What graduated player will be the toughest to replace next season?
- Thread starter LukeFeddersen
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8-man: Jake Hogan, Don Bosco; Elias Nissen, Springville; Dillon Lain, Wayne
Hogan and Nissen were both simply dominating players who could almost single-handedly take over a game. Don Bosco would have been solid anyway, but Hogan made a pretty good team something special. His ability to simply will DB to a win was something to see in the Exira game. Lain wasn't as talented as either Nissen or Hogan, but he was a critical player on both sides of the ball and there isn't another athlete like him in school to step in.
A: Brandon Snyder, West Lyon; Jack Kline, BGM
Snyder is good enough for Iowa, and he's one of the better athletes I've seen in 15 years of watching the semifinals and championships. West Lyon is almost always pretty damn good, but I don't see them replacing Snyder anytime soon. Kline was one of the most electrifying players I've seen. He was a legitimate threat to score every single time he touched the ball, whether it was on offense, defense or special teams.
1A: Brandon Brittain, Van Meter; Jake Sobotka, Mount Ayr; Koy Snider, Wilton
Brittain and Sobotka are both similar to Hogan, in that they both made their teams much better than they should be. Both guys had great all-round talent and could impact the game in a variety of ways. Snider was one of the state's best all-purpose running backs (1100+ yards rushing, 700+ yards receiving, 30 total touchdowns), led the team in tackles (143) and tallied 7 solo stops for loss. He was also a good kick and punt returner.
2A: Parker Hesse/Marcus Weymiller, Waukon; Alex Drees, Carroll Kuemper; Duncan Ferch, West Marshall
I think you could flip a coin on which player is tougher to replace at Waukon. If Weymiller doesn't get hurt in the championship game, I think Waukon probably finds a way to pull that one out; but if he and Hesse's circumstances had been switched, you could say the same thing. Drees was one of the best two-way players I saw all year, and while Kuemper lost a lot of very good players, I think he was the best of the bunch. And West Marshall will be without a Ferch in the backfield for the first time in a long time. Combine Ferch's graduation with Devin Chesler's, and I don't see anyone who could fill those shoes next year.
3A: Trent Solsma, Bishop Heelan; Eli Dunne, Grinnell; Alex Coker, Washington
Solsma was the most accurate passer I've ever seen at the high school level. Watching him pick apart Clear Lake's defense in the semis was mind-boggling. Heelan will reload and still be very good, but they won't have the same kind of offensive attack they had this year. I never got to see Dunne play, but from what I'm told, that offense was pretty much built around him, and I doubt they've got another big arm like that waiting in the wings. I saw Washington play once during the regular season and twice at the Dome, and they never struck me as a star-studded team. They were very workmanlike and just found a way to win, and Coker was the workhorse. They'll take a step back without him.
4A: Allen Lazard, Urbandale; Ross Pierschbacher, Cedar Falls; practically the entire Ames offense
Lazard and Pierschbacher really don't need much explanation. They're both among the nation's best recruits this year, and no school in Iowa can reasonably expect to replace that kind of talent in one year. In Ames, you could flip a coin again. So many weapons gone from what was a video game offense last year.
This post was edited on 5/8 1:18 PM by tm3308
Hogan and Nissen were both simply dominating players who could almost single-handedly take over a game. Don Bosco would have been solid anyway, but Hogan made a pretty good team something special. His ability to simply will DB to a win was something to see in the Exira game. Lain wasn't as talented as either Nissen or Hogan, but he was a critical player on both sides of the ball and there isn't another athlete like him in school to step in.
A: Brandon Snyder, West Lyon; Jack Kline, BGM
Snyder is good enough for Iowa, and he's one of the better athletes I've seen in 15 years of watching the semifinals and championships. West Lyon is almost always pretty damn good, but I don't see them replacing Snyder anytime soon. Kline was one of the most electrifying players I've seen. He was a legitimate threat to score every single time he touched the ball, whether it was on offense, defense or special teams.
1A: Brandon Brittain, Van Meter; Jake Sobotka, Mount Ayr; Koy Snider, Wilton
Brittain and Sobotka are both similar to Hogan, in that they both made their teams much better than they should be. Both guys had great all-round talent and could impact the game in a variety of ways. Snider was one of the state's best all-purpose running backs (1100+ yards rushing, 700+ yards receiving, 30 total touchdowns), led the team in tackles (143) and tallied 7 solo stops for loss. He was also a good kick and punt returner.
2A: Parker Hesse/Marcus Weymiller, Waukon; Alex Drees, Carroll Kuemper; Duncan Ferch, West Marshall
I think you could flip a coin on which player is tougher to replace at Waukon. If Weymiller doesn't get hurt in the championship game, I think Waukon probably finds a way to pull that one out; but if he and Hesse's circumstances had been switched, you could say the same thing. Drees was one of the best two-way players I saw all year, and while Kuemper lost a lot of very good players, I think he was the best of the bunch. And West Marshall will be without a Ferch in the backfield for the first time in a long time. Combine Ferch's graduation with Devin Chesler's, and I don't see anyone who could fill those shoes next year.
3A: Trent Solsma, Bishop Heelan; Eli Dunne, Grinnell; Alex Coker, Washington
Solsma was the most accurate passer I've ever seen at the high school level. Watching him pick apart Clear Lake's defense in the semis was mind-boggling. Heelan will reload and still be very good, but they won't have the same kind of offensive attack they had this year. I never got to see Dunne play, but from what I'm told, that offense was pretty much built around him, and I doubt they've got another big arm like that waiting in the wings. I saw Washington play once during the regular season and twice at the Dome, and they never struck me as a star-studded team. They were very workmanlike and just found a way to win, and Coker was the workhorse. They'll take a step back without him.
4A: Allen Lazard, Urbandale; Ross Pierschbacher, Cedar Falls; practically the entire Ames offense
Lazard and Pierschbacher really don't need much explanation. They're both among the nation's best recruits this year, and no school in Iowa can reasonably expect to replace that kind of talent in one year. In Ames, you could flip a coin again. So many weapons gone from what was a video game offense last year.
This post was edited on 5/8 1:18 PM by tm3308
I keep hearing people say that next year is the year that Valley is "back" (whatever that means, since I'd hardly call a semifinal finish a down year), but I don't see how they're going to be better than last year without Mason. Or better than Dowling with Boyle back.
we'll know where they are when they play Waukee in week 1. Valley probably views Waukee as inferiors/wannabes but they do return the QB, two main RBs, two main receivers (averaging like 23 yards a catch), and two D-Lineman combining for 15 TFLs.
I can honestly not imagine them (or any team) having a better qb better than Lombardi. If they do, then they are deep with an obnoxious amount of talent.
This could shape up to be a lot of fun too. Coach Lombardi put in a ton of time and effort {in general, but especially} in his son's class, and they are loaded. Wash could have a 2 or 3 year run at the top of the east side of the state. And if they make it to the finals, it would be fun to do it against Valley.
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