Recruiting trail in Colorado: January 22

The recruiting trail continues to stay active in the state of Colorado, with many prospects receiving late offers, getting their first offers for upcoming classes, or announcing their commitments. Here is a look at some of the latest news on the recruiting trail. <h3><strong>Colorado State targets two from Cherry Creek</strong></h3> New head coach Jay Norvell is active on the recruiting trail as he works to turn around the program in Fort Collins. Finishing up some work on his Class of 2022, the staff is now at work for the Class of 2023. A couple of recent offers came for a pair of defensive leaders for the defending state champions in Class 5A this week. The Rams have offered a pair of defensive linemen from Cherry Creek this week. First is [player_tooltip player_id="150256" first="Chase" last="Brackney"], a 6-foot-4, 245-pound defensive end who shows a number of ways to get around an offensive lineman to get a pass rush or to make a tackle in the hole against the run. The first-year starter had a nice season with 81 tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles. New Mexico State also gave Brackney an offer this week. https://twitter.com/ChaseBrackney2/status/1483837605695266817 Also receiving an offer was [player_tooltip player_id="149311" first="Hank" last="Zilinskas"], a versatile defensive lineman at 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds. He can go into the interior and showed a nice ability to bull rush and penetrate the gap, and he has the athleticism to also move to the defensive end spot and come off the edge. Zilinskas was named First Team All-State after recording 59 tackles for the Bruins. https://twitter.com/HankZilinskas/status/1483943743417827328 <h3><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="58955" first="Eddie" last="Lemos"] heading to Iowa State</strong></h3> One of the top players from Class 2A, Lemos helped Resurrection Christian to an 8-2 record. A two-way player who filled up the stat sheet, he had offers to play at the next level, stretching from the FBS to the NCAA Division II level. In the end, Lemos announced his intentions to head to Ames and join the Iowa State football team next season. https://twitter.com/EddLemos7/status/1484592038221783042 A First Team All-State player, Lemos carried the load offensively for his team, rushing for 1,431 yards and throwing for 418 while scoring 29 touchdowns. He also had 32 tackles and three interceptions in the secondary on defense. He will continue to build into his frame to play at the FBS level, but plenty of speed, physicality and flashy athleticism is on display for Lemos, and he was a key player for his team the past four seasons as a result. <h3><strong>Hamline University lands two from Colorado</strong></h3> Many smaller-level schools from the Midwest do a good job of targeting and landing Colorado prospects to play for them. One of those programs is Hamline University, an NCAA Division III program out of St. Paul, Minnesota, that already has three players from Colorado on its roster. Two more were recently added with commitments from the Class of 2022. Mullen defensive back <strong>Juan Bertaud</strong> announced his commitment after a solid senior season. He is a good player on the back end for the defense who plays bigger than his size might show. He had good technique on the ball in coverage to record two interceptions and six passes defended. Another positive trait is his willingness to come in the box and help stop the run, and he had some nice tackles in the box as a result. https://twitter.com/BertaudJuan/status/1483256206466576384 <strong>Elijah Jamison</strong> of Rangeview is the other Colorado product going to Hamline. A lengthy edge rush who can also play some linebacker, Jamison finished the 2021 season with 55 tackles and two forced fumbles. A two-year starter, Jamison is also a three-sport athlete for Rangeview and displays good skills on the basketball court and in track and field as well. https://twitter.com/JAMISON_2450/status/1483554642344624128 <h3><strong>Other notes</strong></h3> Douglas County quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="22712" first="Antwuan" last="Jackson Jr"]. will get the chance to play at home as well. He announced his intentions to play at Western Colorado University. https://twitter.com/liltwuan1/status/1484213100412768260 One local school to watch one the recruiting trail coming up is Northern Colorado. Offensive Coordinator Max McCaffrey says the school will be looking at Colorado and a few other states coming up. https://twitter.com/notoriousmax25/status/1484936185533239298 Have a recent offer to share? Be sure to tag Prep Redzone Colorado on Twitter at @PrepRedzoneCO and let us know for future updates.