[2024] Meet the Croots: ATH Jason Hagedorn from Spencer, IA

[Jieret]

 

Iowa is known for two things; hogs and corn.  Perhaps no one exemplifies that better than Spencer lineman Jason Hagedorn.  Standing at 6'4" and 315 pounds, Jason is a stereotypical corn-fed Iowa country boy - and he'd be the first to tell you that.
"I'm a seventh-generation farmer," he proudly proclaims. "Our hogs win Blue Ribbons, and our corn is the best bar none in the county. Heck, we've even won some state awards!"

The Hagedorn farm is very well-known in this corner of Iowa, no doubt, but the corn and pigs aren't why scouts are flying into Minneapolis then driving three-plus hours to the small town of 11,000.  They're coming to watch Jason knock people down on both sides of the ball.

Hagedorn isn't the first two-way player you've seen.  But I'd be willing to bet you haven't seen many two-way OL/DL players, and certainly not many as good as he is doing it.  While pancakes aren't an officially-kept stat, Spencer Tigers coach Cael Norgaard says the number is easily over 60 for the season. "Run or pass, we know Jason will handle his assignment - he makes gameplanning easier, for sure."

And on the defensive side of the ball, the numbers do speak for themselves.  Individually Hagedorn has 44 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks in the five games he's played at DT.  Team-wise, t Tigers have only given up 42 rushing yards a game with him there.

I asked Coach Norgaard how Hagedorn became a two-way player, and he said it was Jason's idea. "It was a goalline stand against Fort Dodge, and one of our D-linemen got hurt the prior play. Jason raised his hand and volunteered to go in.
"He blew that poor guard up and crunched the back for a three-yard loss," Coach smiled. "He's been our nose tackle ever since."

Hagedorn wants to continue playing both ways in college, but he's aware that at some point he might have to stick to one side of the ball.  Considering his deep ties to the family farm you'd expect he wants to stay close to home but his family insists that he needs to do what's best for his career, no matter where it takes him.

I can't resist.  "Even Nebraska?" I ask with a grin.

Jason looks up at the ceiling for a moment before shrugging sheepishly.  "Sure, even Nebraska, I guess," he says. "I'll just have to bring a bunch of our corn with me to let them know what they've been missing."