Class A & 8 Man Underclassman Stats and Analysis: RB’s

The Iowa High School season is underway and a majority of teams are four weeks in, whereas some teams have had to take a week or two off because of COVID-19 concerns. I am taking a look at the statistics provided by ia.varsitybound.com and watched film on the highest producing underclassman signal callers, running backs, and receivers and broken them down. Here are the RB’s that have impressed so far this season: &nbsp; <strong>Junior RB, Gavin Maguire, Logan-Magnolia High School (A) - 5’9, 172 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 84 rushing attempts, 524 rushing yards, 7 rushing TD’s, 6.2 yards per carry</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>In Logan-Magnolia’s wing-T offense Maguire plays the FB position and is a big reason the offense moves the ball. Maguire is a downhill runner who makes one cut and gets through the hole to gain yardage. Maguire is a straight line runner who can bear down on defenders with his size and ability to run through defenders tackles. In all, Maguire is a positive runner for his team and when he gets the ball he won’t usually lose yardage. If Maguire can continue his success on the ground I see Logan-Magnolia also continuing their success overall. <strong>Junior RB, Jacob Waller, Bellevue High School (A) - 6’1, 185 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 64 rushing attempts, 430 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD’s, 6.7 yards per carry, 10 receptions, 170 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD, 17 yards per catch</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Waller is a threat to the defense when he has the ball in his hands as he holds nice attributes that help him gain positive yardage. He is good about running through would-be tacklers, and has good speed in order to breakaway from the defense. He’s a threat out of the backfield to catch the football which keeps defenses honest. He’s good at weaving through traffic and seeing the field with his vision and where the space is at. He can put his foot in the ground and get north/south when he needs to. Bellevue is dealing with a COVID-19 situation but when they get back to playing Waller will look to continue his success on the ground. <strong>Junior RB, Kaden Moorman, Ogden High School (A) - 5’10, 175 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 73 rushing attempts, 399 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD’s, 5.5 yards per carry, 3 receptions, 36 receiving yards, 12 yards per catch</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>An underrated attribute to have as a RB is being able to setup a screen play, as it is widely used in today’s game. Moorman does it pretty well for the level he’s playing at right now and that results in positive plays in the screen game for his team. Moorman is a good one cut runner who knows how to get through the hole by sticking his foot into the ground. He has a nice jump cut to get by defenders in the hole and extend the play. He has good vision and bursts of speed to allow him to get to the second level of the defense. Moorman was impressive to watch on film with a good base to continue to build upon the rest of the year. <strong>Junior RB, Denver Pauley, AHSTW High School (A) - 5’10, 180 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 87 rushing attempts, 528 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD’s, 6.1 yards per carry</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Denver Pauley is a solid 3 down back who is shifty in the open field and can make defenders miss in 1-on-1 situations. He has good straight line speed that allows him to breakaway from the defense when he gets by defenders and has quick reactions to unexpected defenders. Pauley is a strong runner who can bring some pop at point of collision with his tough running style. AHSTW does run the option and he does a nice job of keeping his space from the QB and receiving the ball and getting up field by sticking his foot in the ground and getting downhill. AHSTW will look to ride Pauley over the .500 record and continue momentum throughout the rest of the season. <strong>Junior RB, Beau Flander, English Valleys High School (8-Man) - 6’0, 185 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 73 rushing attempts, 694 rushing yards, 12 rushing TD’s, 9.5 yards per carry</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Already has a nice frame to grow into and could be an even better RB than he already is at this level the more he grows into his frame. Flander is hits the hole hard and at full speed and in 8-Man football can be dangerous to try to stop. He’s good at not stopping his feet at the point of contact which allows him to pick-up excess yardage. With his size and strength he’s hard to bring down and more than likely will take more than one defender to bring him down when he’s running the ball. Flander, like other good RB’s, is good at sticking at his foot in the ground and picking up yardage instead of expanding the play when it doesn’t need to be. Flander is a TD machine if he continues to run the