Recruiting Report: Marselio Mendez/Cretin Derham-Hall (2021)

<strong>ST PAUL- "He's</strong> flying under the radar," that's what I hear from coaches about our next prospect we will talk about in our recruiting report. Cretin Derham-Hall WR <strong>Marselio Mendez</strong> is a player that I got to watch last season and got to watch him dominate at the My 7on7 tournament in Eden Prairie a few weeks back. Mendez will have a new QB throwing him the football in [player_tooltip player_id= "18436" first= "Luke" last=" Floysand"], who is looking to be a top prospect in our 2022 class and is the next man up for the Raiders after graduating Furman commit Preston Thelemann. We chatted with Mendez about his recruiting, his 2019 season, and much more. <strong>Get to Know Marselio Mendez</strong> A three-sport athlete for the Raiders, you can see in person just how fast Mendez is and how much athleticism he has in his body. Mendez loves to watch sports highlights in his spare time when he's not playing football. If people outside of his football were to know something about, he would say, "I like to work and compete, and what I bring to the table is energy and always being a reliable receiver and a man you can count on to make plays." Mendez, as far as his strengths have clutch hands, being quick and explosive off the line, getting separation in his routes, getting the ball upfield after a catch, which is very much what he did in the East Ridge game I watched early last season. <strong>Favorites About WR</strong> "Taking over the game and changing the momentum," is what Mendez told Prepredzone.com about his favorite items that play at the full receiver position. The amount of reps is another favorite Mendez has as you have plenty of opportunities to go up against the secondary to make a play. <strong>Looking Back: 2019 Season</strong> Mendez described his 2019 season as good with the Raiders. His two notable games were against East Ridge (I was there), where he caught the go-ahead touchdown to beat the Raptors in week 2. From a rep's perspective, Mendez got the love in their game against Prior Lake last season, where he caught a handful of good balls and got a lot of touches too. To describe the rest of his 2019 season, Mendez called it "a roller coaster". He didn't get the touches he probably deserved, but when he did get out there, he made plays with every chance he got. His focus: keeping the drive going, and whether he was on the field or off the field, he kept his teammates motivated. That was seen at the end of the season when Mendez started to getting more starting reps for the Raiders. <strong>Recruiting Trail</strong> As for interest, Mendez has seen the love from Division 2 and 3 programs in Minnesota-Moorhead, UW-Eau Claire, Valley City State, Bethel, Gustavus, and Dordt, who has been very active in Minnesota recently out of Iowa. <strong>Elevator Pitch</strong> For Mendez, I think a strong elevator pitch to the coaches that may be reading could be very beneficial, for a prospect I have heard is nothing but under the radar, under-recruited, etc. Here it is: <strong>My pitch is I'm a very reliable receiver I have good hands I'm fast and quick, and I can make plays, and I'm tough, and I like to work, and I want to win so if I went to your school I would bring my all to the program. </strong> <strong>Offseason Work Ons</strong> The biggest reason why Mendez might be slept on from the college football community is his size, which is 5'9 and approximately 150 pounds. Why wouldn't I sleep on him? He's a burner type receiver that is going to have the speed on takeoff to torch by the DB defending him; that's why I don't' understand because "the burner" prototype is what I love about running backs too. Mendez has worked hard this season to increase his muscle and weight. He has already noticed a difference, as he has also become faster. He trains with TNT Academy, which makes him excited for a March start to football, as he has more and more time to prepare to keep getting bigger, faster, and more durable. <strong>Marselio's Mentor</strong> Marselio's uncle, Marty, has played an enormous impact in his life from a football perspective. "He has been teaching me the game of football since I was a little kid, and I keep learning from him even to this day," Marselio told us about his uncle. Mendez knows that if he ever has a question or needs input on what he could have done differently with one of his routes or anything else, he knows his uncle Marty is in his corner to help him with whatever he needs to turn into a better football player. <strong>Learning from Last Season/2021 Goals</strong> "Doing more and achieving more," that is what Marselio Mendez told us he learned from his 2019 season with the Raiders. He's well aware that life on the football field can throw you curveballs, and it's 100% up to you to "do me and keep grinding," Mendez said in his final quote to Prepredzone.com. I will have to rephrase and say for 2021, Mendez has some great goals lined up going into next season for CDH. "My goals for this next season is to be that man for my offense and stick out and make plays for my team and being a good leader throughout the whole season and show them a different type of a receiver then what they saw last season!" You can check out how darn swift of a receive you would get from Marselio Mendez, as he is one of the "sleepers" at WR in the Class of 2021. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2CFqSv">Junior Tape</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MarselioMendez/status/1293323889066549250?s=20">New Tape from Twitter</a> &nbsp;