Class of 2013

Zack Decker  6-5  210  Sr  TE  Schoolcraft
Decker is a really good pass catching tight end that doesn’t have blazing speed but he knows how to use his size to make plays. He plays physical but has very soft hands and catches the ball at it’s highest point. He’s a good athlete and was a key component on Schoolcraft’s basketball team that made it to the Breslin Center last March. Decker is a lunch pail guy that if he adds some weight he can become a big time player at the next level. 

Alex Korhorn  6-2  275  Sr  OL/DL  Grand Rapids Christian
One of the benefits of playing the offensive line for GR Christian is the tutelage of a former NFLer as their position coach, Tony Semple. Semple wasn’t the most talented guy when competing at the highest level, but had an nine-year career with the Lions as a tough, blue-collar guard, and ended up blocking for Barry Sanders in some of the Hall of Famer’s greatest seasons. Korhorn has a true acolyte, in smaller form, in Korhorn. Despite giving up size last Saturday to 6-6, 290 Zeeland West junior Jordan VanDort, Korhorn was able to hold his own blocking one-on-one thanks to his grit, leverage and balance. In addition to his pass blocking, Korhorn is a mean run blocker who can pull from his left guard spot to level more traditionally sized high school players. The Eagles are also playing their two best offensive linemen, Korhorn and junior Tommy Doles, on the defensive line, which helps make this team so tough and a favorite to win it all in Division 3.

Seth McIntosh  5-10  205  Sr  RB  Grand Rapids Christian
He gives the Eagles’ potent passing game some balance on the ground. McIntosh ran 16 times for 128 yards in the GR Christian’s district final win over Zeeland West. For the season he has 754 yards and six TDs on 96 carries. McIntosh is light on his feet for 205 pounds, but also has the power to get tough yards and the knack for bouncing off the first tackle.

Casey Mesbergen  6-2  210  Sr  LB/OL  Zeeland West
A defensive lineman on Zeeland West’s 2011 state championship team, Mesbergen just finished a strong senior season playing guard and linebacker for the Dux. Mesbergen is the kind of leader you like to have at middle linebacker, as up the middle was the strength of a defense that proved susceptible in other ways throughout the year. He played an active game last Saturday against Grand Rapids Christian, but sometimes could get eager and over pursue. With his ideal linebacker size (or the potential for either line were he to put on weight) and the pedigree of where he’s been coached, Mesbergen is a priority recruit for small college programs.

Brett Scanlon  6-0  195  Sr  K  Dowagiac
Scanlon’s high school career ended last Friday at the hands of South Christian, but got a glimpse towards his college future the very next day with a trip to MSU. He didn’t make his lone field goal attempt in the South Christian game — from 62 yards. Scanlon did show his ability to both boom and place punts (he did have a 62-yarder that way the previous week against Otsego) as well as his leg on kickoffs, where he finished the season by putting over 50 of them into the end zone. Scanlon looks thicker and more athletic than your average kicker. He also started at linebacker for Dowagiac and rotated at quarterback.

Seth VanEngen  6-5  215  Sr  LB  Grand Rapids South Christian
He goes both ways for South Christian, providing soph phenom Jon Wassink a big check-down target at receiver whose college future is likely as an outside linebacker. VanEngen played with a better motor in last Friday’s second-round game than when I saw the Sailors earlier in the year. He flows well to the ball and showed some wheels when he ran a Dowagiac running back. VanEngen would sometimes line up at tight end as well as come into motion to block, where he was competent but didn’t really coil and strike through his man. Overall, with his physical tools and versatility, the kind of prospect a small program would love to get in their program and shape for the future.

Class of 2014

Carl Grant  6-2  220  Jr  DL/TE  Dowagiac
He was a defensive playmaker all season for a Dowagiac team that finished 10-1. He finished fourth on the team in tackles and was first with 50 behind the line of scrimmage. South Christian was able to limit his speed rush from left end last Friday, but Grant showed off his wrestling strength against the run. Would like to see him get some counters for when he sees a well-coached line like the Sailors’. With no consistent Dowagiac pass rush, they ended up getting picked apart by QB Jon Wassink. A five technique guy now, Grant moves well so could end up as a linebacker at the next level.

Drake Harris  6-4  180  Jr  WR  Grand Rapids Christian
The Drake lived up to all the hype with an epic playoff performance against Zeeland West. He made seven receptions for 208 yards, including TDs of 32 and 42 yards. He also set up a field goal with a 49-yard catch and a TD with a 32-yard catch. None of those plays were breakdowns where Harris found himself all alone, he had to work for it against two good players in West’s Braden Werley and Jon Pung. Werley did knock away one pass, but then GR Christian QB Alex VanDeVusse started throwing it up where only Harris could get it, and he made the plays despite taking hits. His mix of vertical jump, hand-eye coordination, soft mitts and ability to smoothly but efficiently accelerate into 4.4 mode, just can’t be stopped at the high school level. When they’re not going his way, Drake is a decent blocker for a young, skinny receiver. There are so many combine phenoms who get to college where coaches find out too late they can’t catch or, you know, actually play football. That’s not Harris. He has the “measurables,” but they just start to tell the story of him as a player.

2015 watch

Grand Rapids South Christian has a 2012 district championship to its credit. It could be the start of some terrific things for coach Mark Tamminga’s program. We’ve already recounted the talent of their young QB, 6-2, 175 Jon Wassink. He’s just one of a number of key sophomore contributors to the Sailors. His shotgun partner, 6-1, 210 center Casey Elzinga, is also a 10th-grader. 6-3, 230 sophomore D lineman Mitchell Quakkelaar had a sack last Friday against Dowagiac, a game where 6-3, 180 sophomore receiver Eric VanVoorst and 5-11, 220 sophomore lineman Brendan Huyser also contributed.