way he has been so far this season English Valleys will be in good hands going forward. <strong>Sophomore RB, Blaise Porter, New London High School (8-Man) - 5’10, 155 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 71 rushing attempts, 718 rushing yards, 13 rushing TD’s, 10.1 yards per carry</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Porter is one of my favorite players on the hardwood in the class of 2023, but he is no slouch for New London on the football field either. Porter does a little bit of everything as he plays defense, returns kicks/punts, and also carries a big load on offense as well. He’s a good return man and carrier of the ball in general where he can use his speed and athleticism to get by defenders. He’s shifty in the open field and follows his blockers well. He’s also a patient runner as he is willing to wait an extra second for a hole to open rather than pressing to get forward. I really like Porter’s football abilities and he’s still a young back so there will be growth in the next three years to be had and I’m excited to see it. <strong>Junior RB, Andrew Grover, Colo-Nesco High School (8-Man) - 5’7, 155 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 70 rushing attempts, 572 rushing yards, 9 rushing TD’s, 8.2 yards per carry, 1 reception, 66 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD, and 66 yards per catch</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Grover is a short and stocky runner with a low center of gravity that helps him be the low man at contact and also gives him the advantage in cutting with the ball. He plays more of a wing-back in a wing-T offense. He may not do it often, but Grover is a good option out of the backfield for his QB to throw it to and can run after the catch well. Grover follows his blockers well and is patient when trying to find a crease. He can side step defenders in order to make them miss, and has shown good efficiency in the run game. Grover will need to continue to carry the ground game load for Colo-Nesco to get deeper into the season. <strong>Junior RB, [player_tooltip player_id="23971" first="Lane" last="Spieker"], CAM High School (8-Man) - 5’9, 175 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 56 rushing attempts, 706 rushing yards, 13 rushing TD’s, 12.6 yards per carry, 2 receptions, 98 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD, 49 yards per catch, 163 passing yards, 3:1 TD/INT Ratio, 81.8% completion percentage, 206.3 passer rating</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Out of all the classes in Iowa, [player_tooltip player_id="23971" first="Lane" last="Spieker"] is 5th overall in total touchdowns. He’s an exciting player to watch as he does everything with the ball. He rushes it, catches it, throws it and also returns kicks and punts to help his team. Spieker is quick, bulky back who can get to the edge with his speed or he can go between the tackles and use his never-ending drive to push the pile. He is a strong, tough runner with good vision to see where he needs to go with the football, also demonstrated his vision on his 81% completion percentage as a QB. He has good cutting skills that help him in the open field and is a threat to take it to the end zone every time he touches the ball. CAM has one of the most productive players in the state right now and that will take them quite a ways if Spieker continues his success. <strong>Freshman RB, Cam Buffington, Winfield-Mt Union High School (8-Man) - 6’2, 185 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 40 rushing attempts, 554 rushing yards, 11 rushing TD’s, 13.9 yards per carry</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>The first Freshman on this list is Cam Buffington, who is already an imposing RB just by his size and frame. As a young RB, Buffington is far more mature on the football field than his age may say. He is good at dodging tacklers in any way he can with jump cuts, through defenders, or out running them. He has good vision to hit the hole hard and with good speed, and provides nice one step side fakes to put defenders off balance. He has good patience and breakaway speed when he gets behind the defense. This will be a prospect to keep your eye on over the course of the next four years. <strong>Junior RB, Marcus Herold, Turkey Valley High School (8-Man) - 6’2, 190 lbs.</strong> <em>Stat line: 98 rushing attempts, 473 rushing yards, 8 rushing TD’s, 4.8 yards per carry, 12 receptions, 170 receiving yards, 3 receiving TD’s, 14.2 yards per catch</em> <strong>Breakdown: </strong>Turkey Valley’s Marcus Herold is a good downhill runner who is willing to put his head down and get through defenders when need be. He is tough to bring down with just one defender and requires team tackling to when carrying the ball. Runs through arm tackles and will pack something at the point of contact if the defender does not. He is good about following his blocks and seeing the hole to get through to the second level of defenders. In a predominantly running offense Herold will continue to tote the rock in hopes of continued production to take Turkey Valley deeper into the season.