A Devil of a season

SPRING VALLEY — No matter what the sport, coaches throughout the NCIC and throughout the state had one name at the top of the we need to stop list: Jordan Petersen.

The Hall senior used his speed, hard work and talent to drive opposing coaches and players up the wall.

The numbers he put up in football, basketball and baseball and the honors he received for them have earned Petersen the BCR 2008 Boys Athlete of the Year.

Hard work and determination are the best ways to describe where Petersen has come since his freshman year of football.

Hall football coach Gary Vicini described Petersen last fall after he was named the BCR 2007 Football Player of the Year.

“Jordan really developed into a nice all-around player,” Vicini said. “Jordan has the ability to break away from defenders.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Petersen was a unanimous first-team All-NCIC Selection at running back and a first-team selection as a defensive back.

“One of my individual goals going into the season was to rush for over 1,000 yards,” he said. “As a team, we wanted to have a winning record and make the playoffs.”

Petersen, who will play football and baseball for Aurora University, achieved many of his goals as he rushed for 1,194 yards along with 21 touchdowns, but he added another weapon to his arsenal.

Petersen also had 388 yards receiving and another three touchdowns. His receiving skills also made Aurora University take notice as he’ll be lining up next to former St. Bede standout Ryan Milus.

“I’m really looking forward to playing wide receiver at Aurora,” Petersen said. “It’ll be fun getting to play with Ryan. They have a nice team, and Ryan has already been there a couple of years to help as well.”

Hoops

Petersen was not a big scorer, by any means, in basketball, but he will be extremely difficult for Mike Filippini to replace next season. He was Hall’s defensive stopper, a role he thrived in and relished.

“Just like when I was getting our opponent’s top receiver in football, I was usually getting our opponent’s top offensive player in basketball season,” Petersen said. “I love that challenge. I got to cover Seth Evans of Seneca, who is a Division 1 player. And when we played them a second time, at Plano, we had him really frustrated to the point where he was yelling at his own teammates. That’s when you know you have done something good on defense. It’s a great feeling.”

The Red Devils and Petersen played state ranked Seneca twice and won both contests on their way to a 22-7 season.

Petersen, who was named to the BCR first team and NCIC Lincoln second team, not only drove the all-stater Evans and the Irish crazy, but he returned the favor to teams throughout the conference as well.

To go along with his defense, Petersen also averaged 7.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest.

Favorite sport

Perhaps Petersen’s favorite sport is baseball, and he is excited about also getting to continue to play at Aurora.

The Red Devils All-NCIC Lincoln first-team member played the majority of the season as the Hall catcher before finally getting to stay in his favorite spot in center field.

Petersen says he is looking forward to getting to play every day in center field at Aurora.

“I absolutely love playing center field,” Petersen said. “I love being able to use my speed to track down line drives and make diving catches.”

Despite hitting .347 with three home runs and 18 RBIs, Petersen says he needs to work on his hitting and being more accurate.

“Those are definitely two things I want to work on when I get to college,” Petersen said. “It’s tough just hitting in the batting cages indoors, but the weather did not cooperate much, at all, again this year. I also want to work on the accuracy of my throws.”

To go along with his average and RBI totals, Petersen also collected 25 hits as well as six doubles and a triple for the 7-14 Red Devils squad.

Petersen also talked about what it’s going to be like playing two sports at the college level.

“It’s going to be tough and very busy,” the future business major said. “Aurora has a good business program, and I am looking forward to playing both football and baseball there.”

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