Carter had a really good season in 2024 for Groves, and has paired that with a productive offseason. He was even able to acquire a couple of offers in recent weeks. He’s an instinctual linebacker with the speed, strength and tackling ability that is hard to find! He scrapes down the line and is able to shed blockers to make plays at the point of attack. Carter is able to play sideline to sideline or stuff things in the middle, and even cover the pass with relative ease. I think he’s in a great spot to be a breakout star of this season.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Carter break the starting lineup at Groves this past season. I would be pretty shocked if Carter didn’t show big improvement this season.

People tend to write off sub-6-foot linebackers. While I get it from a recruiting standpoint, some of the best high school linebackers I’ve seen have been below-average height relative to the position. Just look at the first minute of Carter’s tape.
Carter plays fast, plays physical, reads the opposing offense quickly, and he’s not afraid to make mistakes. While confronted with an offensive lineman in front of him and a RB trying to run off the lineman’s hip, Carter does an excepetional job at laying a big hit, keeping his shoulders square, and his eyes on the ballcarrier (like 0:50 against rival Seaholm). Then, plays like 1:01 showcase exceptional reads. Here, he quickly reads the counter run, slips between two linemen, and blows up the play from the backside. Really impressive play.

If Carter better met size requirements, I’d say he’d be a GLIAC guy. Regardless, this is a great high school football player who deserves an opportunity to play at the next level.

I hadn’t heard Carter’s name in a long, long time. The last I saw Carter, he was a freshman who performed extremely well at one of our Prep Redzone camps.

I was pleasantly surprised to see not only Carter start, but also have an excellent first half. Throughout the half, Carter did an excellent job of working diagonally, scraping past blocks, and delivering a hit to the ballcarrier. I will say, Carter sometimes wasn’t as aggressive as I would’ve liked him to be. There are a few plays on my all-22 tape where Carter 1000% knew what to do, but wasn’t able to work downhill fast enough to make a stop. Granted, I believe Carter would have had many more tackles if it weren’t for the entire Groves defense swarming to the football.

When it’s all said and done, Carter will probably be a D3 or NAIA prospect.

I had a blast watching the Hudl of Carter Hladki Carter Hladki 5'10" | 200 lbs | LB Birmingham Groves | 2026 State MI . He’s a classic old school styled linebacker who can come downhill and lay the hammer. He has the athleticism to get sideline to sideline if need be, and he always takes good angles. He does a nice job of fighting through blocks and getting through the traffic to make tackles. Carter is going to be a problem for offenses once again this fall, and I definitely think he’s doing all the right things to become a very interesting prospect!