Southwest Report: 4A

After a long hiatus from coverage in Minnesota, this will be a big article highlighting some of the top prospects in the Southwest region of Minnesota in Class 4A. These players will be the players I know from watching this past season, or who have their film updated on Hudl that are ’22 and ’23 grads primarily. Class 4A Marshall Tigers- A team that I have always said to never have a rebuilding year, they just reload every year. A true ’next man up’ type team with a lot of depth on the roster. They have produced many college athletes over the last few years at all levels; Big Ten, FCS, D2, and NAIA. The 2021 season will be another year where they will put potential college athletes on the field, here are a few I see doing so: ’22 OL- [player_tooltip player_id="49820" first="Deylin" last="Hasert"] has a few Power 5 offers as a Junior, and looks to add on to that in his final season. He has good size to stand-out, but also has a high ceiling when it comes to his potential. He has pretty good feet and hand technique, but caps it all off with his strength finishing his blocks. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11827237/5fbb38c9041ef309e83104f8">Junior Season</a> LB- [player_tooltip player_id="49930" first="Caden" last="Fenger"] is poised to have a breakout season in his Senior Campaign. He plays his position well at a LB/DE type, his technique puts him in good position to do his job to help himself and his team. He does a good job using his speed to string out the perimeter runs and turning the ballcarrier back to the inside for his team to come up and make plays. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/12229426/5fcd2f05160095033470400b">Junior Season</a> DT- Eduardo Garcia has really quick feet at the DT position. He does a good job sliding with the flow of the offensive line and plugging up the run gaps. He also has good hand technique and strength to fight off blocks, and above all, track down and tackle the ballcarrier. He uses his big frame to stalemate a quicker ballcarrier and then drives his feet to drive him back, no free yards. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11494232/5fb8bb05bd6ac704dc115150">Junior Season</a> LB- Bryant Paulsen does a great job in run support. He fills his gap and scrapes at an angle good enough to take away cutback lanes. He has good form in his tackle, but can still lay a good hit when set up. I like his patience getting his reads. He reads his keys and stays home and does his job, misdirection does not fool him. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2FP5d9">Junior Season</a> ’23 QB- [player_tooltip player_id="112067" first="Tyler" last="Maeyaert"] seemed to be second string this year, but if he was on any other team in the Southwest, he’d be a starter easily. He has a big arm to get the ball down field to his speedy receivers. He also can zip a ball in tight windows for the short gains. A lot of his throws had pinpoint accuracy on both deep and short routes. He can also run ball, and is physical when doing so, fighting for every yard. Shows his strength too, sitting in the pocket and still delivering a good ball under pressure. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Ec82k">Sophomore Season</a> RB/LB- [player_tooltip player_id="112065" first="Chidi" last="Nwakama"] is just a football player, knows the game inside and out and can play many positions. He has all kinds of agility, seeing him make all those defenders look silly on film. He also has a great burst of speed, leaving defenders in the dust when he gets into open space. On defense, he plays his position and does his job well in both pass coverage and run support. His hands do a great job of freeing him from the blockers and then wrapping up the ballcarrier. He is also constantly stripping the ball from the ballcarrier. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Efwbe">Sophomore Season</a> Hutchinson Tigers- another team that reloads every year and always meets up with Marshall at some point in the Section Tournament. They are also a team that has a lot of players who receive college offers in many sports as well at all levels. This year will be no different as well as they will have another squad who will have the potential to spark college interest across the country. ’22 ATH- [player_tooltip player_id="18438" first="Sam" last="Rensch"] is the playmaker on both sides of the ball. His frame, speed, and athleticism can make him successful in many different positions. His speed makes him dangerous both coming out of the backfield or split out wide, running routes. His frame makes him a great target. His athleticism puts him at the RB, WR, and LB positions on the field, and making big plays at each of those positions. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Efbzq">Junior Season</a> QB- [player_tooltip player_id="49828" first="Colin" last="Nagel"] is a running QB. In an offensive scheme I would call a two-back set, just a RB taking a direct snap and running a read-option every play, that’s all they need to do to move the ball. Nagel breaks off big runs every time he keeps. He runs with speed but also with a lot of physicality. He is not looking to go down ever. He can also put good zip on the ball and get them to his receivers. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EfkUi">Junior Season</a> LB- [player_tooltip player_id="49825" first="Aaron" last="Elliott"] is a big brute. He just looks to wreck any kid that carries the ball on the other team. He fills his gap with lots of conviction and then punishes blockers and ballcarriers. His strength is impressive both when making tackles and blocking. His lateral speed is also impressive when reading, then his closing speed is great too when closing in on a tackle. