(Top OL Andrew Kirkland who was offered by Washington Saturday, battles recent PSU commit Austin Powell) |
(Aloha high profile lineman Brayden Kearsley and Mike Kluge took time to battle at the UW Showcase Event) |
OL/DL
The Showcase event at UW on Saturday featured a majority of the top lineman in the Northwest, and the one on one battles were nothing short of outstanding. Oregon featured two of the top offensive lineman on the west coast in Brayden Kearsley (6-5 300 Sr. OL Aloha) & Andrew Kirkland (6-5 295 Sr. OL Jesuit) and they didn’t disappoint. Kirkland ended up getting offered by Washington before the day was over adding to the other universities that are vying for his services (Colorado, Wyoming, Portland St). Kirkland will play for one of the most talented HS lines in the country and showed what he is capable of with a quality day.
Kearsley did his thing violently throwing most opponents to the ground and then keeping them there. He is as talented as they come, and the soft BYU commit had a very good day showing why he is the NW’s top ranked lineman with offers from (UCLA, Oregon St, Kansas, Arizona St, Colorado, Hawaii). His biggest challenges of the day came from none other then his Aloha teammate Michael Kluge (5-10 285 Sr. DL) who was the most talked about lineman of the afternoon.
Kluge was an absolute beast, and literally tossed people from there Offensive line spots. He had done this earlier in the year at one of our regional combines, but this time it was in front of a host of D1 coaches. He was hands down the D line MVP and no one in the building would dispute that. If anyone can overcome the height issue at a D1 school its going to be Kluge.
Other top individuals along the defensive line were plentiful, with recent Portland St commit Austin Powell (6-4 260 Sr. DE Crescent Valley) winning most of his one on one battles, and two standout juniors in Connor Humphreys (6-4 245 Jr. DE Central Catholic) and Marqueese Royster (6-1 265 Jr. DL Lakeridge) doing work. Humphreys received his second offer last week from PSU adding to his initial Wyoming offer, and Royster is headed to compete and play for Team USA in Texas later this month. Royster plays like he’s 6-4 and is very athletic.
A couple kids that really put themselves on the map with impressive performances were Dylan Savage (6-1 210 Sr. DE/C Westview) and Jalean Webb (6-0 260 Sr. DL Jefferson). Savage was an all league kid on both sides of the ball last season, and had one of the breakout showings of the entire camp coming off the end as hard as anybody. Webb, much like Royster is just flat out good and got the job done inside over and over again.
A scary pair of lineman that will team with Kearsley and Kluge this season are AJ McCollum (6-2 265 Sr. C/DL Aloha) and Dominic Johnson (6-2 250 Sr. DE Aloha). McCollum has jumped up the recruiting boards with impressive camp performances and Saturday was no different. Johnson is incredibly quick and showed how valuable the Grant transfer will be from his D end position. These four together can challenge any line in the region.
Other top lineman on the Offensive side of the ball that had big days were Chris Miedema (6-6 305 Sr. OL Everett), Chase Madsen (6-4 275 Sr. OL Bothell), Chris Coffin (6-4 275 Sr. OL Curtis) and Justin Outslay (6-5 280 Sr. OL Salem Academy). Outslay imparticular had an impressive day battling some of the regions best and Miedema, Madsen, and Coffin were consistent and are right on that offer bubble.
Two additional youngsters that made their presence known were Liam Talty (6-4 215 Jr. DE Sheldon) and Jonah Jordan (6-2 265 Jr. OL/DL Mead). Talty had participated in our elite events during the winter and made a name for himself and Saturday he capitalized on all of that. He showed explosiveness coming off the end and won almost every battle. Talty will be a force to be reckoned with during the season, and one of the top junior lineman in the state. Add in Jordan who is one of the top two way junior lineman in the NW, and you have a youthful pair of athletes that we will hear a lot about over the next two seasons.
As we continued to look at the younger athletes a pair from Wenatchee also caught everyone’s eye with impressive performances. The kid with the crazy blonde hair and ruthless beard, Jakob Stoll (6-2 245 Jr. OL/DL) had a good day and returns after an all league season as a sophomore. His work ethic has been incredible and we have taken notice, while his teammate Trey Adams (6-4 260 So. OL) looks like one of the top young lineman in the entire NW for the class of 2015.
Others To Be Mentioned:
Macartney McQuery 6-2 300 Sr. OL Bellarmine Prep, Sean McAlhaney 6-2 215 Sr. DL Skyline Hector Ruiz 6-4 270 Sr. OL Mariner, Dayne Herron 6-4 265 Sr. OL Oak Harbor, Ryan Brown 6-6 265 Sr. OL Jesuit, Nick Moore 5-7 245 2011′ DL Tigard, Conner Astley 6-4 265 Sr. OL Sprague, William VanSmoorenburg 6-4 265 Sr. OL/DL West Salem, Micah Prescott 6-2 270 Jr. DL Renton Noah Bagley 6-2 320 Sr.OL West Linn, Kevin Kors 5-11 290 Sr. OL Bellarmine Prep , Josh Harper 6-4 190 Sr. DE Marist ,Tyler Bailey 6-3 280 Sr. OL/DL Kentridge , Alexander Salanoa 6-2 270 Sr. DL Spanaway Lake, Caleb Wells 6-7 245 Sr. DE Benson , Jeremy Ruef 6-2 230 Sr. DE Bothell, Malcolm Lewis 6-0 260 Sr. DL Westview, Will Heck 6-2 260 Jr. OL Crescent Valley, Dallas Davies 6-2 200 Sr. DL Horizon Christian, Justin Banks 6-1 225 Jr. DL Marist, Todd Wiederhold 6-4 270 Sr. OL Putnam,
