With area teams Spring Grove and Caledonia winning state titles, 2018 All-District football lists come out well after most teams are done playing. In the Southeast-White, Section 1AA Runner-Up Chatfield gets six All-District players (five seniors, one junior); two-way stand-outs who helped the Gophers to a strong 8-3 season. Heading the cast is Gage Tuohy (5’11” 195 RB/S). After making some plays as a sophomore, then fighting through an injury junior year, Tuohy was the Gophers bell-cow back senior year. He rushed 219 times for 1,356 yards and 9 TDs (10 TDs total). Tuohy had seven 100-yard games and a pair of 200-yard games. Backfield-mate Carson Larrabee (5’11” 200 RB/LB) is also A-D. He rushed 106 times for 692 yards and 8 TDs (9 total TDs) while adding 4½ sacks on defense. Fellow seniors Seth Allen (5’10” 150 WR/CB), Nathan Goldsmith (5’5” 160 TE/LB), and Zach Roline (6’2” 260 OL/DL) make the list. Allen intercepted eight passes (four in one game) and accounted for 10 total turnovers (two fumble recoveries). Goldsmith, for a third straight year, used his wrestling skills to take down opponents. He was one of the Gophers’ top tacklers (three sacks, three fumble recoveries). Roline, the biggest Gopher at 260 pounds, anchored an offense line that helped Chatfield run for well over 2,000 yards. He added three sacks. Finally, Chatfield’s lone non-senior to make A-D is Chance Backer (6’1” 190 junior TE/LB), the player most likely to hit an opponent hard. Part of the Gophers tough LB-crew (Goldsmith, Larrabee), Backer had four sacks and blocked two punts. Offensively, he turned 22 touches into five TDs (9-185 yards, 4 TDs receiving).
In the South-East District, Section 1 9-Man Runner-Up Houston gets four A-D picks (all seniors); two-way starters that helped the ‘Canes to a strong 9-2 season (losses to state champion SG). Jaytin Millen (5’10” 175 Sr. RB/LB) and Joey Fishel (5’10” 175 Sr. RB/LB) co-head the cast. Millen ran for 1,465 yards and 15 TDs while adding 215 receiving yards and two more TDs. He topped 100 yards nine times in 11 games, scored a TD in all but one game, and nearly tripled his rushing yardage from junior year. For his three-year career, Millen ran for over 2,100 yards and accounted for 35 total offensive TDs. Fishel gets honored as the South-East District Defensive Player of the Year. He notched 12 sacks while adding 169 carries for 1,041 yards and 13 TDs rushing. He scored in every game but two. For his three-year career, Fishel tallied over 2,200 rushing yards and 31 rushing TDs. He made Post Bulletin’s All-Area 1st Team. Fellow seniors James Hongerholt (6’2” 170 QB/S) and Kyle Twite (6’2” 220 C/DL) make the list. Hongerholt, a repeat A-D selection, quarterbacked the ‘Canes (555 yards, 5 TDs passing; 629 yards, 11 TDs rushing). Twite anchored the offensive and defensive lines, helping pave the way for two 1,000-yard backs. The foursome amassed a 24-7 record the last three years, helping Houston to state-wide football relevancy. Mabel-Canton gets a trio of picks in three-time selection Drew Wyffels (5’8” 155 Sr. QB/S), two-timer Blake Henry (6’1”
185 Sr. OL/LB), and newbie Gavin Johnson (6’0” 170 So. RB/LB). Wyffels quarterbacked the Cougars for a fourth straight year. He accounted for over 1,200 yards offense and 16 totals TDs (51-102, 779 yards, 6 TDs, 7 INTs passing; 102-429 yards, 10 TDs rushing) while intercepting five passes. For his career, Wyffels tossed 32 TDs, ran for 19 TDs, and intercepted 16 passes (two pick sixes). Wyffels made Post Bulletin’s All-Area 1st Team. Henry, another four-year stand-out, anchored the lines (five sacks, caught two TDs). He finished with 17 career sacks. Johnson had a break-out sophomore year, leading the M-C ground game (178-1,014 yards, 9 TDs rushing). He joined his older brother Hunter Johnson as having topped 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Lanesboro gets a trio also in seniors Connor Ruen (6’0” 170 RB/LB), Joe Gathje (6’0” 210 TE/DE), and Riley Cambern (5’10” 220 C/DT). Ruen, a repeat A-D pick, did work in all three phases (468 yards offense, 5 TDs; 542 combined return yards; 3½ sacks). Cambern (5½ sacks) and Gathje did dirty work in the trenches for a Burro team that mainly ran the ball.
