Special Teams Football Academy Blog: State Semifinal Playoffs- Special Teams Players of the Week (2015)

Our Player of the Week posts are designed to recognize the top kicking, punting and long snapping performances of the week in Minnesota at the High School Level. We will also recognize the top STFA trained collegiate specialists and our 'out of state' athlete performances too.

As the State Tournament Semifinal games came to an end, there were a number of close and exciting game. It is always fun to see what teams continue to stay strong, and what teams make surprise upsets.

The Top Kicker was Mitch Bourgerie of St Michael Albertville HS. He had a great game kicking 4 PATs and 1 field goal of 7 points. The Top Punter was Dan Pietruszewski of South St Paul HS. Dan had 3 punts for 131 total yards and a 43.7 yard average.

This week we had some great performances by our STFA trained collegiate athletes. Our kicker of the week had a great game as a kicker and punter. Nathan Mesher of Laurier University who kicked 1 PAT and 3 field goals of 10, 37 and 39 yards for 10 points He also had 10 punts for 382 total yards and a 38.2 yard average. Long of 46 yards and 3 punts I-20.

Congrats to everyone who earned a spot this week on their big kicking performances! Good luck to everyone still in their state playoff runs.

Top Minnesota High School Specialists

Top Kicker

Mitch Bourgerie- St Michael Albertville HS- 4 for 4 PATs and 1 field goal of 24 yards- 7 points

Honorable Mention

Grant Ryerse- East Ridge HS- 3 for 3 PATs and 1 field goal of 24 yards- 6 points
Mac Brown- St Thomas Academy- 2 for 2 PATs and 1 field goal of 27 yards- 5 points
Wes Ojulu- Grand Meadow HS- 5 for 5 PATs- 5 points
Caleb Tinklenberg- Pipestona Area HS- 5 for 6 PATs- 5 points
Henry Russert- Caledonia HS- 5 for 6 PATs- 5 points

Top Punter

Dan Pietruszewski- South St Paul HS- 3 punts for 131 total yards and a 43.7 yard average.

Honorable Mention

Nicholas Skluzacek- Rocori HS- 4 punts for 165 total yards and a 41.2 yard average
Grant Ryerse- East Ridge HS- 4 punts for 154 total yards and a 38.5 yard average
Mac Brown- St Thomas Academy- 3 punts for 105 total yards and a 35.0 yard average
Wes Ojulu- Grand Meadow- 3 punts for 105 total yards and a 35.0 yard average

Game Winners

Brady Beuschel- Upper Iowa University- 34 yard game winning field goal against Wayne State U.

Top STFA Collegiate Specialists

Nathan Mesher-Laurier University- 1 for 1 PATs and 3 field goals of 10, 37 and 39 yards. 10 points. 10 punts for 382 total yards and a 38.2 yard average. Long of 46 yards and 3 punts I-20

Honorable Mention

Brady Beuschel- Upper Iowa University- 4 for 4 PATs and 2 field goals of 30 & 34 yards for 10 points. 34 yard game winning FG in over time against Wayne State
Ben Lyons- Northwestern University (MN)- 4 for 4 PATs and 1 field goal of 42 yards- 7 points
Trevor Naslund- St Cloud State University- 4 punts for 150 total yards and a 37.5 yard average. Long of 43 yards
Donnie Mavencamp- U of MN-Morris- 7 punts for 257 total yards and a 36.7 yard average. Long of 43 yards and 3 punts I-20
Joe Tjosvold- MSU Moorhead- 4 for 4 PATs and 1 field goal of 27 yards- 7 points