Season On The Sidelines (Part 3)

The final stretch of the season and the first round of playoffs. Real gut-check time for the guys for the next three games, our toughest opponent on the year, followed by two opponents not to be taken lightly. This was also the final push to get the top seed in the Section Tournament. Here are our next three opponents. Week Seven: Jackson County Central Huskies (7-4) JCC has always been a traditionally tough, physical team that loves to run the football. We knew we’d have our hands full trying to stop them as they are always well coached up front. They always have a talented backfield that can break big plays at any time, with a young QB who can throw a good ball when asked to to also break for big plays. Huskies Highlighted: ’22 ATH- Payton Handevidt was a do-it-all athlete for the Huskies, usually ran the ball but was also asked to catch passes, and sometimes even throw the ball. He did all things well on the offensive side of the ball, they put him in many different positions to get him the ball, and he always made plays for them. He was shifty, very hard to corral, had a lot of strength to grind out gains, and had a great burst of breakaway speed. Defensively, he used his wrestling background to make many good open field tackles, He also had good football sense to seek the ball out and flew around the field to get himself in the play. ’22 RB/LB- [player_tooltip player_id="120954" first="Levi" last="Lindley"] is a good football player, moving from QB last year to a good RB this year and he put up some big numbers on both sides of the ball. He could be another grinding back that would get 3-4 yards a carry, or their big play back that could bust off a big gain at any moment. He loved to be physical, dishing out contact on both sides of the ball. His used his speed to break big plays, usually after breaking a few tackles, nothing too fancy, just straight ahead running. Defensively, he roamed around from D-End, LB, to DB depending on down, distance and formation, very versatile. He also flowed well to the ball and made a good form tackle when he got there. He was good jamming a WR at the line, knocking him off the route before he went after the QB. He did a good job timing snaps when blitzing. ’22 FB/DL- Will Freking was a great lead blocker for the offense, really led up the gap with bad intentions for defenders. He did a great job kicking out DE’s or taking out LB’s, his assignment was not making the tackle. When he got the chance to run the ball, he just had to run straight and fast, both of which, he was excellent at, if the D-line didn’t slow him down, he was a problem for the 2nd and 3rd levels to bring down. Defensively, he came off the edge quickly, mixing up his rush moves often to keep the OT on his toes all game. He sealed the edge well and kept everything inside, added pressure on the QB along with making some TFL’s in the run game if he wasn’t blocked. ’23 LB/TE- Caleb Vancura was their main blitzing backer, he would get sent up the A-gap most of the time and he would time the snaps perfectly with a pre-snap route to confuse the O-line. His speed would get him through to the backfield most of the time for either TFL’s, QB hurries or sacks. Always brought a big hit when he made good contact, but always made sure to make the tackle. Offensively, he was primarily one of the down blockers on their power runs and did a great job washing down defenders and opening the gap for his backs. He also had a quick release off the line when he broke for a pass and was a very reliable target for them in the pass game. ’23 RB/LB- Gabriel Wolfe was the other back in the dynamic duo backfield. Of the two, he was the speedster that could get to full speed in a hurry and could find open field for a big gain real quick. He was patient enough for his blocks to develop then he sprinted through the gap for a big gain. He was also a physical runner, if a gap wasn’t wide enough, he’d just run through someone then accelerate afterwards. Defensively, he stood out more in the second game against them. He played DE and would use his speed to get into the backfield, making us have to get the ball out quick, or stay away from his side on run plays. Week Eight: Windom Area Eagles (1-8) Don’t ever let Windom’s record from this season or past seasons fool you, this is a good football team. They have tons of athletes across the board and play with a lot of determination. The schedule for them again was a tough draw and they battled well in each game, especially against us. In the films I watched on them, they stuck with each team for majority of the game, just a few big plays didn’t go their way would end up being the difference in a lot of those games. Eagles Highlighted: ’23 RB/LB- Abe Mckibbin made a few big runs in our game against them. Showed some decent speed, but was a really tough guy to tackle. He ran the ball really hard and ran through a lot of arm tackles, and accelerated for a good run. He did a good job getting chunks of yardage on middle runs as well. Defensively, he was a flat defender, where he would guard our slots first, but then be a contain guy on the line of scrimmage on run play, also dropped back and played Safety in certain situations. He was a good form tackler on the perimeter, not letting the ball get outside him either. ’22 WR/LB- Wyatt Haugen was one of their wing backs in their offense, went in motion on a lot of plays and really thrived on tosses and sweeps to the outside. He had a lot of speed and good vision to find the open space. He was patient and let his blocks spring him for a good gain. Defensively, he played as a middle backer and filled really well on run support, really filling those gaps and breaking down to make a tackle. ’24 WR/DB- Tucker Renquist was the other speedster on the team, their big play guy. After a few plays of them going one way, usually with him blocking, the give to him on a counter and he would have a big run the other way. He also had good vision to find the seams and really exploded through for a big play. On defense, he played man coverage most the game at Corner it looked like. He was able to run with the receivers pretty well and stick to them in pass coverage, contesting every catch. '22 OL/LB- Alex Altman was one of the best tacklers I've seen this season. He read his keys well, filled quickly and made the play when it came his way. Never delivered the hardest hit you'll ever see but just enough to get the job done. When blitzing, he would get through blocks well and put on some added pressure. Offensively, he was the anchor of the line, plays usually ran behind him when a play was needed. His drive blocking was excellent off the snap of the ball and he gave his QB time when they needed to pass. First Round Playoffs: St. James Saints (0-9) St. James will be a young team for a few years, as they had a young roster again this season. There are many bright spots for this team to look forward to in the coming years. I have a great feeling that this team will be a problem in the near future with the young talent getting some much important experience at a young age. Saints Highlighted: '22 OL/DL- Tanner Olson did a great job leading a push for the run game, leading around the edge on the toss plays and perimeter runs. Also gave the QB time to throw with some good footwork. Defensively, he made many tackles around the Line of scrimmage. He did a great job engaging the O-line and shedding blocks quickly. He kept good pursuit on the ballcarrier until the play was over, or he made the play. '24 RB/DL- Sonny Heil also had a good game on the defensive end, keeping his contain, breaking down and making tackles. He also gave a good pass rush as well. He ripped off some good runs as well. He did a good job when he was a lead blocker, as well as a pass blocker. '22 FB/LB- Adrian Luna held his own all game, he was asked to be a lead blocker on most plays, which he did a good job at kicking his guy out. He did make a few runs for good gains when he got into space. He showed durability, getting hit on most plays, but dishing it out as well. He had a good burst of speed, but was a grinding runner, taking chunks if yards at a time. '24 OL/DL- Willie Curry did a good job holding his own on both sides of the line of scrimmage. He has the size and the raw talent to be a good football player, some technique work over the next year and he can be a scary OL/DL for the Saints. He showed good footwork and strength on most of his blocks and was able to get himself in position to make a few tackles as well.