Coach's Corner 2021: Pipestone Area Arrows

2021 was my first season as an Assistant Coach for the Pipestone Area Arrows. I decided to be a committed coach this season and step aside from being a scout for Prep Redzone for the season. I kept in touch with fellow scout Nate Wahl the whole season and I knew I would want to come back at the end of the season and do the offseason work. I always kept my scouting eye open in weeks of film and during games and was able to produce my ’Season On The Sidelines’ series in hopes that it will get some of those athletes some looks. Now that I finished that up it’s time to give my guys that I coached all season some love. As any coach, I may be a little biased when talking about my athletes, but I would really like to see some of them go and play at the next level, also like any other coach for their athletes. Here is a little background on the season: Head Coach Scott Boomgaarden returned for his second season in charge of the Arrow football team. Closing out the 2020 season with two wins, he had a lot to look forward to this season, returning 19 players who started at least one game last season. Losing his some of his coaching staff to retirement and having to hire new guys to take their places. Knowing there would be some new wrinkles put in on both sides of the ball, he did a great job adjusting both the players and coaches to the strengths of the team which was the key factor in our 11-1 season with a trip to the State Tournament. Not having too much depth on the team in terms of younger players, he did a great job keeping the team healthy so every player could dress every game of the year, no one missing a game due to injury. In a team with so many returning players, he did a great job finding a way to get them on the field in every game and playing them to their strengths, as well as keeping them engaged and confident even when they weren't on the field. Here are the players I would like to mention for out team: 2022: RB/LB- Cole Paulson was my signal caller on the defensive side at middle LB and leading tackler. He was a technically sound player, read his keys and filled gaps on run support. He was an excellent form tackler, once he had the ballcarrier wrapped up, he wasn’t going anywhere. He got very good pass drops and played the hook-to-curl zone really well, not allowing much over the middle. Offensively, he was a very good pass blocker in the backfield as well as a good lead blocker when he played FB leading the way for our RB to score on the goal line. He was also a good ball carrier when he got his chances and could bust a good chunk of yardage. He was a good screen back as well, made a lot of long runs after getting himself open on a screen in the backfield, then following his blocks for a big gain. He was a student of the game as well, always watching film, coming up to the coaches and asking questions so there was no uncertainties come Friday night. WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="116502" first="Ty" last="Hansen"] was our speedster on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he was the receiver that would get the speed sweeps and quick routes and could turn those into big plays at any time. He ran great routes that would get himself open, and really made sure to secure the catch before turning and run with it. If he was able to get up to full-speed, he was tough to catch up with and bring down. Defensively, he really stepped up this season at CB. Again was our speedster, if there was an opponent we needed someone to run with, Ty was the guy to run with him, he did a great job containing those guys too. His football awareness also increased based on how he was able to position himself to make plays on defense, especially in key moments. He ended up breaking a few of our school's receiving records as well. ATH- [player_tooltip player_id="119523" first="Maddox" last="Biever"] was our playmaker, in all facets of the game, scoring multiple TD’s on offense, defense and special teams. His agility and vision helped him turn a minimal gains into long runs and scores once he got up to full-speed. He also had a good vertical and hands that helped him on both offense and defense, which also made big plays in key times in a game, swinging momentum in our favor many times. His route-running and speed helped him get open as well. Defensively, he did a great job reading the QB and tracking his way to a pass in the air, as well as finding the ballcarrier on a run play. Also really improved from last year stepping up and making the big plays when we needed them in all three facets of the game. He broke our school's season scoring record on the year and broke the record for most points in a game as well, scoring 30. OL- Seth Gawerecki was a good Right Guard for us this year. He didn’t allow many pressures and sacks if any at all. He used his good size frame to keep leverage on the defender and really moved his feet and hands well to keep them out of the backfield on pass blocks. He pull-blocked really well to really open a lane for our backs to get into the open field. Drive blocked well, getting a good initial push off the snap of the ball to get a small to medium gain at