Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Anyone who follows high school football has likely heard about TJ Bollers.

Those that follow recruiting have read about the impressive scholarship list Bollers has racked up before starting his sophomore season at Clear Creek Amana.

This season Bollers is ready for people to see why he is on his way to becoming the most sought-after recruit in the state.

“Last year a lot of things happened that kind of bounced my way and I got my shot,” Bollers said. “Now, this year I just have to apply myself and show what I can do.” 

When he got his shot last season as a freshman Bollers gave glimpses of his immense potential.

He caught 16 passes from his tight end spot and had three sacks as a defensive end.

It was enough for college coaches to take notice.

Bollers picked up his first scholarship offer from Iowa State in January and added offers from Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota before his freshman school year ended.

Now Bollers is looking forward to showing everyone why he is already drawing interest from nearly every college program in the Midwest.

“We’ve had conversations and he knows he’s going to have a bullseye on him just with his name being out there,” Clear Creek Amana coach Gabe Bakker said. “He has to be a physical high school player and I think he’s at the point where he’s going to do that this year.”

In his varsity debut season Bollers flashed a combination of size, speed and power rarely seen in a 14-year-old freshman.

As a 6-foot-4, 200-pound rookie Bollers made his presence felt immediately on offense catching 16 passes for 135 yards as a tight end.

The more experience Bollers got at the high school level the better he got.

“Game experience is definitely a lot more important than anything else and once you get to high school everything changes,” Bollers said. “It’s a whole different dynamic going against guys three years older than you. It’s a complete flip.”

He had 5.5 tackles in the first five games of his career.

Over the final three games of his freshman season Bollers made 10 tackles including three sacks. He had 4.5 tackles and a pair of sacks in a season-ending 29-14 win at Central DeWitt.   

“As I got farther into the season I started to feel better and my teammates started to get more comfortable with how I play,” Bollers said. “It’s a big mind game in the end. You have to think about your moves and you have to be able to go back and say I got beat this time but I’m going to come back better the next time.”

Bollers did more than just pick up scholarship offers during the offseason.

He packed better than 20 pounds of muscle onto his frame and enters his sophomore season just shy of 230 pounds.

A bigger, stronger and now experienced Bollers is ready to become a force to be reckoned with.

“I think I’m definitely in a spot to take my game to the next level,” Bollers said. “It shows how much more work you have to do because there are going to be eyes on all you from all over the country. You are a guy with a scholarship offer that somebody else wants. I have to keep my game up to show that I’m worthy of that scholarship.”

A four-sport athlete, Bollers led Clear Creek Amana in rebounding last year, is already a two-year starter in baseball and runs sprints on the track team.

On the football field Bollers is versatile enough to play all over but Bakker likes him at defensive end where he projects to play at the next level.

“He’s a defensive end,” Bakker said. “He’s just too fast and physical down there to try to put him in space.”

The goal list for Bollers is short entering his second varsity season.

He wants to be more productive on defense. More tackles, more plays behind the line of scrimmage and more sacks.

Possibly even get his hands on the football.

“I haven’t really thought about it much but I want to make more disruptive plays,” Bollers said. “Maybe, maybe an interception. Just get on one of those pass plays and knock it down, maybe tip it up to myself.”

What Bollers wants more than anything is more wins.

After going unbeaten during his junior high days Clear Creek Amana was 3-6 a year ago.

Bollers believes that win total will climb this season.

“I definitely do feel like we can do a lot more than we did last year, it’s all in the mindset,” Bollers said. “With us being young we really have to keep pushing as a team and just doing everything together. We have to make sure that everyone is on the same page and we can keep this ship rolling.”