NRHEG’s Schultz honored

As an athlete during recruiting season, it’s fairly normal to be pulled out of class to meet with a respective school’s coaching staff. When you get pulled out of class to go to your father’s room, who’s not only a coach, but a teacher, you start playing through events through your head to make sure that you didn’t do anything wrong. 
That was the situation for NRHEG High School football player Jack Schultz. 
“Coach Stork pulled me out of class and walked to me my dad’s class room,” recalled the senior offensive lineman. 
While they were attempting to keep stern faces, to make Jack think he was in trouble, Schultz recalled that once the door shut, the two coaches both started to break a smile and look at each other saying, “Do you want to tell him?”
What Jack was going to be told was something that would be a crowning achievement to his football career. He was selected for the 2016 Minnesota Football Showcase All-Star game, featuring Minnesota’s top high school football players on Dec. 3 at U.S. Bank Stadium. 
“I’m pretty honored to be selected,” Schultz humbly recalled. “I’m really thankful of my coach (Dan Stork) to nominate me to get me the chance to play there. It sure will be a cool experience and I’m glad I at least get one more game in my high school career.” 
Schultz, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 250-pound senior offensive and defensive lineman recently had a tough finish to a strong season, falling to Kenyon-Wanamingo in the Section 2A semifinals on Monday, Oct. 31. As a dominating offensive and defensive lineman, Schultz guided the Panthers’ defense to allow just less than 18.2 points per game while also paving the way for a 1,000-yard rusher and an average of 27.1 points per game on the offense. 
 During the twenty-minute interview, Schultz dived back into his career as a Panther to reflect on his senior season and what it meant to him to be a senior on a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since the late 2000’s. 
While it would have been easy to reflect on his senior class or his personal performance, sticking to his humble roots, Schultz noted that this might not be the last time that NRHEG is deep in the playoffs. 
“Being a senior, I couldn’t be more proud of the younger guys,” he added. “I feel like we are going to have good teams because it’s all underclassmen. I mean, we had a freshman on the line and he really stuck it out,” 
He went on to add that after losing the amount of seniors they did last year, expectations were swirling that NRHEG may not be very good. He believes that the younger kids took that to heart and helped guide them on the season that they accomplished this year. 
While he dominated both sides of the ball last year, Schultz was quick to noted that he really enjoys the defensive line. 
“It’s kind of cheesy, but as an offensive lineman, I’m not sure what they get recognized for, ‘Oh good block?’ On the defensive line, you get tackles and sacks,” he added. 
Even though he noted that he prefers the defensive line of the ball, he noted that his intensity stays the same no matter what side of the ball he’s on. Just by talking to him, you are immediately blown away by his football intelligence, being able to paint you the perfect picture of a particular play. 
As a defensive lineman, Schultz says while there is a special feeling when you get a sack, the feeling of being consistent against the run is even better. 
“I like pass rushing, but I feel like I’m better against the run,” he said. “We’re taught attack and read here and no offense to the rest of the league, getting a read is much harder due to playing more spread offenses,” he added. 
With all the accolades on the field, Schultz also has accolades in the classroom to be proud apart, being named an Academic All-State team member, making him just the second football player from NRHEG to win the award. 
“I feel honored to have that because only one other person has won that for football. We’ve had plenty of 4.0 students who were great athletes that didn’t win it. And again, I have to thank my coach for nominating me,” he added. 
As for his future, Schultz already seems to have it nailed down. Despite still going through the recruiting process, he said that after the loss in Kenyon, he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a physical education teacher and a football coach. 
“After that loss, I couldn’t want anything more than to coach high school football, and teaching is the best thing for that,” Schultz commented. “I always thought I could get a job that offers more money, but I don’t really care. I think I’d be really happy.” Despite having his future job planned out, Schultz is still awaiting to see what school will be called home for the next four-five years, depending on if he is redshirted. 
Division II powerhouse Minnesota Duluth and Division III Eau Claire-the school that his father played at- as well as Division II MSU-Moorhead have shown their interest in the mammoth senior. He hasn’t made a decision yet, but has noted that he is intrigued by idea of staying within the state. 
“It was three awesome game visits. They all won thier gmaes when I was there. It will be tough to narrow them down,” he added. 
Kickoff is tentatively set for 3 p.m. and will be televised on KMSP FOX 9 for Dec. 3.