Top Performances from Week One

Week one was wildly exciting, and there were great performances all over the state. I could come here and tell you that every "Division-One" player in Minnesota had great game (which most of them did) but I will start out by showcasing the under-appreciated players that performed well in week one. The Underrated Players Alex Berreth, QB, Farmington (junior): 14/24, 247 passing Yds, 5 passing TDs, Berreth is one of the best junior athletes in the state. Last season on the gridiron Berreth and Farmington struggled unfortunately finishing with a 1-7 record in the regular season. Then a couple months later in the spring, Berreth played very well for the baseball team mostly appearing at shortstop as a sophomore. To begin his junior year Berreth came out firing. He led Farmington to 41-14 win over Stillwater. Finishing with 5 passing touchdowns to go along with 247 yards through the air. This was a big statement game for Berreth Farmington and they very well could put together a solid season at the 6A level this season. Josh Buri, RB, MLB, Stewartville (junior): 33 carries, 362 rushing Yds, 5 rushing TDs, 1 reception, 1 receiving yard Photo via: thinkstewartville.com (Bill Schroeder) Last season as sophomore Buri put together a season of 1,136 yards from scrimmage to go along with 14 total touchdowns, showing that he is a great high school running back. He stands 5'11' 210 pounds so he nearly has the ideal build for a running back. In week one of this year, Josh Buri might have had the best performance in all of Minnesota. 33 carries for 362 yards is just absolutely ridiculous. Then throwing 5 touchdowns on top of that in insane. His terrific performance led Stewartville to a 44-35 win over Triton. Stewartville competes at the class 3A level so Buri is not able to get the recognition he deserves. Although he may never receive the publicity that some of the metro area players get, he will keep putting up numbers. Josh Buri deserves to be recognized as one of the best running backs in Minnesota. Alex Saltzer, WR, P, Minneota (senior): 2 receptions, 177 receiving yds, 2 TDs, 3 punts, 80 yds According to many platforms, Minneota was viewed as they top 1A program in the state heading into this season. They showed why, taking down TMB 50-7. The Vikings only attempted nine passes the whole game so Alex Saltzer wasn't given many opportunities to contribute in the box score. But the talented senior took advantage of what he was given. With only two catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns. You really can't get get much better than that. As well as playing wide receiver, Saltzer contributed as the punter as well. Saltzer also competed in track and field last spring in the 100 meter dash, high jump, and long jump. Putting up PRs of 12.02, 5'9", and 18'11" respectively. Saltzer will hopefully lead Minneota to the state championship in 2019 after loosing in their section championship last season. Metro Area: Even though they get all of the publicity and the hype. There is a reason why at the end of the day. There were plenty great performances from metro-area players in week one. Raja Nelson, QB, Lakeville North (senior): 5/12, 37 passing yds, 16 carries, 109 rushing yds, 2 rushing TDs Raja Nelson is one of the best players in the entire state. Standing at 5'9" 175 pounds, he is the perfect "speedy" slot receiver. He has a MONSTER junior season finishing with 934 all purpose yards, and 17 total touchdowns, in route to winning the 6A state championship game with Lakeville North. His great performance turned into offers from Army, North Dakota, and NDSU, before eventually choosing the Bison as his future team. Even though Nelson has committed to North Dakota State as a wide receiver, he started week one at quarterback for the defending 6A state champs. Even though he was playing QB he did not do much passing. Most of his work came on the ground finishing with 16 carries for 109 yards and two scores. Nelson's quality performance led to a 24-7 win for Lakeville North over Woodbury. Nelson has a "dark-horse" chance to be Mr. Football this season. TK Marshall, RB, Minneapolis Southwest (senior): 19 carries, 168 yds, 3 rushing TDs, 1 reception, 3 receiving yards TK Marshall is arguably one of the most talented players in Minnesota. Last year was Marshall's coming out party. He put together 1,105 yards from scrimmage to go along with 13 total touchdowns. Similarly to Raja Nelson, Marshall was able to turn his impressive junior season into offers from South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, North Dakota, and North Dakota State. He eventually chose NDSU and will likely play with Nelson next year for the Bison. To begin his Mr. Football campaign this year Marshall started on fire. Marshall was terrific in Minneapolis Southwest's week one 29-0 win over St. Paul Highland Park. He finished with 168 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Marshall will look to finish his great high school with Minneapolis Southwest in the rest of 2019. Jalen Suggs, DB, QB, SMB (senior): Jalen Suggs is obviously one of the best high school athletes in Minnesota history and needs no introduction. But you can read more about the talented two-sport athlete here in my SMB season preview, and here in my 2019 Mr. Football preview. To kick off his senior campaign Suggs continued making monster plays, the same way he has done his whole football career. His stats from SMB's 35-7 victory over Colombia Heights has not yet become public, but his late fourth quarter pick-six had Twitter buzzing Friday night. Jalen will look to lead SMB to back-to-back state championships this season. *[Credit to <a style="color: #808080;" href="https://twitter.com/MREZsports">(@MREZsports)</a> for the Twitter video.] https://twitter.com/i/status/1167829705661255681