Bold Predictions for Fall 2021

We made it everyone! The 2021 Wisconsin High School football season is here! Before it kicks off tonight I want to go through a couple bold predictions that I have going into the season. Now don’t go too crazy with what I predict in this article as they may seem a little over the top, but I will be providing my reasoning for each bold prediction. As you will see, while it might seem crazy there are reasons to believe that each one of these bold predictions could happen. Let’s get our final preseason article started so we can play some football! Bold Prediction #1: Stoughton RB [player_tooltip player_id="118528" first="Darrick" last="Hill"] Will Lead State in Rushing Yards This might seem bold knowing all the other talented RBs that Darrick will be up against, but there are two reasons behind why this take might not be as bold as it appears. It happens to be the two most important reasons when it comes to production in the backfield. The first reason is that Hill will be running behind arguably the best OL in the state. Led by Badgers commit [player_tooltip player_id="118238" first="Barrett" last="Nelson"], MNSU- Mankato commit [player_tooltip player_id="31216" first="Gabe" last="Rousseau"], and junior [player_tooltip player_id="31385" first="Griffin" last="Empey"] you can expect there to be running lanes that you can drive a truck through this fall. The second reason is that Hill’s workload should see a major jump over his 106 carries in seven games from this spring. The reason for the increase in potential workload is that the second, third, and fourth leading rushers on the team all graduated this past summer leaving behind 172 carries to be picked up by someone else. If Darrick can get a large chunk of that work paired with his very impressive contact balance then we will see a kid near the top in rushing yards this fall. Bold Prediction #2: [player_tooltip player_id="104372" first="Keany" last="Parks"], Quinton Henry Jr and [player_tooltip player_id="118328" first="Christian" last="Crump"] Will Combine for 3,000 All Purpose Yards for Kenosha Bradford This might seem like huge numbers for a team with so many mouths to feed, but I firmly believe the three-headed monster that is Parks, Henry, and Crump is the best trio of playmakers in the state. Any of these three dudes can take it to the house on any of their touches. Because of how dangerous they are they won’t need an obscene amount of touches or receptions to hit these numbers. Henry is the best WR in the state an is coming off a fall where he averaged nearly 20 yards a reception. If he can stay even close to that he will have an exceptional stat line at the end of the season. Crump put up nearly 15 yards a reception, and had more receptions that Henry, so the targets will be there for him to also hit impressive end of season totals. Totals that will include his work as a returner. When it comes to Keany, Bradford does an amazing job of getting the ball in his hands. Parks is the definition of an explosive playmaker. Whether he’s rushing, receiving, or returning kicks he is going to be a walking highlight reel and the numbers will support that. Maybe the biggest reason that I believe this will happen is they have their QB Nate Olson returning for his senior season. Olson has the talent and experience to be able to get these stars the ball. We just have to sit back and watch the show. Bold Prediction #3: 2021’s Elite RB Duo Will Come to Us From Eau Claire Regis Last season, and the year before, the best RB duo resided in Muskego. That duo piled up insane numbers and churned the way to a state title and undefeated records. With the graduation of Current and Bulski we are now looking for our new big impact RB duo. My selection for that duo is the combo of [player_tooltip player_id="104359" first="Zander" last="Rockow"] and [player_tooltip player_id="182059" first="Gus" last="Theisen"] out of Eau Claire Regis. They are the perfect thunder and lightning duo as Theisen excels with his quick twitch and vision, while Rockow brings the bigger body that can still shake defenders or go right through them. There will be a third back with them in this offense, but that’s no different than what Muskego had the past two years as well. I believe that it will be these two studs that have the direct impact on how Regis’ season plays out. We are going to find out quickly too as they make the trip across the state for a Week One showdown with Kenosha Bradford. You can bet that I will be in attendance for that battle of play styles! Bold Prediction #4: [player_tooltip player_id="31225" first="Luna" last="Larson"] and Blake Fletcher Will Finish Top 10 in Rushing Yds and Tackles The two best QB/LB two way studs in Wisconsin are 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="31225" first="Luna" last="Larson"] from Baraboo and 2023 Blake Fletcher from Racine Horlick. I expect both to play D1 football on the defensive side of the ball, but high school opponents will have to worry about these dudes on both sides of the ball until graduation. Luna finished last fall at 6th in the state in rushing yards, while Blake finished the spring at 14th overall. Now the competition is going to be all stacked together this year as everyone will be playing in the spring, but I believe Luna is going to continue to be the focal point of the offense in his senior year, and Fletcher will see a drastic uptick in production as he earns more and more carries through his impressive play from the spring. On defense, both of these ILBs have natural noses for the ball with the range