THIEF RIVER FALLS -- One thousand is the magic mark for a football player. Rush for 1,000 yards, pass for 1,000, catch for 1,000 and a significant season milestone has been achieved.
Those are offensive numbers. A defensive milestone number isn't as well defined.
"If you're in the 75- to 100-tackle range, you're a pretty darn good defensive player," Thief River Falls High School football coach Jeff Mumm said. "That means you're a pretty active, aggressive player."
For the Prowlers, that defines Travis Peralta.
The senior is the playmaker for the Prowlers defense. Last season, he was in on a team-leading 139 tackles (51 solos). That was an average of 12.6 tackles per game for the 9-2 team. Since Thief River Falls started its current system of registering defensive statistics in 2000, no player has accumulated more tackles in a season than Peralta did last year.
ADVERTISEMENT
At 5-feet-10 inches tall and 180 pounds, Peralta isn't the most physically imposing football player. But attitude, size and strength make Peralta an imposing defender.
"He's always where the action is," Mumm said. "It looks sometimes like Travis is always on a blitz. And we're not a blitzing football team. He's just an aggressive kid. He's making tackles sideline to sideline. He reads his keys and he's gone. There's no hesitation. He doesn't think; it's read and go.
"And Travis is a hitter. He likes contact. I know one official who told me that Travis was as good a linebacker as he saw all last year."
Peralta has a change in personality once competition begins. Off the field, he describes himself as laid back.
"But when we get on the field for practices and games, I'm more aggressive," he said. "I get pumped up. The hitting -- that's the funnest part of the game."
Peralta combines the skills of two sports into success. He's also a standout wrestler, having placed fifth at the Minnesota Class AA state tournament last season. "Wrestling helps a lot in football as far as balance and tackling," he said. "In wrestling, I think I'm more the aggressor. I think I'm even more aggressive in football."
Spread the wealth
Despite Peralta's success at linebacker, it's possible his tackling numbers could drop this season.
ADVERTISEMENT
That's because the other middle linebacker position is being manned by Zach Sorenson, another playmaker. The Prowlers are switching the 6-2, 220-pound Sorenson from defensive end to linebacker to keep him around the football. Opponents took measures to avoid that a year ago.
"Zach is as good a football player as any I've had in 24 years of coaching," Mumm said. "People ran away from him when he was on the line. Now Zach will have a lot more stuff going on around him. Zach is like Travis -- he has the ability to go sideline to sideline. He has great quickness, and he's a hitter.
"Travis' tackling numbers may go down some. But when Zach adjusts to the new position and figures out what all is going on around him, those two will be clones, two athletes who run, like to hit and aren't afraid of contact."
For the Prowlers, Peralta and Sorenson side by side in the middle of the defense is expected to be a win-win situation.
"With Travis and Zach in the middle, we feel we have two of the best linebackers I've coached right in the middle of things," Mumm said.
