Jake's Favorite Signings (MN 2023)

Back into Minnesota for one last article for the Class of 2023. Great thing about this article, all 11 of these kids are from the Southwest part of the State. When I started, it was lucky to get 3-4 kids to even consider to play at the next level. What makes this article even better? All the schools that these kids are signed to are local schools, and are all on the upbringing. Hopefully, with kids seeing results like this, this article doubles again next year! Check out this year's Signing Class from the Southwest!   Tim Buckhotlz (RB/LB) Maple River- Dordt.   Glad to see Buckholtz find a good program to play for. Most of his highlights being at LB, he had all the good intangibles to be a good at the position at the next level. He reads keys really well and attacks the gap quickly. Offensively, he moved around his Senior season from the O-Line to also being in the backfield at RB. His physicality at any position is his 'it' factor that makes him a big steal for the Defenders. The game I was on the other sideline, he filled in at RB because of injury, and was the deciding factor in the game having a career day with 100+ yards and 3 TD's (in three quarters).   [player_tooltip player_id='195283' first='Greg' last='Schafer'] (WR) Lakeview- Southwest Minnesota State.   I met Schafer at an indoor track meet, told him I'd help him anyway I could. Little did I know, he didn't need help at all. I watched him at the SMSU Prospect Camp last summer and the coaches there were hyping up over him all day. With him being in the same Section as Pipestone for Track, I was able to see his speed on many occasions. Along with the speed, he ran extremely crisp routes, making him difficult to cover. In his Senior season, he received some snaps at RB and really showed his speed and vision, but also revealing some agility as well. He will also run Track at SMSU as well.   Clayton Koesel (RB) Lakeview- Minnesota State Moorhead.   Koesel was another big piece in the successful Laker season this year. I watched his film from the past couple years and could see why their rushing attack was so successful as well. I liked how he would get to the perimeter and make that good, quick cut to get into the open field. He accelerated extremely quick and got away from the defenders in a hurry. Don't let the talk of speed fool you, he was a very physical runner too. He would dish out contact as much as he would avoid it. His patience in letting the blocks develop was another big key to his rushing success.   Cam Enright (DB) Redwood Valley- Southwest Minnesota Stat.e   Scheming against an athlete like Enright for the last two seasons was difficult. He could hurt you in so many ways, from various positions on the field. Defensively speaking, I think he played on all three levels at some point throughout the season. He was the kid that matched up against our #1 receiver most of the night. If not, he was back deep over the top doubling him. He may have even snuck into the box on running downs for us. Just a well-rounded football player, has a lot of speed, good height, good vertical, and is a very good tackler.   Jonah Vierstrate (WR) Marshall- Minnesota State Moorhead.   I saw Vierstrate in practice as a Sophomore, even officiated a couple of his freshman games and he stood out each time. Really taking pride in his route running, and using that as his advantage to get open. While his didn't have the most speed, it was just enough to burn you if you didn't respect him. In each of the occasions I saw him play, he made some kind of incredible catch, which made it easy to know which one he was. He showed his awareness on the sidelines as well, getting a few toe-tap catches. Lastly, he showed amazing concentration in traffic along with his hands to secure a lot of tough catches.   [player_tooltip player_id='245772' first='Sawyer' last='Tordsen'] (OL) Fairmont- Augustana.   Tordsen has been the talk of the Southwest for a couple seasons. His size and play in the trenches made it easy to see why. Drawing some attention from the Big Ten, I'm happy to see him stay local and go to an always impressive Augustana Vikings squad. I like his footwork and getting his big frame into prime position to protect the backfield. A big key factor for his is getting perfect pad level to get maximum leverage on each running play. His agility made it very easy for him to be a really good pass blocker, giving the QB a lot of time to throw.   [player_tooltip player_id='112088' first='Joseph' last='Forsberg'] (RB) Martin County West- University of Jamestown.   Forsberg is the first kid I've watched for his whole High School career. I watched two of his games as a Freshman and was just surprised to see a kid that young play both ways. He was a playmaker on both sides of the ball. I also watched him at one of our showcases last winter and Nate said he had showed out at the other showcases or camps that he had been at. With his low center-of-gravity made it very easy for him to be agile and difficult to tackle. If you could corral him, his muscle and drive made him even more difficult to tackle.   [player_tooltip player_id='313150' first='Malachi' last='Kohls'] (DL) Minnesota Valley Lutheran- Southwest Minnesota State.   Kohls has been a pain on both sides of the ball for us the past two seasons. He roamed around the defensive box, because of their unique defense, but made plays anywhere around the Line of Scrimmage. The kid just had the whole package when it came to being a defender. Size, speed, strength and awareness made him one of the best defenders I've seen play around this area. He was always in the best position to make plays each and every play. Lastly, his 'it' factor was his motor, no matter where the play was on the field, he always seemed to get to the ball before the play was over.   [player_tooltip player_id='313206' first='Kellen' last='Johnson'] (QB) Pipestone Area- Southwest Minnesota State.   After three years of watching this kid develop, it's nice to see him carry on to the next level. Kellen has gone to various camps over the last few summers and done well at all of them. I have seen him at a few myself and he was always in the top three of QB performances throughout that given day. He has always had the arm strength and size each season. With each year that passed, he developed his accuracy and touch that made him a huge playmaker for our offense. Breaking all the Pipestone passing records, he will go to SMSU and play under the coach who once held those same records (Coach Bouman).   [player_tooltip player_id='119520' first='Jayden' last='Hoss'] (OL) Pipestone Area- Dakota Wesleyan.   This one was a big surprise for me. When I last spoke with Hoss, he was unsure of whether he wanted to play at the next level. All of a sudden he shows up at my other job on his way down to visit DWU. Saw him again two days later, and he had his decision made! Hoss has been another kid I've gotten to watch develop over the last three seasons. This season, he did an excellent job stepping into a leadership role and made huge strides in his game on the field. He has the size to be a force at the next level, he also adjusts extremely quick to schemes and picks up blitzes well.   JUCO Transfer   Bailey Cowell (WR) Luverne (Minnesota West)- Southwest Minnesota State.   Cowell is my first JUCO kid to transfer to a four year. He was a Junior in my first year as a scout and stood out because he started at QB but played a good deal at WR as well. The kid is just a ball player. He was tough to contain at QB in the option offense they ran in high school. When he slid out to WR, he was tough to cover one-on-one with his speed, hands and vertical. In the two games I watched against us, he was the wildcard in each of those games, making the big plays to be the difference in the game. SMSU got a huge steal with this kid, especially with two years of experience under his belt.

Back into Minnesota for one last article for the Class of 2023. Great thing about this article, all 11 of these kids are from the Southwest part of the State. When I started, it was lucky to get 3-4 kids to even consider to play at the next level. What makes this article even better? All the schools that these kids are signed to are local schools, and are all on the upbringing. Hopefully, with kids seeing results like this, this article doubles again next year! Check out this year's Signing Class from the Southwest!