Jake’s Top 10 opponents from 2022
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Unfortunately, the Pipestone Area Arrows’ season came to an end on Section Final Friday. This article will be one that mentions athletes that were a struggle to prep for each week. While I was coaching, I always kept my scouting…
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Continue ReadingUnfortunately, the Pipestone Area Arrows’ season came to an end on Section Final Friday. This article will be one that mentions athletes that were a struggle to prep for each week. While I was coaching, I always kept my scouting eye open and looked for the kid on the other side that I knew would cause fits for our team. I am able to look back at games and remember exactly how I felt each week preparing for certain teams and the athletes on them. Check out the Top 10 here below!
’25 Windom Area QB- Quintin Tietz
Tietz is the starting QB for a young Windom Eagle team. Their record is very deceiving, they are a good football team especially for being young. They probably had one of the tougher schedules in the State for Class AA. Tietz did an excellent job stepping up into a huge QB role with a new coaching staff and new scheme. He is very mobile, buys a lot of time on passing plays and keeps his eyes downfield the whole time. He has a lot of speed when he decides to take off and run, but he likes to use his arm to make plays. He has good arm strength and some pretty impressive accuracy, both on the run and in the pocket, he does not turn the ball over.
’23 Minnesota Valley Lutheran OL/LB- Malachi Kohls Malachi Kohls 6'3" | 230 lbs | OL Minnesota Valley Lutheran | 2023 MN
Second year in a row playing against Kohls, second year he has been a problem on both sides of the ball. On the offensive side, he’s the guy they like to run behind, usually pulling from his Tackle position. He keeps his pad level low and delivers a good hit at the point of contact. He has good footwork, hand-technique, and agility to keep himself in good position to make blocks. Defensively, he had one job against us, ‘find the football.’ He did that the whole game, at the bottom of every pile, Kohls was there. He has great instincts, reads his keys, finds great angles to the football, and makes the play. He is extremely physical on both sides of the ball.
’24 Minnesota Valley Lutheran WR/DB- Kyler Flunker
Flunker was the type of kid you hoped the play was over before the ball could get to him. He has incredible speed, good hands and was not afraid of contact. If we didn’t get three or more guys to corral him on a play, he would turn it into something. He just had that sense to find open field. Defensively, he was the guy to put on the playmaker one-on-one. He used his speed to get open on crossing routes, and take the ball to the house untouched. Also to rush off the edge and block our FG with ease to end the first half. He is just a football player, and I hope he is recovering well from his injury.
’24 Luverne ATH-Connor Connell
Connell is a good athlete, I knew he give us problems throughout the whole game, the only question was: from where? He played most the game at QB where he would run the read option, he made good decisions on when to give or to pull. When he ran the ball, he was hard to bring down and always fell forward. He would split out wide and become a reliable target which was difficult to defend because of his big frame. Defensively, he did a great job plugging the run gaps from the LB position. He broke down and used good technique to make his tackles.
’23 Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial ATH- Michael Matteson
Defending this kid at the QB position for two seasons was difficult, now the Knights moved him around to utilize his athleticism more. Playing mostly at WR in the slot he was able to show his speed on jet sweeps and route running when he would go out for a pass. He showed an incredible vertical and made a sick catch on the sideline. He would also take some snaps at QB and take some power runs for yardage, showing physicality. Defensively, he was the guy they would matchup for one-on-one coverage and he did a great job keep our WR’s in check.
’23 Jackson County Central WR/DB- Travis Rogotzke
Rogotske was the target to look for when a big play and yardage was needed. 3rd and 10+, the ball was going his way most of the time. Even in tight coverage and a guy draped all over him, he still showed a good vertical and would ‘Moss’ the defender, resulting in a First Down many times. He did a great job running to the soft spot in the zone defense and making himself a good target for the QB. He also had good acceleration when making breaks for his routes. Defensively, he did a good job covering his zone in pass coverage. He played a lot of mind games with the QB switching his alignment mid-cadence and still being in position to make the play.
’25 Worthington RB- Jacari Swinea Jacari Swinea 6'1" | 180 lbs | ATH Worthington | 2025 State MN
Swinea was causing fits for us last season when he was a freshman. Now with experience, we knew we had to contain him if we didn’t want it to be a long night in Worthington. He has very good agility and vision to make big runs. He then accelerates really well when he gets to open space and makes the play even bigger. He is also a good safety valve for the QB out of the backfield and can turn a broken play into a big one. He can also split out wide and be a good vertical threat as well.
’23 Jackson County Central RB/LB- Gabriel Wolff
Wolff played on a whole new level in our last game. He made every play he could when the ball got into his hands. He showed a lot of breakaway speed after showing his physicality in the pile. Running through many tackles and then sprinting away from the pile. He emerged as dangerous target out of the backfield as well. He ran really good routes and secured each ball thrown by his QB and either got the First Down, or went the distance. His speed either got him open in pass coverage, or got him away from defenders on a big run. If anyone caught up to him, he either made them miss in open space, or kept his balance running through arm tackles.
’23 Luverne WR/DB- Gannon Ahrendt
Ahrendt was a hard guy to defend in pass coverage. He has good speed, but his tall frame made it tough to keep the ball out of his hands, to top it off he has a pretty good vertical too. He ran his routes to get himself in position for his QB to make good throws to him. He found the soft spots in the defense many times and was hard to catch in open space. When he was in tight coverage, he just had to use his vertical to secure the catch and make the play for the offense. Defensively, he kept himself in good position to make plays on the football.
’26 QB/DB- Roman Voss Roman Voss 6'4" | 215 lbs | ATH Jackson County Central (MN) | 2026 State MN
I remember saying last year, ‘when this kid gets confident, he is going to be a challenge to slow down.’ That day has come, the kid is a playmaker on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he makes a good Safety and puts himself in the best position to make plays. He also has the awareness to be in the right position at the right time. Offensively, he is a bigger playmaker. He throws a nice, accurate ball with a tight spiral and tons of zip on it. He showed great mobility and poise under pressure and made good decisions with the ball and did not force plays. If no one was open, he could hurt you with his legs with his speed and vision, he also slipped his way out of many tackles and was not afraid of contact from anyone.