Q&A with Alexandria athlete Michael Empting

Ryan Burns

August 16, 2017 @ 05:45 PM

"As a player, I rely a lot on athleticism and my instincts when I play at safety," Alexandria athlete Michael Empting said to Northstar Football. "Last year was my actual first year of playing safety, before I played quarterback, but we already had a great quarterback, so I switched to safety. My QB background really has helped me because I know how QBs think so I can anticipate things on the field. I also pride myself on being able to come down and make a tackle and not just being a guy out there that just covers. Our season went very well last year, we had a really strong senior class matched with a solid junior class. In the regular season we only lost one game and in playoffs we won our section and made it to state where we ran into a very good Elk River team, and lost. The highlights was defiantly being able to be around the guys on the team, there were so many great personalities on the team, and everyone had that mindset that we have to put in the work, and that's what we did. Awards I received were all section, all conference- honorable mention, academic all state." Empting has been busy throughout the summer preparing for his upcoming senior year. "This off-season I have gone to quite a few football camps just trying to learn as much as I can about the game," Empting explained to Northstar Football. "I've been trying to be a student of the game. Also I am going to be playing both safety and quarterback so I have been throwing the ball, and working on timing with receivers in 7 on 7 tournaments. What I'm trying to improve on is coming out of my breaks faster and just to be all around faster and stronger, because I know that my ball breaks need to be faster than last year and if I am going to play at the next level. My expectations for this next season are high for the team and myself. For the team, I want us back at the state tournament and I don't see why we can't get there. We did lose lots of great players off last years team, but we have a lot of great guys returning and that will step up. Our big guys up front are still going to be beasts and we will be able to have lots of athletes to compliment them. For myself I just want to be able to be my best for the team, and if I play within myself and don't try to do too much and trust in my teammates then the rest will take care of itself."