Recruiting/Player Profile: Mattice Simmons Jr./Burnsville (2021)
Today, Nate from Northstar Football News caught up with prospect <strong>Mattice Simmons Jr. </strong>who is a current junior for the Burnsville Blaze in the south suburbs of the Twin Cities. We asked Mattice a 6-pack of questions about the game he plays as a slot receiver for Burnsville and his team as a whole.
<strong>Mattice Simmons Jr.</strong>
<strong>Position:</strong> Wide Receiver/Cornerback
<strong>High School Program:</strong> Burnsville
<strong>Class:</strong> 2021, Junior
<strong>Get to Know Mattice Simmons Jr.</strong>
Simmons primary position is slot receiver, but he also backs up Blaze CB <strong>Landon Rocheleau </strong>at corner as well. <strong> </strong>When talking about his game to NFN, he said he brings “lots of competition and intensity to the table and am very quick off my feet” Simmons said his route running is what separates himself from the competition as he known for three things, his shiftiness, hard cuts, and spins when finding an opening to get the ball in that Blaze offense.
<strong>Favorite Parts about the Receiver Position for Simmons</strong>
Two of the favorite parts to Simmons game at wide receiver is getting into the open field and 1 on 1’s getting after the ball. Simmons stated “you get a taste of everything at the receiver position”.
<strong>College Interest</strong>
Simmons says he has had any specific programs reach out to him yet, as a junior but stated his mom has “gotten calls from a recruiter” here recently which is a good sign for Simmons and his college football future.
<strong>Improvements Made by Simmons This Season</strong>
The biggest thing that Burnsville Blaze coaches told Simmons Jr. from past seasons is to work on his leadership. “I’m one of the guys the team relies on” Simmons told NFN. He said his effort on showing up to the local Burnsville 7 on 7 teams, team bonding, volunteering in the Burnsville community, and lifting in the off-season has gotten Simmons where he wants to be and his coaches want him to be from this past season with the Blaze.
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<strong>Mattice’s Mentors</strong>
Similar to <strong>Rudy Voss</strong> in my last player profile, Mattice Simmons Jr. also had three mentors he would like to mention. At the wide receiver position, he wants to think Burnsville assistant coach <strong>Rick Stanton </strong>for helping him with the tools he’s been able to create at wide receivers at Burnsville. At defensive back, Mattice credits <strong>Shane Hall</strong>, who was an all-state defensive back for Burnsville in 1996 and played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes. In the off-season, Mattice’s mentor <strong>is Coach Byrd</strong>, who has pushed Mattice to get where he wants to in the off-season and has given him the leadership skills to go far as well.
<strong>Individual Goals/Team Goals for Simmons Jr.</strong>
Simmons did a great job of mixing in his team goals with his individual goals. His across the board goal is to win out the rest of the season specifically for the seniors, who “have worked their tails off for this team”. Simmons said we need to “showcase this team before it’s too late” as Simmons told NFN. We hope to see the Blaze finish strong here at NFN as well.
Burnsville (0-5) will travel to neighboring rival, the Eagan Wildcats (0-5) this Friday at 7:00 PM. Eagan was blown out by a Rosemount (3-2) last week 42-0.
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