All-Area Football Honorable Mention: 40 area players earn All-Area Honorable Mention

Caiden Kjelstrom, Aitkin senior, QB/DB

Completed 25-for-41 (61%) passes for 478 passing yards and eight touchdown passes. He rushed for 111 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown.

Jace Ince, Aitkin senior, WR/DB

Finished with 11 receptions for 282 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed the ball for five yards and a touchdown. He finished with 16 tackles, two interceptions and one fumble recovery.

Joey Simonson, Aitkin senior, TE/DE

Finished with five receptions for 76 yards and three touchdowns. He recorded 20 tackles, five sacks and one forced fumble. He was the lead blocker for a team that rushed for 1,944 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Forrest Gibson, Brainerd senior, LB

Finished with 32 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble.

Cam Langerman, Brainerd junior, LB

Finished with 25 tackles, two sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one defensive touchdown.

Caden Schoeppner, Brainerd senior, RB

Finished with 213 rushing yards on 59 carries and two touchdowns.

Jed Klang, Brainerd junior, WR

Finished with 11 receptions for 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Andrew Thielke, Brainerd senior, DL

Finished with 26 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.

Grant Gardiepy, Brainerd junior, DL

Finished with 21 tackles, two forced fumbles and one sack.

Dominik Waytashek, Brainerd junior, OL

Blocked for a team that rushed for 466 yards and threw for 242 yards for 708 of total offense.

Nathaniel Staehling, Brainerd junior, QB

Completed 20-for-50 passes for 164 passing yards and three touchdown passes. He rushed for 175 yards on 47 carries and three touchdowns.

Jacob Holm, Brainerd junior, LB

Finished with 14 tackles and one interception.

Connor Zender, Crosby-Ironton senior, OL/DL

Finished with 59 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and one pass breakup. He blocked for a C-I team that tallied 976 rushing yards.

Gabe Kramer, Crosby-Ironton senior, RB/LB

Finished with 43 tackles, four sacks, 6.5 TFL, four pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble. Finished with 97 yards rushing on 32 carries and 29 receptions for 385 yards receiving and three touchdowns

Cam Durant, Crosby-Ironton senior, WR/LB/DB

Finished with 48 total tackles, six tackles for loss, five pass breakups and three interceptions. He finished with nine receptions, 53 receiving yards and two total touchdowns.

Nathaniel Kludt, Little Falls senior, LB

Finished with 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, one defensive touchdown and one blocked PAT.

Robby Kuchinski-Helgeson, Little Falls senior, LB

Finished with 41.5 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Dave Couture, Little Falls senior, DB/K/P

Finished with 26 tackles, two tackles for loss, one interception and one defensive touchdown. He kicked two field goals including a game-winner against Milaca.

Hunter Nybakken, Pequot Lakes senior, TE/LB

Finished with seven catches for 60 yards and one touchdown. He finished with 20 solo tackles, 17 assists, four tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. Selected Midwest Red All-District.

Tyler Hidde, Pequot Lakes senior, OT/DT

Blocked for a team that compiled 2,158 total yards. Finished with four solo tackles, four assists, four tackles for loss and two sacks.

Jeremy Bingessner, Pierz junior, TE/LB

Finished with five receptions for 86 receiving yards. He finished with 49 tackles, one sack and one pass breakup.

Hunter Gjovik, Pillager senior, LB

Finished with 271 yards rushing on 71 carries for a 3.8 average and five touchdowns. He finished with seven receptions for 71 yards for a total of 359 all-purpose yards. He finished with 73 tackles, six tackles for loss, one sack, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery.

Cole Hiltner, Pillager senior, DL

Finished with six receptions for 93 receiving yards and one touchdown. He finished with 40 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and one fumble recovery

Abe Posner, Pillager junior, OL

Blocked for a team that rushed for 1,132 yards and 3.9 yards per carry and passed for 541 yards for 1,673 total yards (239 yards per game). He finished with 21 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Blake Clark, Pillager senior, QB/LB

Completed 25-for-56 (45%) passes for 447 passing yards and three touchdown passes. He rushed for 115 yards on 38 carries for a 3.0 average and two touchdowns. He finished with 40 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one pass breakup and three fumble recoveries.

Cordell Welker, Pillager junior, DB

The All-Midwest Blue Sub District Honorable Mention player finished with 28 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Quintin Laveau, Pillager junior, RB

Finished with 177 rushing yards on 41 carries for a 4.3 average and two touchdowns. He finished with five receptions for 112 yards and one touchdown. He finished with two tackles.

Connor Tulenchik, Pine River-Backus junior, RB/LB

Finished with 317 rushing yards on 42 rushes for seven touchdowns. He finished with six receptions for 140 receiving yards. He finished with 15 solo tackles, 26 assist tackles, two fumble recoveries and one touchdown.

Corbin Knapp, Pine River-Backus sophomore, OT/DT

Finished with 12 solo tackles, 26 assists tackles, two fumble recoveries and two tackles for loss.

Rian Stuss, Pine River-Backus sophomore, TE/DT

Finished with five receptions for 42 yards and one touchdown. He finished with six solo tackles, 10 assist tackles and 0.5 sacks.

Logan Weite, Staples-Motley, LB

Finished with 76 tackles and blocked for a team that rushed for 1,132 yards and passed for 706 yards.

Alex Giza, Staples-Motley, DL

Finished with 58 tackles, three sacks, eight tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. Blocked for a team that rushed for 1,132 yards and passed for 706 yards.

Alex Ross-Bahn, Staples-Motley, Specialist

Finished with 29 tackles and punted for an average of 35.8 with four punts inside the 20.

Brandon Greenwaldt, Verndale junior, TE/DE

Finished with 10 receptions for 128 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Finished with 43 tackles, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, one interception and one defensive touchdown.

Dilan Orlando, Verndale junior, QB/DB

Completed 63-for-128 (48.8%) passes for 894 passing yards and seven touchdown passes. Rushed for 106 yards on 50 carries and four touchdowns. Finished with 39 tackles, three tackles for loss, one interception and one pass defended.

Zach Shaw, Wadena-Deer Creek senior, WR/DB

Finished with 19 receptions for 354 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Aiden Larson, Wadena-Deer Creek senior, WR/S

Finished with 19 receptions for 223 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 43 tackles, two tackles for loss and three interceptions

Kade Woods, Wadena-Deer Creek senior, WR/DB

Finished with nine receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 12 tackles.

Evan Lunde, Wadena-Deer Creek senior, LB

Finished with 55 tackles and two tackles for loss.

Owen Guo, Wadena-Deer Creek senior, LB

Finished with 34 tackles and one tackle for loss.

CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.