Flashing Forward: MN Preps at NDSU 2019

In this latest edition of "Flashing Forward" presented by Northstar Football News we will be checking back on in former Minnesota preps who now don the prestigious green and yellow of the North Dakota State University Bison. One of my favorite college football teams to watch growing up and now, I have always enjoyed how the Bison seemed to find a lot of their success built from a foundation of Minnesota boys from all over our great state. This success is almost unprecedented. NDSU has won seven FCS national championships since 2011 and are the only college football team to win five national titles in a row. They have won 15 national championships overall and 35 conference championships to go along with that. Additionally, the Bison have helped a lot of Minnesota kids get a shot at the NFL, with more than a few sustaining successful careers. Marcus Williams (Hopkins), Matt Veldman (Becker), Billy Turner (Mounds View), Joe Haeg (Brainerd, and who was drafted), CJ Smith (Burnsville), Paul Cornick (Orono), John Crockett (Totino-Grace), and Craig Dahl (Mankato East) have all been recent Bison that hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes to grace the NFL stage, and I hope I am not the only one who finds it incredibly cool to be watching them on Sundays. With that in mind, the NDSU 2019 roster currently has 28 former Minnesota preps on the roster with 10 incoming freshman as well. Four of those 10 freshman are walking-on, a tradition that gone well for Minnesotans in the past. Let's check back in on some of these former MN studs as they enter the 2019 season, many of which Northstar Football News have been covering since our genesis in 2013. Dimitri Williams 5'11, 201lb. RB/WR. Redshirt Senior. Rosemount High School Class of 2015 #4 [caption id="attachment_11282" align="alignright" width="191"] Credit: Dimitri Williams Hudl[/caption] Williams had a very successful career for the 6A powerhouse Irish. Rosemount was the state runner-up in 2013 and a section champion in 2014, and Williams was named AP all-state second team in '13, AP all-state first team in '14 and Kare 11 all-metro first team both those years as well. He accounted for more than 3,900 total yards and 53 touchdowns in three seasons starting for the Irish, and is going on his fifth year for the Bison. He appeared in 12 games his true freshman season and started once, and has since appeared in 44 games for NDSU. Totaling 179 rushing yards, 246 receiving yards, 483 kick return yards, and 21 total tackles over those 44 games, Williams has been all over the field and has done whatever the team has needed him to over his career. He was switched from receiver to running back in 2018 and will be seen in many different roles for the Bison in 2019. He also has a really fun couple high school Hudl's to watch. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/29U1hG">http://www.hudl.com/v/29U1hG</a> Trey Lance 6'3, 221 lb. QB. Redshirt Freshman. Marshall High School Class of 2018 #5 [caption id="attachment_11283" align="alignright" width="192"] Credit: Trey Lance Hudl[/caption] Lance was a 3-star rated QB coming out of Marshall High School who picked up a late offer from Boise State near national signing day in February. He was just named the starting quarterback for the Bison this August, beating out Iowa State transfer Zeb Noland and Apple Valley alum Noah Sanders for the position. Bison fans have a lot of reasons to be excited about the 220 lb. dual-threat prospect who passed for 3,026 yards and 33 TDs while rushing for 1,177 yards and 18 TD's while at Marshall High School. He also had 54 tackles and 3 picks on defense his senior season. Having scored two rushing touchdowns in his redshirt season of 2018 in Fargo, I know I am not the only now who is excited about seeing what Lance can do as the starter this fall. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/28L0DF">http://www.hudl.com/v/28L0DF</a> James Hendricks 6'1, 206 lb. FS. Senior. Bemidji High School Class of 2016 #6 [caption id="attachment_11344" align="alignright" width="206"] Credit: James Hendricks Hudl[/caption] Hendricks has had an interesting career for the Bison to say the least. After throwing for 3,735 yards and 36 touchdowns while adding 2,273 yards and 25 TDs on the ground in his Lumberjack career, Hendricks found himself third on the quarterback depth chart his redshirt freshman season of 2016. The following year the coaches decided to move him to the defensive side of the ball, where he played in 15 games in the defensive backfield and was thrown in the fire for his first start against South Dakota State at strong safety before starting at will linebacker the following week versus South Dakota. He's totaled 85 total tackles and nine interceptions in his career coming into 2019 and is slated as the starter at free safety going into his senior year. Look for #6 flying around the defensive backfield this fall. Fans of Hendricks will not be surprised to see this, as the two-time all-conference and three-time all-section performer has been killing it up North for years now. