Mahtomedi LB Ben McDonald Gets Gopher Looks

McDonald helped lead the Zephyrs to a 10-3 mark last season, losing to Rogers 45-28 in the Class AAAA state semifinals. He will have more of a leadership role with the loss of Gopher freshman and close friend Tommy Olson.

GopherHole.com caught up with McDonald Sunday to learn the latest on his senior season and his recruitment.

GH: How is practice going so far?

BM: Really good. Just finished two-a-days on Friday. We had our first scrimmage yesterday. It went really well. We had some good position battles. We have a lot of positions figured out, especially in the scrimmage yesterday. We had some tough moments in camp. Everyone does, but it went really well.

GH: Who did you scrimmage?

BM: It was us, Rogers, St. Francis and Anoka at Rogers High School.

GH: Did you have a little bit of revenge against Rogers?

BM: Oh, yes. It definitely was not a normal scrimmage atmosphere. We had a bad taste in our mouth the last time that we played them, so we wanted to get somewhat of a revenge against them. They beat us in the semis last year.

GH: They re-did the Mahtomedi stadium and added new turf, new bleachers and a concession stand. What is that like?

BM: It is incredible. Me and a couple of buddies checked it out a couple of weeks ago and it is insane. It is one of the nicest fields I have ever seen, for a high school at least. The stands are incredible. The sight lines are insane. The field and the designs on it are great. They did it big. They did it right. They are putting down the track and the lines on the track. It will be ready for our first home game, which is the second week against Simley.

GH: What camps did you attend this summer?

BM: I did ten camps this summer. I did Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State.

GH: Do you feel like you get some things out of these camps that you can incorporate into your game and improve yourself as a player?

BM: Oh, yes. Definitely. I’ve been working on all the stuff that I learned in these camps. I have been bringing it back to my high school and teaching the other linebackers how to use it. We have been incorporating a lot of the drills that I learned in the camp into our two-a-day practices already.

GH: Was there one camp that you thought that you did better than the others?

BM: I thought my Iowa camp was my best. I actually played fullback there. I got all warmed up and had my defensive jersey on and they came up and asked me if I wanted to play fullback and I said sure. I did all the one-on-one stuff and I didn’t lose on any of my one-on-ones and I thought that I dominated on the pass blocking ones. Later on, they called and told me that as of right now, I am their number one fullback recruit and they are just deciding if they are going to offer a fullback this year or not. I felt that I played pretty well at the Wisconsin camp. I did really well at linebacker. I felt that I played really well.

GH: How did you do at the Gopher camp?

BM: I thought that I did pretty well also. I felt like my test-out weren’t as good as I would like them to be. They were still pretty solid, but I could have done better. The plank one-on-ones, the pass rushing one-on-ones and coverage one-on-ones, I thought that I did really well

GH: What are you hearing from schools?

BM: Most of them have told me that they want to see more game film of me. Most schools have told me ‘Get three games worth of film in, send it to us and will talk then.’

GH: Are you planning on going to any college games the next couple of weeks?

BM: I usually go to the Minnesota games pretty frequently. I have tickets at the recruiting office and I have invites to Northern Illinois and Iowa right now.

GH: Are most of the other schools looking at you as a linebacker. Is Iowa the only school looking at you as a fullback?

BM: Pretty much everyone is looking at me at linebacker except Iowa and Minnesota is also taking looks at me for fullback and H-Back.

GH: You have ties with the Minnesota program with former teammates Ed and Tommy Olson playing offensive line and Mike Henry playing fullback/wide receiver. You know those guys pretty well, right?

BM: Oh, yes. Definitely. My family and the Olson family have been best friends ever since I can remember. I have a brother who is the same age as Eddie. They played baseball and football all the way up since third grade, so our families have been really, really close along with the Henrys. We are all really good friends. I would love to play with them again.

GH: What are you hearing from the Gophers?

BM: After camp, we e-mailed back and forth with Coach Limegrover and he told me I’m not a early scholarship kind of player. He wants to see some more film on me and see what happens and take it from there as the season progresses.

GH: Is that give you even more motivation when you hear things like that?

BM: I definitely use that as a chip on my shoulder. I see all these kids in Minnesota with big D1 offers and I feel that I can play at that level and I haven’t gotten it. It definitely motivates me to go out there and show everyone that I can play at a big Division I school. It really helped me work hard this summer. I always keep that in the back of my head.

GH: You were on the KARE-11 preseason All-Metro team. That has to make you feel pretty good, right?

BM: Yes. That was nice to see that all my hard work has paid off, but that is not the one that I am working on. I’m worried about the end of the season. Preseason is nice, but I’ll celebrate when I get those postseason awards.

GH: How about the team this year? I know that you have had some injuries at quarterback.

BM: It is kind of an interesting situation. We had a pretty stud quarterback last year, Dan Ferrazzo, who is now at St. Thomas. Our quarterback who is in my grade, Andrew Lindquist, played free safety last year and had a really good season at free safety. He is going back to quarterback, but he got a stress fracture in his foot, so he has been out all camp. We have been having another quarterback competition between another senior quarterback and a junior quarterback. They have been splitting time with the ones and we really don’t know who is going to be starting that first game yet. We’ll probably know on Monday after all the coaches look at all the film from the scrimmage.

GH: You lost a heartbreaker to St. Thomas in perhaps the best high school game I have ever witnessed and to South St. Paul last season on the road. This year, you play them both at home, which should give you a chance at getting some revenge and knocking those teams off?

BM: Definitely. Our fans are dedicated. Our stadium is always packed. Everyone is there. Our student section is insane. It is a tough place to play. I felt bad for Totino last year when they had to come here for our homecoming. It really gives us an advantage playing at home and I think against South and St. Thomas this year, especially with them beating us last year and us playing at home, I think that we are going to be really tough to beat.

GH: What are the main things that you worked on this summer to improve yourself as a football player and hopefully earn a college scholarship?

BM: I have been working out a lot. I would work out twice a day, six times a week. I would have our high school program, which was put on by our coaches early in the morning and later in the afternoon, I would do a sports performance training with Tommy Eddie and Mike, called E.T.S. (Engelbert Training System) in Woodbury. It is something else out there. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, workout-wise. I really think that it put me above and beyond. Going by these first two weeks of two-a-days, I can tell the speed and strength that I gained from there is unbelievable and it has really helped me so far.

GH: What is your 40 time?

BM: I ran a 4.7 on grass and on track, I ran a 4.6.

GH Are most teams looking at you as an inside linebacker?

BM: Yes, mostly inside. I could care less, but most schools have talked to me about me playing inside, not so much outside.

GH: Are you playing any other sports at Mahtomedi?