Moen, Olson ink D2 football scholarship deals
by Beth Kraft
National Signing Day saw several top college football prospects from across the Chippewa Valley area put pen to paper on Wednesday morning, Feb. 1. Among them were Eleva-Strum seniors Bennett Moen and Quinn Olson, who each signed a National Letter of Intent to make their college choices official.
Both Moen and Olson earned partial scholarships to become student-athletes at Division 2 universities that also happen to play in the same conference. Moen will head to Bemidji State University while Olson signed on with Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
Though Moen and Olson will be Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rivals on the field this fall, for now they’re just happy to end the recruitment process together.
“I’m very excited,” said Moen of signing his NLI to play on the Beavers’ offensive line. “It’s a huge accomplishment for both of us to play at the next level.”
He and Olson have spent a lot of time together over the years attending football camps, clinics, and, more recently, traveling to football combines to work out for college scouts.
For Olson, signing his NLI to play running back for the MSU Moorhead Dragons meant realizing a longtime dream.
“It feels great,” said Olson after officially inking the deal that morning. “It’s been my goal ever since I was a little kid. It’s a great accomplishment.”
Moen and Olson are the first from E-S to secure a Division 2 football scholarship since Lance Rongstad signed with Bemidji State in 2008.
“It’s very unique,” commented Cardinals football head coach Chad Hanson. “In my 13 years I haven’t had any athletes go Division 2 until this point.”
Moen and Olson are also part of a particularly athletic, 17-member strong senior football class that has boasted talent from top to bottom across various E-S sports venues.
Both of last week’s signees have lettered in three varsity sports each, and two of their senior teammates, Mathew Higley and Jedediah Lorenz, plan to take their talents to the collegiate level as well.
Higley recently signed his NLI to play golf at Division 2 Winona State University while Lorenz, a gifted pole vaulter, plans to participate in track and field at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
E-S athletic director Rich Roginski mentioned at Wednesday’s signing ceremony that just two percent of high school athletes in the U.S. go on to compete in college athletics.
The E-S football team’s participation this year exceeds that figure at nearly 25 percent.
“The boys in that grade have spent a lot of time working on athletics,” commented Hanson. “Now we’re seeing some of the benefits—the rewards of that—of getting to go and have part of their schooling paid for.”
Olson, a dynamic 6-foot-1 running back who rushed for 2,987 yards and 36 touchdowns in his four-year career with the Cardinals, is among 27 signees from four states to join the MSU Moorhead football team.
Appearing via a Signing Day Special on the Dragons Live broadcast last week, MSU Moorhead head coach Steve Laqua commented on each of his recruits individually.
Laqua mentioned that Olson, a two-time first team all-Dairyland Conference pick, is “deceptive in his speed” on the gridiron.
“He’s got a speed level that really surprises you when you watch film,” he added. “It’s like a man playing against boys.”
E-S football fans have cheered Olson and his impressive footspeed on as the senior helped the Cardinals (8-3 overall, 6-1 Dairyland) make a postseason push the past three years, including the program’s first playoff appearance since 2008 his sophomore year.
Statistically Olson’s 2015 season was his best in which he amassed Dairyland Conference bests with 1,414 rushing yards (11 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns.
His senior season totals dropped a bit to 945 yards and 13 touchdowns as the Cardinals diversified their rushing game, but Olson also showed he can contribute in other areas. He caught seven passes for 200 yards—two for touchdowns—to boost him to 458 receiving yards and four touchdowns for his career, and he played on the defensive side of the ball with 14 solo tackles to his credit. Olson was also a dangerous punt and kick returner, racking up averages of 23.2 yards and 14.8 yards, respectively, per try.
Olson joins an up-and-coming Dragons squad that finished tied with Moen’s new school—Bemidji State—for second place in the NSIC North Division rankings at 5-2 with a 7-4 mark overall for the team’s best finish in school history.
He considered several opportunities, including other NSIC member-schools in Winona State, Minnesota Duluth, Crookston, and Mankato, but the Moorhead campus put Olson at ease.
“I just felt really comfortable there,” says Olson. “I fit in and the coaches and I got along really well with everyone.”
Olson also likes the Dragons’ I-formation offensive scheme, and he plans to work on building size and strength to continue as a running back at the college level.
Olson is currently undecided on his major, but he’s leaning toward an anatomy-based program.
Moen was drawn to Bemidji State, in part, for the hunting and fishing prospects in the surrounding region as well as the opportunity to combine his love of football and intended career path—construction management.
“When I went up there on my official visit, I just loved the atmosphere,” commented Moen. “It’s based on family, the whole football culture that they have.”
Playing football at the next level has “always been in my mind,” said Moen, but the past two years solidified it as a goal.
Maybe it’s because Moen has been a wall on the E-S offensive line and a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball as well, earning him two-time all-Dairyland Conference first team honors as offensive lineman and linebacker in addition to second team honors at those positions in 2014.
Moen tallied 231 tackles (146 solo), 17 sacks (8 in 2016) and five forced fumbles in his career.
At 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, Moen offers a mix of speed and size that opposing prep teams dreaded while college coaches, like BSU’s Brent Bolte, saw exciting potential.
“What really stood out for us during the recruitment of Bennett is his athletic ability for a big young man,” commented Bolte, the Beavers’ interim head coach, in an email. “His blend of size, speed, and athleticism make him a perfect fit into our scheme.”
Bolte says the Beavers plan to play Moen at either offensive guard or tackle. Moen was the first of the 27 signees from eight states Bolte mentioned in BSU’s official National Signing Day press conference, calling the 2016 all-State pick “a tremendous athlete.”
Moen joins a BSU squad that is coming off a solid 2016 campaign that saw the Beavers go 9-3 overall complete with a 36-23 win over Washburn in the Mineral Water Bowl for the first postseason win in program history.
Taking the step up to college football—especially at the Division 2 level—is likely to present some challenges, but Hanson says the positive attitudes and dedicated work ethic Moen and Olson regularly display will help them face any obstacles head-on.
“I think that their ability to put the team first is going to help them greatly in that process,” said Hanson.
“They’ve put a lot of time in in all aspects—community service, the classroom and athletics as a whole—they’re not just football players,” he added, noting Olson and Moen’s standing as multi-sport athletes has upped their overall athletic abilities.
Aside from football, Moen plays basketball for the Cards (he currently leads the team in rebounds with 6.2 per game) and has lettered in baseball. Olson’s speed also helps him burn it up on the track; he qualified for State last spring in the 200 meter dash. He has also lettered in basketball.