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2AEg05">http://www.hudl.com/v/2AEg05</a> Marquise Bridges 5'11, 186 lb. CB. Senior. DeLaSalle High School Class of 2015 #9 [caption id="attachment_11361" align="alignright" width="225"] Credit: Marquise Bridges Hudl[/caption] Bridges is going into his last season in Fargo as the number 1 cornerback, again. After spending his redshirt year as a wide receiver in the program, the Minneapolis product was switched to CB and saw action in three games in 2016. A fluid athlete that played both ways at DeLaSalle, Bridges was a 2014 AP all-state first team selection and a KARE 11 all-metro first team pick his senior year of high school, and this athletic prowess served him tremendously in his first career start for the Bison. After starter Jalen Allison was hurt in the national semi-finals in 2017, Bridges found himself starting in the FCS national championship game against James Madison and their stud WR Riley Stapleton. He was more than up for the challenge, and made three tackles and picked off a pass in the Bison victory. In his second season as a full time starter, Bridges will be looking for a big senior season that can hopefully boost his draft stock. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2ASidy">http://www.hudl.com/v/2ASidy</a> Phoenix Sproles 5'11, 187 lb. WR. Sophomore. Robbinsdale Cooper High School Class of 2018 #11 [caption id="attachment_11362" align="alignright" width="224"] Credit: MNFootballHub[/caption] Sproles was a tremendous pickup for North Dakota State coming out of Cooper High School in 2018. He held FBS offers from Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Navy, and Air Force but committed to the Bison following a tremendous senior season in which the Hawks went 9-1 and Sproles was selected to the Minnesota all-star game. He appeared in 15 games for the Bison last fall as a true freshman and caught five balls for 34 yards and one touchdown. Sproles is slated as a starter at WR by 24/7sports and should also see some action returning kicks alongside fellow Minneapolis native Marquise Bridges. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/4659984/5a006c83b019500d04616900">http://www.hudl.com/video/3/4659984/5a006c83b019500d04616900</a> Garrett Malstrom 6'0, 250 lb. FB. Senior. Frazee-Vergas High School Class of 2015 #39 [caption id="attachment_11364" align="alignright" width="212"] Credit: Garrett Malstrom Hudl[/caption] Malstrom was an absolute beast playing for head coach Jim Rader at Frazee-Vergas High School in Northwest Minnesota. A state champion heavyweight wrestler who went 48-0 his senior year on the A powerhouse Frazee Hornet wrestling team, Malstrom set school recored for tackles in a single game as well as in a career while leading the Hornets to a section runner-up finish in 8AA his senior season of 2014. Finding his way into the lineup his sophomore season of college with three starts, Malstrom has since appeared in 30 games for the Bison, and is poised as the #1 FB entering the 2019 season. The kid is an absolute hammer, and I am looking forward to watching him demolish defenders this fall. It would not be fun to get in the way of this Frazee product. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/28kqsi">http://www.hudl.com/v/28kqsi</a> Zack Johnson 6'6, 315 lb. OT. Senior. Spring Lake Park High School Class of 2015 #68 [caption id="attachment_11365" align="alignright" width="186"] Credit: Zack Johnson Hudl[/caption] This is a Zack Johnson hype post 100%. The Blaine native has had a heck of a career up in Fargo. After being named AP all-state third team in 2014 to go with a Star Tribune second team nod in 2014, Johnson took over as a start his sophomore season of college in 2017. He followed that up last year by being named a consensus All-American by the three most prominent selection committees as well as being named first team all Missouri Valley Conference. He will no doubt be leading the O-line this fall for NDSU. Junior Year Hudl: <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/2481836/5721ebdd041ddc1b0080d554">https://www.hudl.com/video/3/2481836/5721ebdd041ddc1b0080d554</a> Dillon Radunz 6'6, 298 lb. OT. Junior. Becker High School Class of 2016 #75 [caption id="attachment_11366" align="alignright" width="208"] Credit: SCtimes[/caption] Radunz was a hammer in high school for perennial state power Becker High School. A top-10 finalist for the Mr. Football Award, he was also named all-state, all-metro, and all-conference honors while winning state titles his junior and senior years. He also had 14 sacks his senior season. He started as a sophomore last year for the Bison and was named a HERO Sports FCS sophomore all-american after serving 27 knockdowns on 626 snaps. Hopefully his junior season will look a lot like Zack Johnson's. Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/28p6Lg">http://www.hudl.com/v/28p6Lg</a> Ben Ellefson 6'3, 250 lb. TE. Senior. Hawley High School Class of 2015 #82 [caption id="attachment_11367" align="alignright" width="97"] Credit: Ben Ellefson Huld[/caption] Ellefson first caught my attention after seeing his junior year Hudl back in 2013. The first play was spectacular to say the least and I've probably watched it 100 times since then. He was named AP first team all-state his senior year and accounted for 45 TDs in prep career with the Nuggets. He also totaled 128 tackles his senior year and is Hawley's all-time scoring leader for basketball. He was a second team all MVFC selection last year after scoring eight TDs and is looking to build on that for his senior season in 2019. Senior Year Hudl: <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/2853282/5721ba739a91677e74842421">https://www.hudl.com/video/3/2853282/5721ba739a91677e74842421</a> Junior Year Hudl: <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/2853282/5721b66c9a91677e747bf722">https://www.hudl.com/video/3/2853282/5721b66c9a91677e747bf722</a>