By Matt Gade

605 Sports

WALL — To start the season, the Wall Eagles were facing a new uncertainty that they hadn’t experienced in nearly five years. A new guy under center.

At the start of fall camp, that position was up for grabs largely between senior Jace Blasius, whose brother Burk was the guy until graduating this past spring, and sophomore Tanner Volmer.

In the end, Wall head coach Lex Heathershaw wanted to make sure he put his best athletes on the field simultaneously, resulting in Volmer earning the starting quarterback role while Blasius stayed at running back.

“Just as an athlete, (Volmer) has a good knowledge of the offense. And then there's just some stuff that Tanner does that you can't coach,” Heathershaw said. “His one-step quickness is probably some of the best in the state. I've only seen a couple of kids that I've coached against be able to do some of the things that Tanner does, and he's just a sophomore, so we’re really proud of what he's been able to do, and glad he's where he's at.”
Joining Blasius and Volmer in the backfield is junior Jace Mohr.

Combined the trio has rushed for a combined 1,252 yards and 19 touchdowns en route to the Eagles 5-0 start.

“I thought I really didn't have a chance,” Volmer said of getting the starting quarterback role. “But then I just went out and played football, and God granted me the opportunity."

Currently, Volmer leads the team averaging 128 yards per game and 10 total touchdowns with Blasius averaging 70 yards per game and six TDs and Mohr with 52 yards per game and three TDs.

Volmer is also averaging nearly 117 yards passing per game with a 60 percent completion rate throwing for 11 touchdowns while giving up three interceptions.

“Me and Jace (Mohr) try to be there to relieve as much pressure we can off Tanner's shoulders, and just to let him know that you're not the only guy back there, and you can count on us too,” Blasius said. “Not very many teams can say they have more than one good running back, and I'd like to think, we can say we have two and when you're scouting a team — trying to figure out what a player does — and having to do that for multiple kids makes it really tough on the opposing team.”

Wall's Jace Blasius carries the ball against Philip earlier this season. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

The Eagles started the season with wins against Philip and then Harding County/Bison, both currently 4-1 with Harding County/Bison currently ranked fifth in the South Dakota Prep Media football poll and Philip receiving votes just outside of the top five.

Heathershaw said it’s those guys' buy-in of putting in the work, day-in and day-out.

“They stand for what we believe in here in Wall football,” Heathershaw said. “Tanner has taken advantage of his opportunity at quarterback. You know, he's had a couple real big games. Jace (Blasius) has been an outstanding leader for us and then Jace Mohr just comes to practice with a hard-nosed attitude every day.

“You get all those guys doing all the right things and they do it every day in practice. So, when you get three of your studs on your team that are living up to what you want the rest of the team to live up to — everybody falls in suit.”

While they are putting up the numbers, all three players are quick to credit the Eagles linemen for their production.

Defensively, Blasius and Mohr sit first and third in tackles for the team to which they attribute their defensive line for keeping them free to make the tackles.

“We never really had a lot of depth (on the line) in the past years, and it helps us out a lot, especially on the defensive side,” Mohr said. “We roll a new three of almost every game, and it's the different guys from the offensive side of the ball, so they're fresh and they're ready to go.”

Blasius said his top priority this season is getting back to the DakotaDome for the state title game. In 2022, Blasius was a part of the Eagles state championship team where he played alongside his brothers Burk and Blair where they knocked off Parkston 34-14 for the Class 9AA state title. While Mohr was a freshman on the team and Volmer was in eighth grade and a student manager for the team.

Last season the Eagles came up short in the playoffs falling to Hamlin in the quarterfinals in 9AA.

“Being at the Dome and not getting there last year kind of just increased our drive and our hunger this year to get back there,” Blasius said.

While the Eagles dropped down to 9A this season, the guys on the team said they felt many people don’t think they are a top contender this year.

“Being from the west side of the river, that's kind of always been the story. We never really get the recognition that we deserve,” Mohr said. “I think that's just a huge thing that motivates us and helps us to push through all the hard times and all the hard practices and makes us want it more.”

Wall's Jace Mohr carries the ball through the Philip defense during a game earlier this season. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

As the Eagles are looking to get back to the Dome after last year’s hiatus, Heathershaw said his team is continuing to take it one day at a time.