The Week That Was: Nate's Bests from Early Section Play

MINNESOTA- After scouting from the courtesy of my basement and nearby games live and in-person on Saturday, I present to you the Week That Was and my bests from the early rounds of section play here in the great state of Minnesota.     Best Game:   Rogers at Monticello   It wasn't just that I could drive 10 minutes to watch a battle of I-94 between the Rogers Royals and the Monticello Magic there was a lot more to it than that for sure. Rogers held the lead 7-6 thru three quarters but the Magic would not go away despite losing QB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='234761' first='Luke' last='Emmerich'] (2025) to injury after some stellar play in the first half on all three levels of the football field. Monticello backup QB Brock Holthaus (2025) got on my radar after the 3rd quarter when he found WR Haden Katzenberg (2024) for a massive 40+ yard reception and then found Katzenberg again in the left corner of the end zone to give the Magic the lead 12-7 with 9:24 left. After the Magic made some quick work defensively and got the ball back, the fumble recovery by Rogers EDGE [player_tooltip player_id='105408' first='Adrian' last='Onyiego'] (2024) set up the momentum for the Royals to shoot high for the comeback. One play later, RB [player_tooltip player_id='313241' first='Anthony' last='Powell'] (2023) ran for his second of three touchdowns on Saturday afternoon on a 33-yard open field sprint to the end zone putting the Royals back on top 13-12. The strong defensive play of [player_tooltip player_id='138248' first='Wyatt' last='Gilmore'], [player_tooltip player_id='105408' first='Adrian' last='Onyiego'] upfront and the linebacking core of [player_tooltip player_id='244980' first='Ryder' last='Vylasek'] amongst others slowed down the inexperience of the Monticello offense to yet again get the ball back in their hands with the lead in Royal's hands. It was tapped off by another 40+ yard touchdown run by [player_tooltip player_id='313241' first='Anthony' last='Powell'] (2023) to put the icing on the cake for the Royals to get them a win finishing off their nearby neighbors from Monticello, 20-12. The Royals will play Spring Lake Park (7-2) in the Section 6 5A finals on Friday at 7 PM in Spring Lake Park in what will be a heck of a battle in 5A.   Best Quarterback:   [player_tooltip player_id='112076' first='Noah' last='Strickfaden'], QB, Norwood-Young America (2023)   I got some significant glimpses in evaluating Noah over the summer at the Winona State prospect camp, but in live playoff action he showed off a ton of skillsets that point highly of him playing on Saturdays with a few offers under his belt. First off, was Noah's composure- his ability to escape the pocket and still get off a smoothly thrown ball with great touch on it is what made him the best QB I watched via stream or live last week as we opened up section play in Minnesota in 2A last Tuesday. Noah is a QB prospect that can make all the throws on all three levels of the field and shows a high level of variance with his arm strength on making the right throw for the right occasion as well as being able to show off some precise arm strength to give his WRs a lead on their route, which is another skill I saw come out in his game against Concordia Academy. I said it on Tuesday, that Norwood-Young America did NOT look like a #6 seed in my eyes and they are proving it game after game under the leadership of their QB1. After a shutout win against St. Agnes last week, the Raiders will play one of the biggest sleepers across the state in the Section 4 2A final, Howard Lake-Waverly Winsted in Forest Lake at 7 PM on Friday night.   Best Stockriser:   [player_tooltip player_id='244980' first='Ryder' last='Vylasek'], LB Rogers (2025)   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/11/Ryder-Vylasek-rotated-crop-480x316-1667449290.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-500557" width="315" height="207" /></figure>   Ryder showed off a plethora of ballhawk capability in my live evaluation during Roger's battle with Monticello last Saturday. The 5'11 180 pound sophomore outside linebacker showed off a competitive motor and significant range he could cover with the skillsets he put out there in that section semifinal. I like watching Ryder's launch angle when he is coming in to make a tackle, as he shows off some sizeable physicality despite being an undersized outside linebacker starting as a sophomore, which shows there is plenty of talent yet to be seen when you can do that early in your career at the 5A level. He also showed off some sizeable stamina levels on special teams for the Royals, as Ryder used his agility to get around bigger defenders to make some significant noise on his tackles on special teams. All these skill sets are why Ryder was my biggest stock riser in the three games I got to watch last week across Minnesota.   Best Comeback:   Norwood-Young America   This one was a close one, as I would have put Roger's comeback on the Magic in my runner-up category for my bests of the week. However, the electricity that the Raiders of Norwood-Young America showed in the second half was just enough to get by our runners-up. Why do you ask? The Concordia Academy Beacons (the favorite) went into halftime with a 17-13 lead and they had the bulk of the momentum but the Raiders certainly flipped that script in the second half. We talked about [player_tooltip player_id='112076' first='Noah' last='Strickfaden'], but there are plenty of other standouts from the Raiders that I want to note. The first one for me would be running back Tanner Neubarth of Norwood-Young America. This young man broke not one but multiple long returns on special teams for the Raiders special teams unit and allowed the gelling offense of [player_tooltip player_id='112076' first='Noah' last='Strickfaden'], Tanner Neubarth, and Austin Dent to do the rest for the rest of the second half. What was a close game at halftime, turned into a 35-24 upset of the #3 seed Concordia Academy in Roseville, and the Raiders certainly aren't done yet with HLWW on Friday night.   