In the Mid-Southeast-East sub-district, Rushford-Peterson has a county high seven players named A-D (four seniors, two juniors, a sophomore). Landon Skalet (5’9” 160 QB/DB) earns his third A-D nod in football. Skalet went 27-7 as a starter sophomore through senior years, getting the special privilege of helping the Trojans to the 2016 Class A State Runner-Up trophy. Across those years, he threw for over 3,700 yards and 46 TDs against 20 INTs. Senior year, he was 91 of 157 for 1,134 yards, 16 TDs, and 8 INTs (four coming in one game). Skalet added an interception return TD and a rushing TD. Fellow Trojan seniors Ethan Sense (5’7” 160 RB/LB), Carter Weidemann (5’7” 180 RB/LB), and Ian Brown (5’8” 180 G/LB) all repeat as A-D. Sense had 148 carries for 910 yards and 14 TDs rushing (15 total TDs). Over his two years as R-P’s main running back, he amassed over 2,000 yards and ran for 32 TDs. Weidemann, a third-year starter, was the Trojans’ biggest animal on defense, leading the team in tackles and tackles for loss (10). He added 36 carries for 315 yards and 3 TDs rushing. Brown started for three years on the offensive line and was the team’s third leading tackler. From the junior class, Vinnie Mason (6’2” 180 TE/DL) and Ethan Hermanson (5’8” 160, RB/LB) earn their first pure A-D honors. Hermanson was the county’s top three phase performer, making plays offensively (two rushing TDs; 35-443, 5 TDs receiving), defensively (six interceptions), and on special teams (three return TDs in just 13 return touches; 123 kickoff return yards, TD; 187 punt return yards, 2 TDs). Mason caught 13 passes for 154 yards and 3 TDs while registering seven TFLs, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries. Finally, sophomore Kobe Lind (6’1” 165 WR/S) earned his first A-D nod after catching 31 passes for 391 yards and 6 TDs. He added a pair of interceptions. Fillmore Central gets five A-D picks (three seniors, a junior, a sophomore). Three-time selection Josh Peters heads the cast.
Peters (5’9” 160 QB/RB/LB) made the tough transition from RB to QB. He accounted for 74% of FC’s offense, passing (59-126, 835 yards, 7 TDs, 9 INTs) and running (182-911 yards, 11 TDs) for 1,700-plus total yards. He would’ve been a 1,000-yard rusher (in just nine games) had sacks not counted against his totals. Peters also had a team second-best 84 tackles with two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. Career-wise, he amassed nearly 2,500 yards rushing, 29 rushing TDs (38 total TDs). He was FC’s leading rushing three straight seasons. Classmates Tyler Raaen (5’10” 157 RB/LB) and Brock Walsh (5’10” 225 OL/LB) earn A-D. It’s Walsh’s second selection, Raaen’s first. Walsh again was an o-line anchor while registering a team third-best 77 tackles. Raaen was FC’s best defensive player, racking up 103 tackles, three sacks, and two interceptions. He added some solid offensive stats (36-152, 6 TDs rushing; 16-179 receiving). Junior Hadrian Williams (5’11” 205 OL/DL) and sophomore Carson Kiehne (5’7” 150 WR/CB) earn their first A-D nods. Williams was a two-way line starter who authored a pick-six and three fumble recoveries. Kiehne’s best asset was his speed on offense, where he tallied eight total TDs (63-284, 6 TDs rushing; 21-313, 2 TDs receiving). Kingsland’s two selections are play-making wide receiver Reid Kruegel (6’0” 150 Sr. WR/S) and focal-point-back Dallas Jones (5’8” 165 Jr. RB/LB).
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