Puma running back signs with Crown
This is No. 15 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 278) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.
SPOTLIGHT: 2/26/22
Some high school football players rack up many offers. However, the saying is true that you only need one if you get the right one. That's the case for Perry High School senior Michael 'Red' Poehls, who will get to keep playing football once he graduates in May.
The 5-11, 185-pound defensive lineman/running back received an offer from Crown College in January and visited the Division III school in Minnesota. He committed later in the month and celebrated with a Signing Day celebration at his Chandler District school on Feb. 2.
Poehls has played the game of football for most of his life, starting out in flag when he was six years old. He moved up to tackle in seventh grade.
He continued that throughout all four years of high school at each level at PHS learning lessons along the way from the recently retired head coach Preston Jones.
"It was amazing being a Puma for all four years," Poehls said in an e-mail interview. "I learned discipline that I will have for the rest of my life to Coach Jones."
With Crown College being in Division III, it cannot award athletic scholarships. However, with his 3.77 GPA, Poehls was able to get half the cost of his college covered by achieving the highest academic scholarship available.
One challenge Poehls had to overcome was only having carries in four games in his senior year following a change in position. He had to market himself to college suitors.
"I just had to show the coaches the potential I have," Poehls said. "Being that I made the switch from D-Line to running back meant I was at a huge disadvantage. I met the Crown coaches and they saw that in me. I can tell Crown is different. Just wait until we start winning the UMAC."
In getting himself ready for his senior year, hill climbs were on the training schedule.
Crown, which plays in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, finished just 1-9 last season. However, the Storm graduates just three seniors, so to say the team was young would be an understatement. It was also the first season for head coach Anthony Franz. Prior to his current position, Franz was the offensive coordinator at Trinity International (Ill.), where he had the school ranked No. 5 in passing in the entire NAIA.
In trying to turn around the program, Crown took a special liking to State 48 this go around. Poehls will join four other seniors from the state in the '22 recruiting class for the Storm. Crown was unique in its recruiting approach as it held meet and greets with over 100 attendees. Storm coaches also made the rounds in December stopping at more than 60 schools across the state.
The school, located 25 miles west of the Twin Cities area, has also been working on its locker room facility.
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