Best Surprise Stories:   Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, Foley, and Benilde St. Margaret's   I, unfortunately, did not get to watch these three teams this week, but thanks to the MN Score Feed (which is a must-download for Minnesota HS football fans might I add) I was heavily tracking these three, especially after their wins in the quarterfinals and beyond. Starting with the Lakers of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead, the Lakers were an 0-8 team last year and they flipped the script to now an 8-2 team heading into the section final against Norwood-Young America. The Lakers dominated Rush City 42-2 in the quarterfinals but their best win in my opinion came against one of the 2A favorites in Minneapolis North, beating the Polars at home 21-20 in which they needed the fourth quarter to scrape by North. Foley is another area team to me in 3A that deserves a ton of credit. The Falcon's only win in the regular season was against 0-8 Holy Family Catholic, but now on a 3-game winning streak with that one included, they blew out a 5-3 Spectrum (Elk River) team at home 38-12 and then just got by in another 21-20 battle against 6-3 Mora to get into the Section 5 3A championship game on Friday at St. Cloud Tech where they will face 8-1 Milaca. The Falcons are a prime example of it's not how you start, it's how you finish your season mentality. The same can be said for Benilde St. Margaret's of 4A Section 5, who were 0-8 to start the regular season, but played a very tough schedule which is paying off dividends for the Red Knights in the section playoffs. They lost three of their regular seasons by just 20 points, however, have been defensively sound in their last two section games by beating Richfield 44-7 and SMB 25-7 to get to the section finals on Friday against Holy Angels. Let me just say, these three teams will be on my HEAVY tracking list of games tomorrow I want to watch throughout the Metro and the Oustate regions of Minnesota.   Best New 2023 Prospects to my Radar:   Christian Brown, RB/LB, Concordia Academy (2023)   Christian logged three rushing touchdowns in the Beacon's loss against Norwood-Young America in the section quarterfinals. Although they came out on the losing end, this young man showed in his last-ever high school game that he has some solid skillsets to be utilized at the next level. Christian is certainly a sneaky runner between the tackles, and with his 5'7 170-pound frame, he handles first and after contact much better than you would expect with his measurables as he has the pop-in, pop-out ability on his inside runs to blast out into the outside in the open field. There also is a lot to like about his vision when the ball is in his hands as shows patience to get his blocks before progressing instinctively thru the inside trenches. I said it last Tuesday upon my first evaluation of him, I think this young man would be a great small-school sleeper that not many programs know about especially in the MIAC, where the Beacons have sent a handful of players to in the past.   Tanner Neubarth, RB/ATH, Norwood-Young America (2023)   I couldn't find any tape on Tanner after the section quarterfinal win against Concordia Academy, but the dynamic play-making abilities this young man showed off last Tuesday were superb in my eyes. The biggest opening for Tanner was in the return game, as he had a handful of returns that he was able to break loose and set the Raiders up with plenty of short-field positions in the second half against the Beacons. Tanner was another prospect on this list that played with instinct, using his speed, balance, and durability all at once in the Raider's return game last Tuesday night in Roseville. He also showed a power running ability in the red zone for the Raiders and was the go-to guy in a quick pinch after creating the short-field position with his return game ability.   More Top Performers from this Week of Sections:   These top performers were "as watched" from this week of section play in Minnesota.   [player_tooltip player_id='313241' first='Anthony' last='Powell'], RB, Rogers (2023)   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/11/Anthony-Powell-rotated-crop-480x316-1667448618.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-500534" width="319" height="209" /></figure>   Three rushing touchdowns in their section semifinal win over Monticello. Has (not a typo) 18 touchdowns in his last four games for the Royals. Surprisingly enough, Powell only has two offers between NAIA and Division III which is a huge surprise to me.   [player_tooltip player_id='234761' first='Luke' last='Emmerich'], QB/ATH, Monticello (2025)   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/11/Luke-Emmerich-rotated-crop-480x316-1667449402.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-500564" width="323" height="212" /></figure>   Luke showed off his swiss-army knife capabilities for the Magic on Saturday. He had one interception and a plethora of significant runs for the Magic offense and really did a nice job with his balance around the edges. Luke should certainly be a Division I prospect when his career is said and done in Monticello. A+ character kid as well.   [player_tooltip player_id='105408' first='Adrian' last='Onyiego'], EDGE, Rogers (2024)   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/11/Adrian-O-rotated-crop-480x316-1667449690.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-500567" width="338" height="222" /></figure>   Adrian was a game-deciding factor in his fumble recovery in the 4th quarter that led the Rogers Royals to the section finals in 5A Section 5.   [player_tooltip player_id='973742' first='Zach' last='Wickenhauser'], DB, Norwood-Young America (2025)   Two key second-half interceptions in their win against Concordia Academy.   [player_tooltip player_id='961190' first='Haden' last='Katzenberger'], WR, Monticello (2024)   [player_tooltip player_id='242450' first='Sam' last='Haug'], RB/LB, Concordia Academy (2024)   [player_tooltip player_id='112157' first='Max' last='Kingsbury'], OL, Concordia Academy (2023)   Brayden Kohls, ATH, Norwood-Young America (2023)

MINNESOTA- After scouting from the courtesy of my basement and nearby games live and in-person on Saturday, I present to you the Week That Was and my bests from the early rounds of section play here in the great state of Minnesota.