FOOTBALL PROFILE: The Player

Position: DB

Year: Senior (Class of 2022)

Height: 5-9

Weight: 170 pounds

Experience/accomplishments: 1x letterwinner (2020); full-time starter (2020, 2021)

2021 Stats (3 games): 17 tackles (11 solo)

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INTRODUCTION: The Personality

Q: Why did you choose your number?

“Twenty-six has always been my number for every sport, so I just wanted to stick with it for football. But I guess my sophomore year when I got pulled up, I was injured so they just gave me a random number that no one wanted. Other than that, it’s always been twenty-six.”

Q: What is your favorite uniform combination?

“Um, either the new Jordans or the black on black we just wore (in Week 2).”

Q: Do you have any family connection to the OHS football program?

“My brother (Alex Vereide) graduated in 2020 and played football. He was a lineman.”

Q: Are you involved in any other sports or activities?

“Baseball and hockey.”

Q: Memorable phase frequently used by any coach:

“Coach Achterkirch, ‘don’t be a dummy scrimmage All-American.’”

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QUESTION & ANSWER: The Person

Q: The coaching staff has always said they prefer to put their best athletes on defense. Talk about the pride you have in being part of that group.

“You know, defense is fun. You get to hit people. It’s not a lot of stats (as a defensive back), but you get to tackle, and as they say: ‘defense wins champions.’”

Q: You are one of the few guys that saw any type of regular playing time last season, so your experience means a lot, probably more than most years. How have you and the senior class as a whole adapted to this unique role as the leaders of such a young group?

“I think as a group of seniors we are all kind of leading together. We have three great captains, but we have a lot of leadership all around. And guys like me and Lane (Wagner) being defensive backs, we have to lead by example. We are a part of an overall tight group of seniors.”

Q: Owatonna deploys a straight-up man-to-man defensive scheme. On paper, it’s not complicated but it can be very challenging from a physical standpoint. In your mind, what is the key to making that system work?

“We are always going after the quarterback and trusting that the guys up front are doing their job, because you can’t always sit in coverage up and down the field on every play. But we do our part and stay on our guy as long as we can and do our best to stick with it.”

Q: Is there somewhat of an old school, or ‘backyard’, feeling playing man-to-man?

“Yeah, for sure. It’s one-on-one — go get ‘em.”

Q: You guys started the season with back-to-back strong performances as a defensive secondary and made it extremely difficult for opposing quarterbacks to compete even a single pass. Looking back, what has been the major reasons for this?

“It feels really good to limit the deep ball. (Rochester) Century didn’t have anything deep, so it’s rewarding to feel like they can’t go vertical on our secondary. Our guys up front have also done their job.”