Butler may have big prospect on O-line
Somewhere out there in the WPIAL, there’s a 6-foot-4, 270-pound junior offensive lineman with a Division I offer who’s roaming around looking for more.
That would be Butler’s Jake Kradel, and it’s highly likely you’ve never heard of him, but he doesn’t care if you know his name.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m under the radar, and I kind of like it,” said Kradel, offered by Syracuse in June. “My name’s not out there a whole lot, but if I have a good season, it gets out there.”
To be fair, Kradel plays at a school that hasn’t had a lot of success in recent years, and often opposes some of the top teams and players in the WPIAL. He was a starter last season as a sophomore, but wasn’t an all-conference pick in the Northern Seven. That didn’t stop Syracuse from extending a scholarship when he went to a camp there in June, and last Saturday, he attended the PittPenn State game as a guest of Pitt’s coaching staff.
“That was awesome. When I got the invite, I told my parents, ‘We’re going,’ ” said Kradel, who has also received interest from Northwestern, UCF and others, in addition to the Panthers getting involved a couple weeks ago. “I feel like more will come. I just have to keep doing my thing.”
Kradel did that last week, helping Butler to a 21-12 victory at Altoona, already matching the Golden Tornado’s win total from a season ago. With him at left or right tackle depending on the formation, Butler put up 291 yards of offense.
“He’s a very good football player. Looks the part and plays the part,” said Altoona coach Nick Felus. “You need to know where he is on the field at all times. Plays with great intensity and is extremely physical.”
Perhaps most interesting about Kradel is that he’s actually a three-way starter. Get this: He also handles the punting duties for Butler coach Rob Densmore. He was a punter when he was younger until ninth grade before he turned his focus to line play. Then before a scrimmage, as the team practiced punting, some teammates told the coaches that used to be Kradel’s job. Sure enough, he went in, boomed a couple long ones and won the punting job.
There’s no doubt, though, his future is in the trenches. Whether that future holds a Pitt offer remains to be seen, but Kradel is willing to work for it — and he’ll certainly have a chance to prove himself against the likes of major-college recruits from Central Catholic, North Allegheny and Pine-Richland.
“Oh, for sure,” Kradel said. “All those kids are going somewhere.”
Overlooked, underrated
Garrett Montilla, Mt. Lebanon. The Blue Devils' senior kicker/punter has been money this season. He hasn't missed an extra point in 18 tries for a high-scoring offense, and has even made 6 of 9 field goals while booting five touchbacks and landing four punts inside the 20. A potential Division I prospect, Montilla was all-conference last year, too.
Name of the week
Myles Vujaklya, Blackhawk. If there were ever a spelling bee consisting only of WPIAL football players’ names, well, good luck with this one. Vujaklya also happens to be a pretty reliable kicker for the Cougars, winning their Week 1 game against Knoch with an extra point in overtime. But that was just one point. His last name alone would be worth 25 in Scrabble.