Trojans’ Bodensteiner, Schmitt named all-state
Turkey Valley senior Calvin Bodensteiner tries to haul in a catch versus Riceville.
By Kelly Terpstra
Calvin Bodensteiner’s stat line might not jump out at you, but he’s one heckuva of an athlete and a lock-down cover corner for Mark Scott’s Turkey Valley Trojans.
Bodensteiner – as tall as a defensive back as you’re going to see in the state of Iowa for prep football – stands 6-3 and was also one of TV’s top receivers in a season that saw the Trojans play to another fine season in 2022.
For all of Bodensteiner’s exploits out on the gridiron, he was awarded with second-team all-state distinction after the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association and Iowa Football Coaches Association released its all-state squads recently.
“He’s actually probably our best receiver but he didn’t get the ball thrown to him quite a bunch,” said Scott.
Joining Bodensteiner on the second team was junior fullback/linebacker Oliver Schmitt – who was one of the top all-around players in his class.
Bodensteiner, a senior, helped Turkey Valley go undefeated in district play and advance to the second round of the 8-Man playoffs. Turkey Valley played to a 7-2 record and came up just short of advancing to the quarterfinals after losing a 30-28 thrilling second-round matchup with Gladbrook-Reinbeck.
Bodensteiner – who was one of four defensive backs in 8-Man that made the two all-state squads – picked off two passes and registered 34.5 tackles (22 solo).
“He didn’t have a lot of interceptions. People didn’t throw at him because of his height and his ability to slap balls away,” said Scott.
Bodensteiner caught nine passes for 159 yards. Almost half of his receptions went for touchdowns as he found the end zone four times.
But his job in the secondary for Scott’s perennial-power squad is where Turkey Valley probably benefitted from his play the most.
“He did a great job on defense. He’s always our No. 1 cover guy,” said Scott. “He does a good job of keeping good position and getting his hands to slap balls away that other people might have had a chance to catch.”
Schmitt – who replaced all-state running back/linebacker Marcus Herold at those critical positions on the field – had himself a whale of junior season.
“He’s a football player. He understands the game. He knows what other teams are trying to do. He knows what we’re trying to do,” said Scott. “He has good instincts.”
Schmitt found a spot as one of three second-team linebackers that were bestowed as some of the state’s best. He racked up 57.5 tackles and recorded two of those for a loss. He also intercepted two passes.
“He tackles well. He did a good job of putting pressure on some pretty good QBs this year when we sent him on the blitz,” said Scott. “He’s done a lot of little things right.”
Schmitt was very hard to bring down for opposing defenses that tried to stop his physical style of running and he also possesses enough speed to break away from the pack and pile up yards in chunks. Schmitt gained 1,077 rushing yards, which averaged out to 6.6 yards per carry. He also scored 17 times on the ground and had four more scores through the air on receiving touchdowns. He hauled in 11 catches for a team-leading 230 yards receiving.
“When he’s running the ball, he sees where the blocks are and where the defense is,” said Scott. “He does a good job of not taking square hits and going straight down. He kind of slides off of things because he sees it coming. He’s got a great one step and cut. He makes that one hard cut and that makes it hard for people to square him up.”
There was no third team all-state squad picked this year by the IPSWA and IFCA. The 8-Man all-state squads featured 12 players each on offense and defense, while their 11-Man counterparts selected 16 players to each unit.
Last year TV was tabbed for four all-state players – with first-teamers being Herold and Collin Kleppe. Dylan Reicks was selected to the second team and Noah Hanson was voted on to the third team.
