Twitter Mania: Week 1 Offensive Standouts pt. 2
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IHSA Football got kickstarted here last Friday for Week 1 of the season and there were many impressive performances. To cover as many of your performances we posted a tweet on Twitter asking you to drop your highlight tape showcasing…
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Continue ReadingIHSA Football got kickstarted here last Friday for Week 1 of the season and there were many impressive performances. To cover as many of your performances we posted a tweet on Twitter asking you to drop your highlight tape showcasing your performance from your Week 1 games. Without further ado, here are Twitter Mania’s Week 1 Offensive Standouts from across the state.
Tavis Parakis Centralia 22’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Don’t let Mr. Parakis get hands-on, if you do you’re in for a ride as you’re either going to get washed down or pancacked. This young man keeps his feet driving playing through the whistle and stays square when in pass protection. If there’s nobody in front of him to block in pass protection, he goes to double with the center. There’s a clip of this in his highlight tape where he and the center pancake the defensive tackle.
Elliot Cassem Reed Custer 22’ RB Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Mr. Cassem is an N/S runner that isn’t afraid of contact as he breaks arm tackles by keeping his feet driving. This was seen on the first play of his highlight tape where he bursts through the line of scrimmage and breaks a tackle before sprinting down the open green grass into the endzone. He also had a few other big runs showcasing his yards after contact. In the return game, he fumbled the kickoff but after recovering and securing the ball he changed gears quickly heading up the sideline into the endzone for his second touchdown on the night further showcasing his playmaking abilities.
Mason Hackman Mason Hackman 6'3" | 195 lbs | WR Bismark Henning | 2022 State IL Bismark Henning 22’ WR Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: This young man is a sight to see in his Week 1 highlight. Mr. Hackman stems his fade route outside giving him a half step on the defender which is all he needs to come down with the contested catch. When he gets the handoff he’s a downhill runner inviting contact, he lowers his shoulder to run the defender over and then sprints into open grass for the touchdown. If he’s left one on one in the endzone, he high points the ball over the defender to make the contested catch and secures it for a touchdown. This young man’s ability to make these contested catches with the defender draped all over him is impressive as it’s shown throughout his highlight tape.
Fernando Rodriguez IC Catholic Prep 22’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Mr. Rodriguez gets hands-on quickly, upon doing so one of two things are going to happen. The first being he’s going to wash the defensive lineman down creating a pile or he’s going to keep his feet driving pushing the defender back. We also got glimpses of this young man pancaking defenders which was a sight to see. His aggressive and attacking playstyle is what you like to see out of offensive lineman, look for this to carry over into Week 2.
Vinny Lannantone Joliet Catholic Academy 22’ RB Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Everyone knows about the dominant Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson 6'3" | 215 lbs | RB Joliet Catholic | 2022 State IL , but let’s not forget about Mr. Lannantone. This young man has a similar playing style to that of Mr. Anderson in the sense that he’s not afraid to lower his shoulder to plow over defenders and is going to fight for every last yard. Once the ball is in his hands, he weaves in and out of defenders while reading his blocks and runs downhill. He also gets involved in run blocking where he seals the edge which occasionally results in him washing down the defender.
Elijah Matthews Kenwood Academy 22’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Talk about an aggressive attacking offensive lineman, Mr. Matthews is a sight to see. When he works up to the 2nd level blocks he doesn’t have a problem putting the linebacker on his back. This young man gets hands-on quickly which he uses to wash the defensive line down as well as drive the defender 15 yards downfield by playing through the whistle. In pass protection, he shuffles his feet well keeping a solid base and staying square which forces the defender to take the outside pass rush keeping the pocket clean. Mr. Matthews had an impressive Week 1 performance, I look forward to seeing more of the same the rest of this fall season.
Mark Mennecke Mark Mennecke 6'1" | 190 lbs | QB Neuqua Valley | 2023 State IL Neuqua Valley 23’ QB Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: The lefty Quarterback had himself a game last Friday showcasing a range of his skillset. The first play kickstarts this as he gets flushed out of the pocket and has to roll left, as he does there are defenders chasing him from behind. Right before Mr. Mennecke is about to get tackled he throws a cross-body deep shot off of a crazy arm angle for a completion downfield. He’s also able to take his drops, read the defense, and put the ball into tight coverage only where his receivers can get it. Let’s not forget that he can also scramble which is exactly what he did later in his highlight film getting a first down on the play.
Jaden Bossie Jaden Bossie 5'10" | 170 lbs | ATH Mt Carmel | 2023 State IL Mt Carmel 23’ ATH Twitter
Stats: 2 receptions for 22 yards, 2 carries for 16 yards, 83-yard field goal return TD
Eval: Mr. Bossie’s biggest play on the night was his 83-yard field goal return touchdown giving Mt. Carmel the win over highly ranked St. Rita. Once he changed gears and accelerated in open space nobody was going to catch him. This transitioned into his offensive performance where he secures the bubble screen and gets upfield quickly. This young man has solid body control where he can stop on a dime making the first defender miss then accelerating quickly to gain extra yards. Mr. Bossie also ran two jet sweeps, he has the speed to turn the corner and if the defense allows him to he’s off to the races.
