DURAND, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) –The early signing period in high school football opened Wednesday. The Rockford area has one football player going Division I.
He’s DuPec defensive end Jake Anderson. He signed with Brock Spack’s Illinois State Redbirds. Anderson is a senior at Durand. Several of his DuPec teammates joined him at Durand High School for his official signing.
Anderson used his 6-6, 230 pound fram and his quickness to lead the NUIC in sacks this past season with eight. He also had 70 tackles.
The defensive line is where he’ll play at ISU. Spack actually discovered Anderson when Anderson tweeted out a video of himself dunking a basketball last summer. Now Anderson gets a full-ride scholarship, somethig he never anticpated.
“I was going to be happy playing for a division three school. Like last year I would have been perfectly happy with that, so this is just a huge accomplishment.”
“They’re going to use me around the defensive line, anywhere from tackle to outside linebacker even guarding passes sometimes, but they did say they’re going to put some weight on me.”
“I’ve been coaching Jake along with a lot of the coaches for almost 12 years now, so for him to have the ability to go play at the D-one level it’s pretty special for our program,” said DuPec head coach Tyler Hoffman. “I think he’s got the potential to play right away. He’s got that mental toughness, but more importantly just his work ethic. When he gets down there he’s going to hit the ground running. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
Anderson is one of five academic All-State football players for DuPec. He plans to major in biology. His scholarship is half football and half academic.