to make the play from sideline to sideline. With their elite instincts I expect to see both of these LBs pile up mind blowing numbers. Last season Luna collected 77 tackles. I expect that number to be way up this fall as Baraboo looks poised for a playoff run, and far more than 9 games. Fletcher finished the spring with 70 tackles, which was good enough for 16th most in the state. If he can continue his tackle rate it should be enough to get him into the top 10 this season. Bold Prediction #5: Franklin Will Lead the State in Passing Offense on the Way to a D1 State Title It might be bold to call my shot on the State Champ for the largest division in Wisconsin, but I love how this season is set up for Franklin to make this bold prediction come true. First of all, let’s look into the passing offense side. They have ’22 #1 QB and Badgers commit [player_tooltip player_id="31205" first="Myles" last="Burkett"] at the helm doing a great job of spreading the wealth to all of his weapons with accuracy, and while protecting the ball. Looking back to last fall, Burkett ended the fall at 5th in the state with 247.2 passing yards per game. With a couple guys ahead of him graduating and what looks like even more weapons to spread the ball around to, expect those numbers to continue to tick upwards. With explosive targets like [player_tooltip player_id="31232" first="Keaton" last="Arendt"], Reese Osgood, Tanner Rivard, and Jacques Brooks you can expect to see a lot of big plays as defenses have a hard time covering all of them out wide and out of the backfield. Now for the state title run, it won’t be an easy task. When was winner state ever easy, though? They will have to face the state’s heavy hitters, but the reason I like them as my pick for D1 state champs is the regular season schedule they are going to be facing. It is chalk full of top of the line competition that will have them more than prepared for the tough battles of playoff football. They start the year with what could be an instant classic vs Appleton North, and then have tough matchups with teams such as Kenosha Bradford, Oak Creek, and Racine Horlick. The vast array of schemes and play styles should have Franklin ready for a deep playoff run when the time comes. Bold Prediction #6: There Will Be 5 QBs With 3,000+ Passing Yards If this bold prediction were to come true it would tie for the most in one season since at least 2015. Going back to 2015 there have been more years with 0 QBs to hit 3,000+ passing yards than there were seasons with 3+ QBs to do it. So why do I feel so confident that we will see 5 do it this fall? Opportunity and talent coming together at the right time. The players I expect to be looking to put up this type of production are: [player_tooltip player_id="31342" first="Robby" last="Michael"], Sheboygan Lutheran [player_tooltip player_id="182094" first="Drew" last="Mears"], Fox Valley Lutheran [player_tooltip player_id="31235" first="Luke" last="Haertle"], Lake Country Lutheran [player_tooltip player_id="31205" first="Myles" last="Burkett"], Franklin Peerson Kephart, Southwestern One of the players I’m most confident in hitting 3,000 is Sheboygan Lutheran’s [player_tooltip player_id="31342" first="Robby" last="Michael"] as he and WR [player_tooltip player_id="118315" first="Colin" last="Girdaukas"] look to continue shredding defenses and setting records. Michael was less than 700 yards away from doing it in 2020, and he only played in 7 games. Mears has been a hidden gem at FVL where he carved up defenses in 2020. With a slight uptick in completion percentage and yards per attempt and we should see him threatening the 3,000 yard mark. The only thing stopping Haertle is that he is just as deadly with his legs, so we might see him lose some yards from his passing to his rushing, but don’t be surprised if he ends the year with 3,000 AP yards. Burkett is poised to have a lot of options to target, the attempts to be able to put up 3,000 yards, and the potential long season to pile up the numbers and wins. Peerson is the darkhorse that could get us to 5 QBs. His team struggled in the spring as they went 1-5, but Kephart killed defenses with 270+ passing yards per game. He returns 3/5 of his top receivers from the spring, so the potential is there if he can hold his pace from the spring. Bold Prediction #7: We Will See 50 D1 Commitments From the Class of 2022 This might seem like a crazy number, but the WI Class of 2022 is one of the best that Wisconsin has produced in quite some time. As we kickoff their senior season tonight we have already seen 19 members of the '22 Class announce their commitment to a D1 program; whether that be an FBS or FCS program. Going back to the '21 rankings I counted up 40 such commitments. Being almost halfway to that total during the preseason is a great pace. Of course, to be able to hit 50 we would need at least that many prospects to be D1 level athletes. If you go to the Prep Redone Wisconsin rankings for the Class of 2022 and go through the list you can follow my thoughts here. I believe every player ranked in the top 50 can play at an FCS level and as you go towards #1 the more likely they can play at the FBS level. From there, I believe athletes at #51-#80 could show the development needed to potentially earn FCS interest. Speaking of interest, I believe there are currently 50-55 athletes in the rankings with an FCS PWO or higher at this very moment. So with 80 players at or nearing D1 potential, and 50+ athletes with offers from D1 schools I am confident throwing out my prediction at 50 for this super talented and deep class.