Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The freshman season for Marshall Sheldon was special.

Sheldon led City High in tackles in his first season of varsity football on his way to earning the team’s defensive most valuable player honors.

“I’ve coached some special freshmen,” City High coach Mitch Moore said. “Jamison Patton is starting at Iowa State, Tyler Miller is starting at Iowa State, John Klosterman played really early in his career here but I’ve never had one that had the impact that Marshall did as a freshman.”

The closer you look at Sheldon’s freshman season the more impressive it becomes.

The 69 tackles for Sheldon last season ranked in the top 20 in Class 5A and were the third most of a freshman statewide.

Impressive.

Sheldon ranked 12^th in 5A in solo tackles with 47.

In his first ever varsity game Sheldon had a team-high 9.5 tackles against Illinois state runner-up Joliet Catholic.

The freshman linebacker led the team in tackles in six of 10 games for a City High squad that reached the 5A playoffs.

More impressive.

And he did it all while playing his first live football since seventh grade.

Stunning.

“The part nobody ever remembers is he tore his ACL as an eighth grader so he didn’t play eighth grade football,” Moore said. “He went from seventh grade to playing Joliet Catholic.”

Sheldon himself has a hard time explaining what he was able to do last fall as a freshman.

He simply did what he’s always done on a football field – he played as hard as he could.

“I just go out there and play my hardest and do what I can do,” Sheldon said. “I know if I do that things will work out.”
As successful as Sheldon was in his varsity debut season he admits there was still an adjustment period.

Especially after having not played in a game since seventh grade.

“The first thing I noticed was the size of the guys,” Sheldon said. “I noticed how complicated it gets and how intense it is.”

Sheldon acclimated himself quickly.

He emerged as a leader and a playmaker on a City High defense that allowed 333 total yards per game.

“Definitely just doing your job, that’s the main thing I learned last season,” Sheldon said. “Other than that, you just go out and play as hard as you can and help your guys.”

The 6-foot, 173-pound Sheldon had 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks last season.

“His natural ability and instincts to find the ball carrier on defense is one of those things that’s sometimes hard to explain,” Moore said. “If you are evaluating a guy on the film you say, ‘that guy is around the ball all the time’.”

The goal for Sheldon now is to build on his initial success.

Sheldon spent the offseason in the weight room and film room.

“I tried to get bigger and watched a lot of film,” Sheldon said. “Those were definitely the two biggest things for me.”

Ten pounds heavier this season Sheldon is ready for an even bigger role.

Sheldon is expected to play a larger role on offense this season after shining on defense a year ago.

Moore says Sheldon is eager to help the Little Hawks in any way he can.

“I think too the great ones when they are young they have a humbleness and an eagerness about them and he’s got that,” Moore said. “In his own head he knows he has to get better and the guys that can be special are always chasing, always trying to better.”

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