February 7, 2020 at 2:08 p.m.
Two Hodag gridders announce college plans
Martin to D-III power Whitewater, Erikson to Moorhead
Two Hodag gridders announce college plans
On Wednesday, National Signing Day, they reached the next level of their sport together.
Both Martin and Erikson made official their plans to play collegiately. Martin signed a National Letter of Intent to play for NCAA Division-III powerhouse Wisconsin Whitewater while Erikson signed on with Division-II Minnesota State Moorhead.
Both Martin and Erikson thanked their parents and RHS football coach Aaron Kraemer for their support during Wednesday's news conference, but both said they could not have made it to the next level without the friendship of the other.
"I want to thank Peyton for being such a great friend and pushing me," Martin said after signing his letter. "I'm going to miss him in college. It's going to be tough without him, but it will be cool for both of us to play college sports.
"We've just stuck by each other through the whole process and we fed off each other in many different ways," Erikson said.
The duo helped lead the Rhinelander High School football team to its best season in a quarter century, a year that included a 6-4 record, the team's first win over Antigo in the Bell Game since 2006 and only the third postseason trip in school history.
Martin finished as the second-leading rushing in school history. While Erikson also made plays offensively, he made more of an impact as a safety where he had 58 tackles and three sacks.
"Their pasts have been intertwined together," Kraemer said. "They've been best friends for a long time. I've continually seen that relationship blossom into a really great friendship, which is mutually beneficial for each other. They push each other in the things that they do. They expect a lot from each other and a high level of competition, and they love and care for each other. That's something that's truly special."
Martin had a number of D-II and III schools interested in his services, but the prospect of playing at Whitewater piqued his interest. The Warhawks have won six national championships since 2007 and were in this past season's Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division-III national championship game.
"It was a tough decision, I had a lot of colleges reaching out to me," Martin said. "I chose Whitewater because it's the best balance of academics and sports. It's the best D-III football school in the nation, in my opinion, and it's a really good school as well. I thought, why not."
Ironically, one of the programs that had offered Martin a scholarship was MSU-Moorhead. Martin said he seriously considered going with Erikson to Moorhead before he settled on Whitewater.
"Once Whitewater gave me the roster spot, I knew I wanted to go there. It's just a really great program and you can't really beat anything like that," he said.
"I've got no hard feelings for him," Erikson added. "We both had offers from Moorhead but we both chose what we thought were the best programs and where we thought we'd fit in best."
Both Martin and Kraemer said Whitewater is looking at Martin as a running back. The 6-2 senior rushed for 1,253 yards and 19 touchdowns this season despite being slowed by an ankle injury the final third of the season.
"Drake is somebody I could always count on to tote the football for us. He's somebody who gave me an extreme amount of comfort as an offensive play caller in what I'm able to do because of his talents and commitment," Kraemer said.
Erikson, meanwhile, is part of a 38-recruit class for the Dragons who compete in the Northern Sun Interscholastic Conference. He is one of nine defensive backs in Moorhead's recruiting class, according to a team press release.
"He really stood out to our coaches as a guy that has a lot of heart in him and is willing to compete," MSU-Moorhead head coach Steve Laqua stated in a tweet announcing Erikson's signing. "It was a great match with his values and our values so we're excited for him."
The Dragons went 6-5 in 2019, with three of those loses coming by seven points or less.
"They were the first major program, in my eyes, in D-II to reach out to me, back in the early summer," Erikson said. "I had a couple of different looks from multiple different schools - mainly the D-IIIs in Wisconsin, one or two other D-IIs.
"Moorhead stuck out the most to me based on the relationships I was able to build with the coaches down there, learning about their culture. I thought it fit me the best. On top of it, the academic side, I was able to learn more about their reputation. That just was a bonus."
Kraemer said the respective football programs will not just be receiving great athletes, but great young men.
"Both of these young men have talents that are going to make them valuable to the respective programs that they're going to. As a coach, it makes you really excited and honored that these guys are going to go play at the next level," he said. "For both of these guys, I think what's set them apart from the competition is their commitment to growing as leaders and growing as young men. That's where I've seen the most growth over the last couple of years - what they expect from each other, what they expect of our program and what they expect of the kids that the play with, their teammates."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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