2022 is the 19th year of the HuskerOnline In-State Tour. Every February since 2004, HuskerOnline profiles the top up-and-coming prospects in the state of Nebraska.
This year our In-State Tour was broken up into two events in Omaha and Lincoln as we profiled all the top prospects in the state.
Our next stop of the 2022 In-State Tour takes us to Lincoln Northeast, to get an in-depth look at the Rockets.
Season rewind: “We were excited about our year. We definitely made some progress from the previous two years, being a lot more competitive in the games, even when we came up short. We’ve tried to instill this mindset of always competing, of always battling and doing your best consistently, and doing those little things that will let things take care of themselves. Varsity-wise, we made a little bit of a gain there and our lower levels continue to make some gain, we’re excited with the direction we’re going.”
Lincoln Northeast hopes to build around it’s offensive line
Martin’s take on OL Riley Peterson: “Riley and Hanan (Young) will be the big two linemen and returners for us as the foundation, upfront. Riley is brand new to football as a freshman, hadn’t played any real organized sports before that. His athleticism is just growing exponentially as he’s able to move better and get around the field and use his big body to move people.”
Peterson’s take: “I’d say run blocking is my main specialty. I’d like to say I’m a decent pass blocker too. Definitely need to get better at that. The main thing is run blocking, especially with the way we run the ball at Northeast. It’s a lot about running. We have great running backs and it’s my job to open up holes for them, so they can make big plays.”
By the numbers: Peterson was an academic All-State selection in 2020 and academic All-conference in both 2020 and 2021.
He has a bench max of 285, a squat max of 450 and a 19.5 inch vertical. In the classroom, Peterson carries a 3.6 GPA.
Martin’s take on DL Hanan Young: “Hanan has started the last two years for us on the offensive line, and this year we’re looking at him playing a lot of defensive line as well. Hanan’s a guy who’s grown up in football and he’s pretty physical and he’s grown into his body more and more and he’s been able to help improve his strength which will help him and feed him quite a bit.”
Young’s take: “Being a little undersized, I think I fit more in a guard or center spot, but really wherever they want to put me I’ll play well. I like myself more at guard and center though just because of my size.”
Recruiting: Young is being recruited by North Dakota State, South Dakota, Minnesota State and Nebraska.
By the numbers: Young is a two-year starter for the Rockets and was named All-City by the Lincoln Journal Star. He carries a 3.0 GPA in the classroom.
Martin’s take on DB Laurent Gozo: “Laurent Gozo, he’s an immigrant from Togo, Africa and he came in as a freshman and still didn’t even know what football was, we had convinced him to come out to play and his leg is very tremendous, puts a lot of kickoffs in the end zone for us and was averaging over 40 yards a punt, both traditionally and rugby style before getting turf toe this last season, and he is an athlete on the field too. He played a little bit of DB for us and will probably be our top cover guy, and I think he averaged 4, almost 5 yards a carry at running back, so we’ll look at getting him the ball.”
By the numbers: Gozo was an All-City selection as a junior, as he plays running back, defensive back, punter and kicker for the Rockets. He had a long punt of 58 yards on the season and averaged around 40 yards. He carried the ball 52 times for 212 yards and two touchdowns, to go along with 16 tackles and two tackles for loss on defense.
In the classroom, Gozo carries a 3.036 GPA.
Martin’s take on QB Landon Hoff: “Landon Hoff, split quarterback at the end of last season for us, and we had Dylan Gray who graduated and ran really well and Landon throws the ball pretty strong, so we put him in some tough situations, but he did well and held up against The rush, against the blitz and was able to make quite a few plays for us, so we’re excited to see how he continues to grow and lead our program.”
By the numbers: Hoff split time at QB as a sophomore. He’s being recruited by Wyoming right now. Hoff runs his 40-yard dash in 5.4 seconds and has a 29-inch vertical.
In the classroom, Hoff carries a 2.9 GPA.
Martin’s take on OL Ethan Covington: “Ethan, he’s just a great kid all around, he’s a genius and is looking at some of the military academies and other things, for college-wise right now, and we’re interested in him, and he’s growing into his body and moving better.”
By the numbers: Covington is being recruited by the Air Force Academy and he also plans to camp at Colorado and Colorado State this summer.
Covington is related to former Ole Miss offensive lineman Wesley Melton. In the classroom, he carries a 4.556 GPA.
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