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Hawks eye small school standout

With the Hawkeyes on their bye week, Kirk Ferentz could have gone to any high school game in the state, or the country for the matter, this past weekend. Where the Iowa head coach ended up going was Springville, IA, a town with a population of 1,074, to watch an eight-man team that is trying to make the state playoffs this year for the first time in school history.

"He could have gone anywhere in the state last Friday night and he decided to come here even if it was just for a half," said Springville head coach Joe Martin. "Just the fact that he came to Springville means at least they know where we're at."

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The reason for Ferentz's visit to Springville, which is just east of Cedar Rapids, was four-sport athlete Jake Hulett. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder is a do-everything type of player on the football field having played a number of different positions in his career as a four-year starter in eight-man football.

"This is my second year as the head coach here and before I got here he was our quarterback, but I felt like at 6-3, 235, he's too physical to just play quarterback," Martin said. "So he plays tight end on offense and then comes in and plays some fullback for us too. On the defense side, he plays defensive end and some linebacker."

"On Friday, it just so happened that he actually ended up playing all of those positions within the course of the game," he continued.

In Springville's 52-16 victory over Valley Community of Elgin, Hulett ended up with 9 tackles, 4 TFL, and 2.5 sacks on defense plus 46 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving, scoring a pair of touchdowns on offense. On the season defensively, he has 64 tackles, 19 TFL, and 10 sacks through 7 games leading his team to a 6-1 record.

"I believe Division I schools are looking at him to play defensive end or possibly outside linebacker. A few Division II and Division III schools have said tight end," said Martin. "He's been contacted by several programs including Iowa, Iowa State, Drake, Upper Iowa, and some others."

Hulett, who is still looking for his first scholarship offer, has been to games at Iowa, Iowa State, and Drake already this season. For the Hawkeyes, their interest actually began after seeing Hulett throw the shot put, which is an event he has placed in at state the last two years.

"Reese Morgan has talked with Jake quite a bit," Martin said. "That actually started about two years ago when Jake was throwing shot put at the state track meet and Coach Morgan was there watching. He's been to their camps the last two years and we've sent them film that they're evaluating."

As he waits to see which schools might offer, Hulett is staying patient and staying focused on the task at hand, which is to get Springville into the playoffs for the first time in school history.

"He's just going to kind of wait it out," said Martin. "He's a smart kid with a 3.92 GPA so academics will play a factor too. Right now, he is just keeping all of his options open."

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