Eden Valley-Watkins Football Poised for Perfect Season
Eden Valley-Watkins football is 11-0 heading into Friday's Class 2-A State Semifinal game against Cannon Falls at 11:30 a.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Eagles defeated Moose Lake-Willow River 60-0 in the state quarterfinals at Forest Lake High School last week to get to this point.
Eden Valley-Watkins head coach Adam Tri joined me on WJON. On making it back to the state tournament, Tri says "it's awesome, the kids put a lot work in throughout the season starting in the summertime. The kids do a great job buying in." Tri says it takes all 60 players on the roster to make this work. He indicates the team will not be overwhelmed by this experience and will be ready to go. Tri says many players are back from last year's roster who had the experience of playing at U.S. Bank Stadium last season. He explains that experience should help this time around. He says playing a game indoors allows them the opportunity to use their entire offense and the kids may feel a bit faster.
The Eagles are making their 3rd straight State Tournament appearance after falling in the State Semifinals last season to Chatfield 27-12 to finish the season 11-1.
The Eagles are led by senior quarterback Nolan Geislinger. Tri says Geislinger has been a great player for them and his blockers in front deserve a lot of credit for his success. He says running back Max Geislinger has also done a great job running the football for them this season. Tri wanted to highlight the offensive linemen Noah Stommes, Anthony Fink, Dylan Geislinger, Mitchell Lipinski, Sonnie DeHeer and Dylan Walz. He says he can't say enough good things about this group.
Tri says Friday's opponent Cannon Falls likes to run the ball and they do it well. Because of this Tri says they need to play really good assignment football on defense.
Eden Valley-Watkins Roster:
| Number | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schultz, Parker | WR | 6'2" | 175 | 12 |
| 2 | Geislinger, Nolan | QB | 6'0" | 170 | 12 |
| 3 | Thielen, Broden | WR | 6'1" | 170 | 12 |
| 4 | Neiman, Landon | WR | 6'0" | 150 | 12 |
| 5 | Portner, Jackson | RB | 5'7" | 150 | 10 |
| 7 | Glenz, Blake | QB | 6'0" | 140 | 10 |
| 8 | Becker, Brayden | WR | 5'11" | 155 | 10 |
| 9 | Scheeler, Carter | RB | 5'7 | 175 | 11 |
| 10 | Langer, Preston | WR | 6'2" | 200 | 10 |
| 11 | Dziengel, Lee | WR | 5'10" | 145 | 11 |
| 12 | Moehrle, Wyatt | WR | 6'4" | 185 | 11 |
| 13 | Schmidt, Ryder | QB | 5'11 | 150 | 9 |
| 18 | Ballard, William | WR | 5'8" | 150 | 11 |
| 19 | Schmitt, Gabriel | WR | 5'7" | 135 | 10 |
| 20 | Torborg, Maxwell | WR | 6.0" | 155 | 10 |
| 21 | Artis, LaMichael | RB | 5'10 | 160 | 9 |
| 22 | Haag, Nolan | WR | 6'1" | 175 | 12 |
| 23 | Hiltner, Braylon | QB | 6'1 | 170 | 9 |
| 24 | Caron, Jacob | WR | 5'7" | 135 | 10 |
| 25 | Eder, Gavin | WR | 5'11" | 165 | 12 |
| 27 | Vaquera Valencia, Ricky | WR | 5'8 | 130 | 9 |
| 28 | Geislinger, Max | RB | 5'11" | 180 | 11 |
| 32 | Allen-Markgraf, Gavin | WR | 5'8 | 130 | 11 |
| 33 | Swartz, Landen | RB | 5'5 | 130 | 10 |
| 34 | Maile, Jack | RB | 5'7" | 190 | 10 |
| 44 | Leukam, Brandon | WR | 5'6 | 145 | 10 |
| 50 | Kramer, Brody | OL | 5'8" | 205 | 10 |
| 51 | Lang, Nathan | OL | 5'6" | 195 | 10 |
| 52 | Fink, Anthony | OL | 6'4" | 220 | 12 |
| 53 | Stevens, Caden | OL | 5'8" | 195 | 12 |
| 54 | DeHeer, Sonnie | OL | 6'4" | 205 | 12 |
| 55 | Walz, Dylan | OL | 5'9" | 180 | 11 |
| 56 | Geislinger, Dylan | OL | 5'8" | 240 | 12 |
| 57 | Stommes, Noah | OL | 6'8 | 230 | 12 |
| 58 | Schutz, Tyler | OL | 6'3" | 230 | 10 |
| 60 | Ludwig, Treyce | OL | 5'11" | 180 | 11 |
| 61 | Hoffmann, Samuel | OL | 5'9 | 230 | 9 |
| 62 | Albright, Aaliyah | OL | 5'7 | 190 | 11 |
| 64 | Lipinski, Mitchell | OL | 6'1" | 235 | 11 |
| 65 | Eder, Deuce | OL | 5'10 | 240 | 9 |
| 66 | Nistler, Archie | OL | 5'10" | 240 | 10 |
| 67 | Kipf, Cody | OL | 5'10 | 265 | 12 |
| 70 | Molitor, Braydon | OL | 6'0 | 180 | 9 |
| 71 | Pauls, Wyatt | OL | 6' | 295 | 10 |
| 72 | Kuechle, Porter | OL | 5'10" | 200 | 12 |
| 73 | Salzl, Henry | OL | 5'11" | 190 | 10 |
| 74 | Bates, Hunter | OL | 5'8" | 215 | 10 |
| 75 | McCann, Landon | OL | 6'1" | 205 | 10 |
| 76 | Magedanz, Braiden | OL | 5'10" | 180 | 10 |
| 77 | Becker, Nicholas | OL | 6'0" | 250 | 10 |
| 78 | Holthaus, Bryce | OL | 5'8 | 230 | 11 |
| 79 | Jamison, Tristian | OL | 5'8 | 220 | 10 |
| 80 | Diffley, Alexander | WR | 6'2" | 160 | 12 |
| 81 | Sieben, Brody | WR | 5'4 | 120 | 9 |
| 82 | Landwehr, Henry | WR | 5'11" | 145 | 10 |
| 83 | Schmitt, Avery | WR | 5'9 | 130 | 9 |
| 84 | Finger, Mason | WR | 5'11" | 145 | 10 |
| 85 | Hernandez, Eli | WR | 5'10" | 165 | 11 |
| 87 | Kramer, Brayden | WR | 6'0" | 140 | 11 |
| 88 | Corcuera Abundes, Bryan | WR | 5'8 | 135 | 11 |
My conversation with Eden Valley-Watkins Head Coach Adam Tri is below.