East Central District All-Offense Team

To kick off 2022 we are going to name our All-District teams from some of the rural districts in central and northern Minnesota. Today we start with the East Central District All-Offensive Team. The East Central district is split into two sub-districts (North and South) and produces some fantastic football, including the AAA State Champion Dassel-Cokato. &nbsp; QB - <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="112061" first="Cooper" last="Drews"] - Princeton High School </span> The 6’4" gun slinger led the Princeton offense this past fall with over 200yds passing per game and 27 Total TD’s. Drews has a prototypical QB build and shows the ability to make throws all over the field. Drews is capable of working both under center and out of shotgun and is comfortable throwing on the run. His throwing motion is a little funky as he short arms a lot of throws, but with a little refinement, I believe his arm can become even more of a weapon. RB - [player_tooltip player_id="22923" first="Eli" last="Gillman"] - Dassel-Cokato High School I don’t know what else can be said Gillman. He’s a stud, plain and simple. The Montana Grizzly commit rushed for over 2000yds and scored 43 TD’s while leading his team to the AAA State Title. Gillman is a patient runner who does a great job of letting the play develop before hitting the hole. He has breakaway speed in the open field and shows the necessary elusiveness to make guys miss. RB - Carter Birr - Albany High School Birr was the leader of the Huskie rushing attack this past fall. Running for over 1400yds. Birr is a no-nonsense type of RB who does a lot of his damage between the tackles. He has great balance that helps him stay upright through the first level and allows him to break arm tackles at the second and third levels. He runs with great pad level and doesn’t take too many violent hits. He has adequate speed that will translate to the next level. WR - [player_tooltip player_id="122868" first="Rylan" last="Rivers"] - Zimmerman High School The 6’4" Rivers has a phenomenal highlight tape and showcases a great catch radius, ability to high point the football, and top-notch hands that allow him to snag passes that may be a little off the mark. Rivers has college level frame to go along with his skills and abilities. Rivers also plays FS and shows elite range and a knack for finding the ball. WR - [player_tooltip player_id="138534" first="John" last="Hawkins"] - St. Cloud Cathedral High School Hawkins projects as a really good slot WR at the next level, with impressive YAC ability and a knack for finding the open area for his QB to throw to. He has really good hands and isn’t afraid to go across the middle to make a catch. Hawkins will need to refine his route running at the next level as he has a tendency to round off his routes a bit. With improved technique, Hawkins could very well make an impact at the next level. OL - Dominic Dietel - Litchfield High School Dietel is a mauler up front for the Dragons. He possesses great play strength along the line of scrimmage and routinely finishes his blocks with a defender on the ground. Listed at 6'4", Dietel utilizes great leverage to play under opposing linemen. He helped open holes for the Dragon rushing attack and did a phenomenal job in pass protection to help the Dragon offense. OL - Nathan Stoltenburg - Glencoe-Silver Lake High School Last but not least is Nathan Stoltenburg from Glencoe-Silver Lake High School. Stoltenburg is a burly OL and plays with a nasty edge. He projects as an interior OL at the next level which suits his playstyle as he is physical in the run game and is more comfortable blocking bigger DL. Stoltenburg will need to continue to work on his footwork at the next level which will go a long way in helping him block quicker DL.