Mayer Lutheran vs. Minneota: Defensive standouts

With two of the best defenses in Class A squaring off during the opening game of the 2021 Prep Bowl, two things were bound to happen. There were going to be very few points scored (Mayer Lutheran defeated Minneota 20-14), and there were going to be many players highlighted in this story. Here are the players who made the biggest defensive impacts on the Class A title game. [player_tooltip player_id="173869" first="Tyler" last="Neitzel"] <strong>Mayer Lutheran LB</strong> Early on, Neitzel stuffed a run for a loss. Then, he deflected a pass. Back against the running game, he blew up an inside hand-off that forced a fumble that resulted in a Vikings’ punt. <strong>Jackson Esping Minneota DL</strong> Especially early on, Esping was hard to handle on the inside. He beat a blocker for a sack on third down. Then, he made a tackle for a loss. Along with <strong>Alex Depestel</strong>, they pressured the quarterback and registered a sack. [player_tooltip player_id="49869" first="Elijah" last="Jopp"] <strong>Mayer Lutheran LB</strong> Early in the game, Jopp registered a sack. Later, he navigated a set of blockers and stuffed a screen pass on third and long. <strong>Zack Fier Minneota LB</strong> Fier stuffed a run on third and short. Then, he showed his athletic ability by making a tackle in the open field. Later, he dropped into pass coverage and intercepted a pass. <strong>Abram Jopp Mayer Lutheran DB</strong> Jopp made a tackle on the goal line, preventing a touchdown. Later, he closed on a receiver and laid a big hit on the receiver, forcing an incompletion and a punt. <strong>Hudson Scholten Minneota DL</strong> The junior beat blockers to get into the backfield throughout the game. He recorded at least two tackles for loss. [player_tooltip player_id="201409" first="Cole" last="Neitzel"] <strong>Mayer Lutheran LB</strong> Neitzel showed good instincts by diagnosing a screen pass. He blew up the play on third and long to force a punt. Later, he showed his quickness by running down a play from the backside to register a tackle for loss. <strong>Max Rost Minneota LB</strong> Rost made two big tackles in the open field, preventing big gains. <strong>Anthony Rybinski Minneota LB</strong> Early on, Rybinski made a tackle for a short loss. Then, he made an open-field tackle to stop a screen pass on third and long, <strong>Quick hits</strong> <strong>Isaac Hahn Mayer Lutheran DL</strong> - stuffed a run <strong>Jayden Gamrak Minneota DL</strong> - stuffed a run on third down <strong>Marcus Johnson Mayer Lutheran DL</strong> - quarterback sack <strong>Alex Depestel Minneota LB</strong> - chased down the quarterback from behind for a coverage sack on third and long <strong>Jack Grimsley Mayer Lutheran DB</strong> - his hit broke up a screen pass <strong>Tucker Thooft Minneota LB</strong> - tackle in the open field for a short gain <strong>Caden Robbins Mayer Lutheran DL</strong> – deflected a fourth-down pass at the line of scrimmage <strong>Cale Sorensen Minneota DB</strong> - knocked away a pass preventing a touchdown [player_tooltip player_id="22948" first="Ty" last="Hoese"] <strong>Mayer Lutheran DB</strong> - tight coverage on a deep ball