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EgniS">Junior Season</a> RB- [player_tooltip player_id="49848" first="Mitchell" last="Piehl"] is a big play back. He has the biggest burst of speed I have seen. He hits the seam at full speed and doesn’t look back breaking off big plays at any given moment. When he runs between the tackles he can be very physical with defenders, if they can catch him, he does a good job keeping the wheels turning and fighting until the whistle. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11550027/5fbe7fb7d45e9c09b44a16b1">Junior Season</a> OL- [player_tooltip player_id="136413" first="Max" last="Einck"] is a great pull-blocker. Bodies are hitting the ground when he pulls, or even on down blocks. He keeps great leverage to roll defenders and get his pancakes. His feet are great when he’s driving the defender off the ball and then burying him. He loves putting his shoulder pad into the defender when he gets a head of steam and make the huge hit. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Egnfa">Junior Season</a> ’23 DL- [player_tooltip player_id="19007" first="Logan" last="Hoppe"] has one of the biggest motors I’ve seen on tape. He brings a different type of intensity that coaches love to see. He works his blockers, whether he’s one-on-one or double-teamed, and keeps fighting until the whistle blows, usually resulting in tackles for loss. He shoots gaps well, drawing two blockers on him nearly every play. He has the strength to fight through his blocker and then find the ball carrier, and wraps up nicely. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Ee7Jd">Sophomore Season</a> LB/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="112070" first="Levi" last="Teetzel"] is a good defensive roamer I’d call him. He can float around the field and plug in where ever necessary for the defense. He does really well in pass coverage, he has good feet to stick with his guy. He also has good awareness and ball-sense to make plays without getting penalized. He shows good form in his tackles and makes sure to wrap up. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EfVpU">Sophomore Season</a> LB/DB- Alex Elliott is also a defensive roamer. He is more on the run-support, short game plays. He has good speed to fly around and make plays all over the field. He takes good angles to get into position and turn the runner back to the inside. He fights off the open-field blocks, then muscles through the to make the tackle. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EgpbP">Sophomore Season</a> Jordan Hubmen- is a team that came out of nowhere a few years ago and have kept up the intensity the past few years. They will go unnoticed most of the time based on the powerhouse of a Section they are in, they compete well against some great 4A teams. ’22 WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="49857" first="Ashton" last="Sivilay"] is a blue-collared athlete. He wasn’t flashy on film, just played each play as hard as he could. He wasn’t the biggest or fastest guy on the field, but watching his film, you’d never know. He ran some good routes to get open and always made a sure-handed catch. Defensively, he flowed around to the play and went up to make plays in the pass and run game. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/9931763/6001d8ee5b3e2b048c0a7989">Junior Season</a> OL/DL- [player_tooltip player_id="49859" first="Peyton" last="Nawrocki"] is all about brute strength. He’s got some good technique, but he wins his battles in the trenches with his strength. He is also a good lead blocker on pulls. He has the speed to lead the back up the gap and find a defender to block. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Ehmer">Junior Season</a> QB- [player_tooltip player_id="49860" first="Noah" last="Millhouse"] has good touch on the football. He is patient and leads his receivers well when they get open downfield. He has good footwork in the pocket and sets his feet before he throws the ball. He is also very mobile when under pressure and can make plays by keeping his eyes downfield to make throws or tuck and run. He can also zip some balls throw some tight windows down in the red zone as well. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/9967183/5f9eeea56e81d30414653c90">Junior Season</a> Mankato East Cougars- finished at .500 this year and showed some great improvements this past season. They will be returning a good group of kids that will help them improve more in the 2021 season. ’22 RB/LB- [player_tooltip player_id="49867" first="Gus" last="Gartzke"] is a solid athlete on both sides of the ball. His frame helps him have a low-center-of-gravity that gives him good agility. He has good strength to muscle through tackles and keeps his wheels turning to gain some extra yards. He also runs good routes out of the backfield and has a good set of hands to be a good target. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EgqsZ">Junior Season</a> QB- [player_tooltip player_id="22947" first="Jacob" last="Eggert"] is a solid QB. He has a good arm and accuracy to make the deep throws and the short throws. He is also has good pocket presence and is mobile to escape pressure. He does a good job going through all his reads to make the best throw on that play. He can also scramble well and make good and accurate throws on the run, deep or short. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2Egr8K">Junior Season</a> WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="116213" first="Puolrah" last="Gong"] is a very good target. He has a good-lanky frame to stand tall over his defender. He also has good speed and runs good routes to get open downfield. He makes an all out effort on every ball thrown his way and makes a play. He can also outrun most defenders and can out-jump them as well. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11377307/5fc52c9c2aa6590b7c352689">Junior Season</a>