Whitnall has one of top two-way players
Prior to the 2019 prep football season, the Journal Sentinel will reveal the Supreme 17, a look at the top players in the area to watch. Each day between the first day of practice on Aug. 6 to the first day of games on Aug. 22, one player will be revealed.
Last year left Nate Valcarcel conflicted.
The do-it-all Whitnall star found himself having a breakout season, which sparked a flurry of calls and texts from college coaches that had him hopping in the car with his family to visit campuses around the Midwest.
His lifelong dream to play highlevel college football was beginning to come true thanks to his first team all-conference year on both sides of the ball.
But in the standings, Whitnall scuffled.
Just one season after winning the Woodland Conference East and reaching Level 2 of the playoffs, the Falcons missed out on the postseason by going just 3-6.
“For me personally, it was a good year, a really good year,” Valcarcel, a senior, said. “But going from winning the conference to losing was tough. It’s tough to be super happy
for your own success when you and your team aren't winning.”
2019 may very well end up being the best of both worlds.
Statistically speaking, Valcarcel put together a strong junior campaign, but it was far from the flashiest one around.
On offense, he rushed for 1,138 yards and nine touchdowns. On defense, where he will play in college, he was second on the team with 51 tackles and had one interception.
But his film was all college coaches needed to see to come flocking as he showcased his abilities as a rangy 6foot-1 safety with sound coverage skills, an ability to make up ground with long, quick strides and a penchant for playing downhill in the run game.
“His combination of height and size with his ability to change direction stands out,” Whitnall head coach Robb Widduch said. “You see 5-foot-8 guys that can change direction very well, but a 6-1, 175-pound guy that can change direction at an elite level and has a great overall football instinct, that's special.”
Valcarcel will play cornerback in college, but as the safety in Whitnall's defensive scheme, he is relied upon heavily to get all 11 defenders in the right spot on each play.
“In the system we run, our safeties have to be able to make the checks and calls,” Widduch said. “Nate, being the savvy player he is, uses that instinct to put people in the right place.
“We ask a lot out of our safeties.” At the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association scouting combine in April, Valcarcel posted the fastest shuttle time and second-best three-cone time of 61 defensive backs. North Dakota offered him a scholarship immediately. Since then, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois State and Northern Iowa are among the 17 schools to extend scholarship offers.
Iowa and Minnesota have both extended preferred walk-on opportunities, representing Valcarcel's only Power 5 offers, although Indiana has recently expressed interest.
‘It depends on what player you are,” he said. “If you want 100,000 people watching you, if you want to be against better competition or if you stick with those scholarship offers. My goal is to play in a bigger level and that's the FBS. I'm working hard, doing whatever I can to get there.”
While Valcarcel's work in the weight room and on the field helped put him on colleges' radars, a large part of his development involved buckling down in
school and making the honor roll both semesters.
“He was a kid that went through the motions and kind of got by for two years,” Widduch said. “Prior to last year, it would've been unheard of for him to get those kinds of grades.
“There are a lot of athletes that had the ability to go onto playing at a high level in college, but didn't have the academics part focused and he didn't want that to be him.”
This upcoming season offers plenty of promise for both Valcarcel and the Falcons.
Whitnall's athletic department hired a strength and conditioning coach, Jonny Bridgewater, for the first time last year. Valcarcel was among the athletes most committed to the Falcons' program and perhaps benefited most from the hire. Fifteen pounds heavier than he finished his junior season, Valcarcel appears ready to shoulder a heavier load at running back and play more physically on defense.
Valcarcel is one of 18 seniors for Whitnall, an increase from last year's six. Seven starters return on offense and 10 on defense, giving the Falcons the varsity experience they lacked last fall.
“The kids have completely bought into this thing and we want to get to the point where we're perennially contenders in the conference and the state.”