanes with back-to-back 290 games, and he averaged 259 for the day to take the individual title with a 1,296 five-game series. Hono had four bowlers in the top 7 and finished with the largest margin of victory in the history of the tournament at 670 pins.
Alec Schlichting, Lena-Winslow football
Le-Win’s Alec Schlichting evades a tackle by Brown County defense during the IHSA 1A football state championship game on Nov. 28, 2025, at Illinois State University in Normal.Schlichting bolted down the sidelines for a 67-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and helped spark Le-Win to the big 1A state-title win last Friday with 151 yards rushing and two TDs.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAustin Stuckey, Dakota basketball
Stuckey scored 19 points in the Scales Mound Turkey Tournament finale to help lift Dakota to the championship. Dakota led wire to wire, and this is the team's second straight tournament title.
Andrew Talbert, Byron football
Talbert completed 4 of his 5 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns during Byron's championship-game victory, and he also rushed for 48 yards and a pair of TDs. He also had three tackles on defense.
Aiden Wild, Lena-Winslow football
Wild rushed for over 100 yards in his eighth straight game, gaining 170 yards and scoring five TDs in Le-Win's state-title-game victory on Friday morning.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected] and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Pick top Rockford-area performance in Gustafson's Furniture AOTW poll
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