Kvern is a long-striding running back with great vision and solid feet in the open field. He makes decisive cuts and has good speed once he gets space. He is just as likely to run through a tackler as he is to avoid a tackler. Kvern has good balance, which allows him to keep moving forward when bouncing off tacklers. He will even line up out wide and catch a pass. As a forward on the hockey team, the junior has scored 13 goals and has racked up 25 assists – the third most points on the team. It is a team that is 15-10-3 and is still playing after winning a section championship last weekend.

The toughest 1v1 tackling assignment on this list goes to Orono junior Rory Kvern Rory Kvern 6'1" | 190 lbs | RB Orono | 2026 State MN , a 6’1, 190 lb. pickup truck of a RB who had a great season in 2024. PRzMN got multiple exposure points on Kvern this past season, including in the Spartans Class 4A state semifinal 30-21 loss to Totino-Grace, and he impressed every time. Kvern has a no-nonsense, unflinching, North-South, grind-you-down run style that is unrelenting through four quarters, forcing defenders to make business decisions as well as simply wearing them down carry after carry, opening up seams and space that the 190 lber. can take advantage of. Kvern averaged 5.7 yards per carry in 2024, totaling 1,099 rushing yards and 15 TDs, earning him an All-Conference selection on the way to Orono’s state semifinal appearance.

Kvern is a tall, poised, filled out tailback on film who smoothly skates and floats by traffic and does a good job of finding and exploiting holes and gaps in an opponent’s defense. When he dips his shoulders and drops his pads you better look out. Kvern can drop and sit down would-be tacklers as easily as running through a tackling dummy, sometimes trucking multiple defenders on a single carry. He isn’t the fastest, but does show solid speed, and his noticeable burst allows him to get to the second and third level of a defense in a hurry, where he can begin to break tackles in electric fashion behind his full head steam, balance, and quick feet on a thick, powerful frame. Plus, the 190 lbers. impressive balance absorbs contact and sends would-be tacklers flying off him in violent fashion, and it takes multiple defenders to bring him down in most of his carries on his junior tape. His impressive one-cut ability helps him do a good job of powerfully sticking & planting past that third-level defender and free safety. Even more exciting, Kvern is also a stud forward on the Spartans heavyweight hockey team who totaled 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) as a sophomore and 29 points as a freshman. With a multi-sport background like that, Kvern could be a scholarship hockey signee, but he deserves some money for his ability on the gridiron as well. Really fun RB to watch potentially rise up the 2026 Big Board.