Athlete of the Week: L-W East's Winkler Makes the Most of His Opportunities

Featuring a roster that graduated 27 seniors and went just 4-5 a season ago, Edwardsville fielded an inexperienced football team on Friday. The Tigers were susceptible to some mistakes because of that inexperience, turning the ball over three times in the first half.

Giving the ball back to quarterback Blake Winkler isn’t in the best interest of any football team, and the Tigers learned that the hard way as

Winkler completed 12 of 23 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. He connected with Jelani Yancy twice and also found David Mahl for a 7-yard touchdown.

Winkler didn’t play in the second half. He didn’t need to, as he guided the Griffins to a 45-0 lead.

For his efforts in Week 1 of the football season, Winkler has been named the Patch Athlete of the Week.