Prospect Spotlight: Joey Tilzer – Orono (2021)

For Orono linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18159" first="Joey" last="Tilzer"]</strong>, the season did not get off to the start he wanted. Before the Spartans had played a game during his junior year, Tilzer was already dealing with two injuries. Then, during the first quarter of the first game of the season, he had to deal with another injury. Despite playing the entire year with one healthy ankle and one healthy hand, Tilzer still led the Spartans in tackles. "I mainly played middle linebacker, but I played outside linebacker in some schemes," Tilzer said. "I had a couple of injuries. I sprained both my ankles during two-a-days. That slowed things down to start, but then in the first game, I broke my hand in the first quarter." Despite the injuries, Tilzer did not miss a game. "Once I started taping the ankles, one of them was fine, but the other ankle I have been still trying to strengthen it during the offseason. It is still not 100 percent better." Like his ankles, Tilzer’s wrist was also something he had to deal with all year. "The doctor cleared me to play with a cast and pad on. It made it harder to tackle – especially at first. I would look to grab with my hand, but I couldn’t do that. It became easier as the season went along – getting used to using my shoulder and wrapping my arms, not having to grab anything with my hands. It made shedding blocks hard. I couldn’t grab onto linemen. I would have to slap them with my hands." Tilzer’s injuries might have slowed him down some physically; they had nothing to do with what the 5’9" 210-pound pound athlete could do with the mental side of the game. "I am good at reading the play and reacting to what I see. I feel like I can understand the play the offense is doing quickly and am able to fly down to the ball and disrupt the play." For the team, 2019 was a season of change for Orono football. "Last year was our first year under a new head coach," Tilzer explained. "Overall, it was a big growing year – especially considering we had a smaller senior class, and we had a lot of younger players playing for new coaches. It was a good year for us to grow for this season." Despite the youth and new coaching staff, the team nearly finished with a .500 season. During the offseason, Tilzer has focused on the primary, middle linebacker responsibilities. "I have been working on my tackling – especially in the open field. I have also been working on my pass drops." "We did a lot of bench, clean and squat," Tilzer continued. "As we got closer to the season, I started doing more running and more band workouts." The offseason has not been all about football. "I played in a club lacrosse league in the winter," Tilzer told prepredzone.com. "I play defense. I am a physical defender. As of now, I am still planning on playing lacrosse this spring, but we will see." Tilzer did not have to adjust his training once Covid-19 hit. "At the beginning of the quarantine, my dad and I went out and bought a bunch of workout gear. I also have a hill in my backyard that I use for conditioning. I didn’t need to slow down much at all as far as lifting goes." Tilzer is being recruited primarily as a middle linebacker but has received some looks at outside linebacker. "Recruiting has gone well. I have a couple of roster spots from some DIII schools I am interested in - Macalester, St. Olaf, Bates College in Maine, and Kenyon College in Ohio. There are other DIII schools in those same conferences that I have been talking to. I haven’t pursued too many conversations with DII schools. It is not really what I want. As I have looked at it – I am focused on this football season – it is not about college yet. My plan for college is to go somewhere I can play and succeed early on. I believe that is something I can do at a DIII school." Playing on one good ankle and one healthy wrist, the schools still liked what they have seen out of Tilzer. "They like how physical I am. They also like how I read and flow to the plays." Just imagine how much they will like him this season with two healthy ankles and two healthy wrists.