least on each play. What helped him most in games was his ability to adjust to the guy he had to block all game while in the game as quick as possible. WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="131650" first="Ryan" last="Woodbury"] was our wildcard player on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he was our combination route-runner, he was the one who would be the route that would get lost in the wash and would get open, make a catch and turn it into a big play when we needed it. He had pretty good agility and enough speed to get himself open, and a reliable set of hands to be a good target to throw to. Defensively, he was the guy I would stick on the other teams favorite target, and he would do an excellent job keeping that guy from beating us, making key stops when we needed them. He was also our perimeter tackler, if someone broke contain he always made the tackle out in the open field, always using his shoulder pad, wrapping up and bringing the guy down. He was never afraid to stick his nose in and take a much bigger guy down, played a lot bigger than his listed size. WR/LB- Kaden Musch really stepped up this year to be our constant on both sides of the ball. He had the frame, speed, route-running ability, vertical, and hands to be our yardage guy on third and fourth downs. He also carried and ran with a lot of determination when he had the ball in his hands, just looking for kids to run over. Defensively, he stepped up at the LB/DE positions, but would also go out in pass coverage when we needed him to. He held contain on his half the field on most plays, had enough speed to string out or turn in the perimeter runs. He also was a pretty good tackler and put on a good pass rush and played the veer to near perfection almost every time. 2023 OL/DL- [player_tooltip player_id="101186" first="Caden" last="Miller"] was our anchor on the line on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he was the guy we tried to run behind, he was great at drive blocking, even when he slipped he would still drive on his knees. We loved having him pull and see what he would do to a defender flying up field. He has good feet to keep defenders back on pass blocks. Defensively, he was the guy I would put on the other teams' best lineman, which he did a good job keeping that guy from hurting us all season. He was pretty quick off the ball and got into the backfield many times throughout a game and made some good form tackles for loss. He had a really high motor all season, hustling every play trying to run anything down anywhere on the field. He also has a big frame and strength that made him a key lineman for us all year. FB/LB- Rogen Smidt was our run support LB, great tackler and hard hitter made him our second leading tackler. He was sent on blitzes often and did a great job timing the snap and shooting a gap. His quickness as well as his strength would get him through the line every time he blitzed. He has a good football sense where he would find the ball when he scraped backside, and found the passing lane on pass plays. He was a pretty sure-handed tackler, not many kids could break his tackles, and he would be constantly ripping at the ball, which would force a couple fumbles. He was also a guy I put on the D-Line in Goal Line situations in the middle of the field so we wouldn't have to switch personnel, and played great down there as well. Offensively, he was in our power-run package, which he was told to lead the way and hit the first wrong colored jersey that showed up, there was always one kid who was peeling himself up off the turf each play. QB/DB- Kellen Johnson was our returning QB who really made some big strides this season on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he paced the offense with his strong arm where when he was feeling good he could throw for a near 300 yards every game. He throws the deep ball really well, but got better at throwing short routes as well as going through most of his reads. He also had the size to be another ground-and-pound back in the backfield. He broke most season passing records, and a couple passing records in games as well. Defensively, he played our Strong Safety position and was our extra tackler we would put in the box against run-heavy teams and really gave us the edge in those games. He has great football instincts, found his way to the ballcarrier many times to be our third leading tackler on the season. He wrapped up every play after putting a shoulder into the ball carrier and stalemating them to keep them from gaining any extra yards. OL/DL- [player_tooltip player_id="119520" first="Jayden" last="Hoss"] was our LT and did a great job completing the left side of our wall, which was our favorite side to run behind. He drive blocked well, down blocking the second level really well helping out on double-team blocking and peeling off to take the LB. Defensively, he was quick off the snap, shot gaps well, and did a good job making TFL's. He did a pretty good job tackling smaller backs and keeping them from getting up to speed before getting to the Line of Scrimmage. He has a good frame to work with and good hand technique to keep the defenders away from the QB.