High school fantasy draft breakdown. Seriously.

A few minutes ago, my colleague at the Lake County Leader/college buddy Brandon Hansen told me that tomorrow, him and I will be participating in a high school fantasy sports contest. We haven't quite worked out the kinks or how it will be scored, so really, we don't have a lot to work with yet. But anyone who reads our paper and likes fantasy sports will recognize the names I'm about to break down.



Football

Quarterbacks:

Vince DiGiallonardo, Polson: Very Michael Vick-like with his ability to throw and run. He averages about 2-3 touchdowns a week and can rack up yards all over the board (he's also a kick returner and safety).

Tra Ludeman, Charlo: Similar to DiGiallonardo and embedded in a run-happy offense. That's not to say they won't air the ball out, which they do on occasion. If they do, Ludeman has more weapons than Brad Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith (maybe I'll leave the analogies to Brandon).

Dylan Evans, Mission: While Mission's offense isn't as explosive as DiGiallonardo's or Ludeman's, Evans can rack up yards and touchdowns in a hurry. Depending on the matchup, Evans is in the discussion as one of the areas elite QBs.

Admittedly, I'm not very familiar with the quarterback situation in Ronan or Arlee, which could prove to be a major disadvantage. Those are Brandon's schools to cover, but I'd feel comfortable matching up any of these studs against anyone in Lake County.

Running Backs:

Paul McClurg, Chris Cote, Polson: Both of these guys are big-play capable, but split carries week in and week out. Both have reached the 100-yard plateau during the season, but if either one was a feature back, 200 would be a regular occurrence.


Jacen Petersen, Charlo: Adrian Peterson racked up three first-quarter touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday. Jacen Peterson, of the Charlo Vikings, beat him to the punch when he hit pay dirt three times in the first quarter in Charlo's annihilation of Philipsburg on Friday. That's not really a fluke, either. He's that good.

Zach Tameler, Arlee: When Tameler doesn't reach the end zone three times in a week, something went wrong. The kid is virtually unstoppable. Every time the ball touches his hands, you can expect six points to come out of it.


Since we haven't worked out exactly how this fantasy draft is going to work, I can only assume I'll have the chance at two area players. You can't go wrong with any of these guys, but with Charlo racking up close to 50 points a game, you'd be hard pressed to find a better top two picks than Ludeman and Petersen. If Brandon nabs them, however, you can't even consider it settling for the other four. They're just as capable of putting up as many points as the Viking tandem.



Soccer

I'll make this brief. The choices are Riley "The Leg" Lemm and James "The Lawman" Larson, both from Polson. Each has a four-goal game under their belt this season, as well as multiple hat tricks. They could very well be the last two picks of the draft, simply because you'll flip a coin between the two and cross your fingers that they outscore their teammate. The wash of washes in the draft.


Volleyball

I might be at a slight disadvantage here. Brandon covers Polson, Mission and Charlo volleyball teams, while I oversee Ronan and Arlee. I know a bit about Charlo, but near nothing about the Lady Pirates and Lady Bulldogs.

Here's what I do know:

Arlee's Cortney Dix is the best volleyball player in Lake County. There, I said it. No offense to the many talented girls around the area, but Dix does it all. The Scarlets' best setter, Dix is constantly surveying the court, looking for opportunities to sneak sets where the opposing defense isn't. If nothing is there, she's laying up perfect sets for teammates Becca Nelson and Mahalia Hendren. She also has a tremendously consistent serve and is surrounded by enough talent to give her opportunities to thrive. Unfortunately, Brandon knows I'm a huge fan and it wouldn't surprise me if he swooped in to steal Dix.

The aforementioned Nelson and Hendren give Dix a very solid supporting cast and both are very sound volleyball players. It's amazing Nelson hasn't hurt anyone (at least that I've seen) with her spikes, while Hendren finds herself at or near the top of most of Arlee's stats night in and night out. Definitely a trio to look out for in the draft.

Ronan has several talented players, but the problem is that they're an extremely balanced team. Good for real life volleyball, but not so much for fantasy purposes. From game to game, four or five different girls will find themselves in the box score, leading the Maidens in one stat or another.

Charlo is similar to Ronan, with a lot of contributing parts. You can expect Rachel Hoyt or Deondra Brown to lead the team in kills. Cousins Dawn and Kelsie Blevins both play integral roles with the Lady Vikings, as do Kinley Pope and Derika Stipe. All warrant an eye in the draft.


Cross Country

Paden Alexander and Ashley Courville. That's all I know.

Regarding Courville, I'm not sure how this draft is going down (have I mentioned that?) but Courville is one of Lake County's premier two-sport athletes, also excelling on the Lady Bulldogs volleyball team. Considering there are currently no rules, she has to be the number one overall pick, right? She basically gives you a high school fantasy sports power play. You could draft a waterboy and still be on an even playing field.

Going into tomorrow's draft, here's my preliminary draft board:

1) Courville
2) Dix
3) Petersen
4) Ludeman
5) Tameler


Considering Lake County's talent, however, any of those aforementioned names, as well as many others, have the potential to bring home the inaugural High School Fantasy Sports Title. Let the games begin!