MCHS football player seeking defensive end
position in Illinois

By Rick Burres
Tribune-Courier Sports Reporter
Rburres@tribunecourier.com

DRAFFENVILLE – He’s big, strong, fast and smart.

Zack Meyer, a senior at Marshall County High School, signed a letter of intent to play football at Illinois College, in Jacksonville, Illinois on Monday.

Meyer had several schools scouting him but he choose Illinois College because of the effort they put into recruiting him.

“They made me feel special,” Meyer said. “They have a beautiful campus that seems just right to me. It’s not too big or too small. I just fell in love with it.”

Meyer played both sides of the line of scrimmage at MCHS but thinks he will be playing defensive end at the division three school.

“Coach said I had a chance to play the first year if I work hard enough,” Meyer said.

Meyer also has the grades to succeed in college.

“I have a 3.3 grade point average so I feel pretty good about the academics,” Meyer said. “I’m undecided about my major so I’ll concentrate on general education classes for now.”

Meyer is continuing to improve his physical condition and he and work-out partner Denver Seay, MCHS’s quarterback, are on a rigorous conditioning program.

“I don’t want to show up out of shape,” Meyer said.

He knows there will be some adjustment to playing at the college level and he wants to make sure he has his ducks in a row.

Illinois College Defensive Coordinater Ray DeFrisco said Meyer is very fast for a defensive lineman.

“We want all of our players on defense to play with speed,” DeFrisco said. “We focus on speed and that’s one of the first things I noticed about Zack.”

“I was suprisingly happy about Zack’s speed,” DeFrisco said. “He is fundamentally very good on the pass rush but the speed was most impressive.”

Meyer is 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds.

DeFrisco said he has the frame to add another 30 pounds.

“He’s a big guy but we’re going to try and add another 20 or 30 pounds to him,” DeFrisco said. “We feed the guys really well and that combined with our work-outs will do the trick.”

DeFrisco said he was also impressed with Meyer’s grades.

“We want to win games but we also want our guys to succeed in life and that means giving them the proper structure to do well in the classroom,” DeFrisco said. “We really believe that if guys don’t perform in the classroom they’re not going to get it done on the playing field.”

“Zack’s grades tell us that he’s willing to put in the time and work to accomplish his goals and that will transfer to a good work ethic on the playing field.”

Illinois College hired a new football staff last year and it is building a program.

“We’re putting all the pieces together to become a championship program,” DeFrisco said. “We operate in a first class manner and we are excited about the new direction.”

Said DeFrisco, “We need a defense that sacks quarterbacks and we think Zack will get us the sacks.”