Luke Griskey Luke Griskey 6'5" | 265 lbs | OL Huntley | 2023 State IL Huntley 23’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Mr. Griskey fires off the ball getting hands-on quickly, once he does this it’s game over for the defensive lineman. This young man can then wash the defensive lineman down or can drive block the defender 5 yards downfield by keeping his feet driving. The play that stood out the most was later in his highlight where he’s working up to the 2nd level block and after he makes his initial block he continues to look for someone to block downfield. So much so that his running back is about to get tackled and he blocks the nearest defender before jumping over his tackled teammate and hitting the next closest defender when he lands. That is the epitome of playing through the whistle and being aggressive, which is what you love to see out of offensive lineman.
Robbie Spang Hinsdale South 23’ QB Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Mr. Spang showcased glimpses of what he can do at Quarterback in his Week 1 highlight. This included running the read-option where we got to get an insight into his mobility and quick acceleration as well as his throwing ability in his other clip. His dropback is fluid and he released the ball at the focal point delivering it into his receiver’s hands for a completion.
Jacob Klink Jacob Klink 6'4" | 380 lbs | OL Hononegah | 2023 State IL Hononegah 23’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Mr. Klink does a good job of playing through the whistle on each play and looking for someone to block for that duration. Once he gets hands-on, he keeps his feet driving resulting in pushing the defensive lineman back 5 yards downfield (sometimes even farther). In pass protection, he keeps the defender in front of him by shuffling his feet to neutralize the pass rush. He still has room to develop further and hone his craft, that being said as the season progresses I look forward to seeing how he performs.
Jake Metze Jake Metze 5'9" | 170 lbs | ATH Johnsburg | 2023 State IL Johnsburg 23’ RB Twitter
Stats: 102 All-Purpose yards, 3 TDs
Eval: This young man lines up in the backfield and split out in the slot where he gets utilized in both offensive attacks. In the ground game, he bursts through the line of scrimmage and isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder to run the defender over (as seen with his first touchdown highlight clip). In the air attack, he gets upfield quickly once he secures the catch and can high point the ball to make the contested catch. Week 1 was a good one for Mr. Metze, I look forward to seeing what he does in Week 2.
Nikolas Belski Nikolas Belski 6'2" | 275 lbs | OL LaSalle Peru Township | 2023 State IL LaSalle Peru Township 23’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: I haven’t gotten the chance to watch Mr. Belski before and I’m glad that now I have. This young man fires off the ball and attacks where he plays through the whistle each play. This is seen by getting hands-on quickly which he uses to wash the defensive line down, working up to 2nd level blocks, and drive blocking the defender 5 to 10 yards downfield at times. In pass protection, he stays square keeping equilibrium in his stance not allowing the pass rusher to get inside pocket pressure. Rather, Mr. Belski forces the pass rusher outside keeping the pocket clean.
Cooper King Lyons Township 23’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Once Mr. King snaps the ball he gets hands-on the defensive lineman. From here, he’ll either drive block you 5 yards downfield or will keep his feet driving resulting in the defensive lineman being pancaked. This young man is also able to wash the defensive line down. He’s quick off the ball and gets to his blocking assignments. There’s a play when he’s in pass protection and he dominates so much at the point of attack that he finishes the play 6 or so yards downfield because he drove the defender back so much.
Gavin Shahan Romeoville 23 OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: Once Mr. Shahan snaps the ball he gets hands-on quickly stopping the defensive tackle in his track and driving him back. He also plays through the white keeping his feet driving until the play is over. What is going to be something to keep an eye on moving forward is his first step out of his stance when the defensive tackle lines up directly on top of him. This will be a good indicator of how consistently he can snap the ball then get to his blocks.
Blaine Halley Blaine Halley 6'6" | 280 lbs | OL Olympia | 2023 State IL Olympia 23’ OL Twitter
Stats: N/A
Eval: In the opening clips of Mr. Halley’s Week 1 highlight film he’s pushing the defenders around, in one instance he throws the defender onto his back. This is much of the same in the rest of his highlight tape. Once he gets hands-on you can call it a day as he plays through the whistle and will either drive you back downfield 10 yards or pancake you by keeping his feet driving. There was only one play of him in pass protection in the film so you don’t get a clear vision of how his skillset is there, but in that clip he held his own against the pass rush not letting the defender get inside leverage.
Walker Owens Walker Owens 6'2" | 200 lbs | RB Wheaton North | 2024 IL Wheaton North 24’ RB Twitter
Stats: 12 carries for 120 yards (1 TD) on JV
Eval: After watching Mr. Owen’s Week 1 JV highlights I’m very excited to see what he’s able to accomplish these next few years at Wheaton North. This young man looked like he was in a video game with the range of skillset that he showcased giving us glimpses of what’s to come. He can become a true 3 down back in the near future, we have to wait for his Varsity snaps to get a better indicator of his full potential at the next level. Until then, opposing JV defenses are going to have their hands full with this young man.
We’re going to continue this trend of going to Twitter to highlight as many of you young men as possible each week to help you, the student-athlete, get your name out there further.
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