[2025] Meet the Croots: ATH Alfonso Carrillo from Carlinville, Illinois

[nemolee.exe]

Carlinville, Illinois is a small town of around 5,500. The seat of Macoupin County, not much goes on in this small, sleepy town. There is not many people about their high school, let alone the high school's football team. In fact, this team went 4-6 last year last year, which isn't much to move the needle. However, the one thing that this team has is Class of 26 athlete Alfonso Carrillo. A four-star coming out of this class, college scouts are traveling to this small town to watch this 277-pound brick wall play. 

Carrillo had a chance to play on both sides of the ball as an offensive and defensive lineman. This might've been expected, given Carlinville's thin depth on both sides of the ball. He was decent during the time that Carrillo played as a defensive lineman. He put up an effort of 67 tackles with a total of 9 tackles for a loss, alongside 3.5 sacks. That isn't that much, but his motor on the defensive front seems to be highly praised even by the coaches on the other side. 

However, as good as he is as a defensive lineman, he seems better suited as an offensive lineman. This is where the stats get rather impressive. Carrillo managed to get the best of the opposing line, racking in a total of 31 pancakes in total for the entire season. He has, however, given up three sacks, which seems to be a point of concern for some. However, this does little to diminish the work that he has done so far. 

Funnily enough, this offensive lineman's effort was reasonably sufficient to earn him a 4-star rating as an athlete, thanks to his excellent position on both sides of the ball. Some say that he would've been situated as a 5-star recruit had he decided to apply as an offensive lineman, and the reason why he isn't a 5-star athlete was his workmanlike defensive performance.

So, what is the priority for Carrillo on which team he wants to come join next year?

"Honestly, I don't care about that," he told the Meet The Croots team. "I just want to have fun playing the game I love. Whoever I play for, it's just... whatever. If I somehow get into a championship team -- which seems like a longshot -- it's like, yippee. I just want to get picked up."

As he predicted, the teams that are considering getting this two-sided lineman also seem to be a bit of a mixed bag. Some teams have scouted him and shown significant interest, but they are primarily a high-tiered Group of 5 Teams for now. Central Michigan looks to be a big contender for taking him, but you can't count of the likes of G5 powerhouses Bowling Green State and Ball State, who are also in the mix. And it is not like Carrillo is void of Power 5 offers, however. Northwestern seems to look heavily on this player, and Michigan State is seeing if Carrillo would be ideally suited to join the team immediately. 

Alfonso Carrillo seems to have all the tabs as a highly-touted prospect for the NCAA. He has shown that he can play on both sides of the ball. It looks like he is better suited to play the role of an immovable object on the offensive line, but there are high hopes that his work on the defensive side will pay off. In a town of 5,500, Carrillo still seems to be the pride of the local high school football club of Carlinville, Illinois, who is looking for a flyer to play the next level of football -- and all signs are pointing of him doing so soon.

[tsweezy]

Wants to join a championship team eh? We can find a spot 👀

[nemolee.exe]

5 hours ago, tsweezy said:

Wants to join a championship team eh? We can find a spot 👀

you wanna make him go