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Seven Red Hawks earn all-conference first-team honors

Some Badger South football teams probably thought Milton High would enter the conference through a side entrance.

Instead, the Red Hawks kicked through the front door.

After winning the Badger South title in their first year in the conference, seven Red Hawk players have earned all-conference first-team honors.

Ethan Bachinski and Nic Roth lead the list of Milton honorees, earning first-team spots both on offense and defense.

Bachinski, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior earned the league coaches’ votes at both tight end and linebacker. He was a unanimous pick at tight end.

Jeff Bachinski, Milton’s head coach and Ethan’s father, is proud of what his son accomplished in his high school career.

“He worked for what he got,” the elder Bachinski said. “I can’t say enough about him. I think he is as good a player as we ever had had here at Milton.”

Ethan, who has a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Wisconsin and is waiting for a scholarship offer from Western Michigan University, prefers playing linebacker, but has several colleges interested in him as a tight end.

In 10 games, the senior caught 31 passes for 487 yards and two TDs this season. Defensively, he led the Red Hawks with 92.5 total tackles, including 11.5 for losses. He had one sack and one forced fumble.

Ethan started for Milton on both offense and defense for the past three seasons. He earned first-team All-Southern Lakes Conference honors at linebacker as a sophomore and junior and at tight end as a junior.

“He has great hands and is a good blocker,” Jeff said.

Roth has earned first-team honors at offensive tackle and a defensive lineman.

The 6-2, 270-pound Roth was the anchor to both Milton lines. Defensively, Roth was in on 23.5 total tackles, including two for losses.

“He’s in the same category as Ethan,” Bachinski said. “He has a great work ethic and worked hard in the offseason. He’s been on the varsity for three years.”

Three other Milton players have earned first-team honors on offense.

Senior Nick Karleski was one of the conference’s elite receivers.

“He’s dynamite in a small package,” Bachinski said of 5-8, 160-pound Karleski. “He’s so full of energy. He does whatever the team needs him to do, and really raised his level of play this year.”

Karleski caught 33 passes for 320 yards and three TDs, and rushed 36 times for 204 yards and two TDs. During the regular season he accounted for 105 total yards a game, including 156 yards in kickoff returns and 160 in punt returns. He averaged 20 yards per punt return.

Andy Hunter is one of three Milton High juniors to earn first-team honors. Hunter (5-11, 215) joins Roth on the all-conference offensive line.

“He’s another kid who work hard and it paid off on the field,” Bachinski said. “He proved it to all the other coaches who voted for him.”

Hank McIvor rounds out the Milton contingent on offense. The 5-8, 170-pound senior dominated opposing defenses with 858 yards rushing and 331 more receiving and scoring 19 TDs.

In addition, McIvor returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and finished with 106 total points.

Despite the impressive numbers, Bachinski said they might have been better had McIvor been completely healthy.

“He had an ankle injury that kept coming back,” Bachinski said. “It was like a toothache. But Hank worked through it and had a great season for us. He’s as good as any running back we’ve ever had.

“His speed is second to none.”

Two juniors joined Bachinski and Roth on the Badger South’s first-team defense.

Jack McCann, a 5-11, 190-pound defensive end, played on the strong side of the offensive set, which meant he dealt with tight ends and offensive tackles. McCann finished with 33 total tackles, including 2.5 for losses.

“Every game he kept improving,” Bachinski said. “He took on a lot of blockers. He had a great game at Stoughton, where he intercepted a pass and almost took it for a touchdown.”

Josh Meyers earned first-team honors at defensive back, where he had six interceptions and 29.5 total tackles.

“That kid is a hitter,” Bachinski said of the 5-8, 160-pound Meyers. “He had a great season for us.”

Senior Zach Fry earned second-team honors at quarterback.

All those honors were an appropriate end to a fine season.

“We had eight new faces on offense and seven new faces on defense,” Bachinski said. “A lot of people thought the Southern Lakes had a lot of pushovers and that we were going to find out what football was all about going to the Badger.

“We adjusted very, very well.”

Fort Atkinson senior Tyler Kobs, a 6-4, 240-pound linebacker, again has earned first-team recognition after getting the same honors in the Southern Lakes last season.

“He’s a very big linebacker,” Fort coach Steve Mahoney said. “Even though our record wasn’t very good, he kept us competitive in games.”

Kobs finished with 78 tackles, including 44 solo. He had six tackles for losses, three sacks, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt.