Scholarly Folchert a 'beast' on gridiron
By Steven Allspach, Journal sports writer | Posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
For a young man who aspires to practice dentistry, has a perfect 4.0 grade point average and scored a 33 (maximum is 36) on his ACT exam, the nickname "Beast'' seems a bit incongruous.
"I think the nickname fits because he's a beastly player on both sides of the ball when he's on a football field,'' said North High Coach Keith Hanks of his senior standout, Josh Folchert, The Journal's Metro Athlete of the Week.
"You're talking about an extremely intelligent kid here,'' added Hanks, whose team is 1-2. "You tell him something once, he's got it. He doesn't need to take the playbook home.
"He understands the game and plays it as hard or harder than anyone.''
After rushing for 534 yards as a junior last year on a 7-3 Class 4A playoff team, the 6-2, 185-pound Folchert has come back with a rambunctious start to his senior season, rambling for 356 yards in three games.
In a stirring 20-19 come-from-behind win over Ottumwa in North's homecoming game on Friday, he rushed for 131 yards on 23 carries and caught a five-yard TD pass from Danny Rudeen.
Folchert went over the 100-yard mark for the third straight game.
"My job is to do what I'm supposed to do to benefit our team'' said the 18-year-old son of Dr. Kevin and Trisha Folchert. "I hope I've put in the necessary work to help our football team win another conference championship and get back to the playoffs.
"There are just three seniors (returning starters) on our team -- myself, Ethen Leff and Nolan Grieves -- so I've accepted an obvious leadership role.
"I'm definitely not a vocal leader. My way is to go out there and give it 100 percent every play and hope everybody follows my example.''
Josh, who was born in Yankton, S.D., also competes in basketball and track and field for the Stars.
"I love all the sports, but maybe lean toward football as a favorite,'' said the track sprinter and hoops forward.
Folchert definitely wants to play college football and the academic-centered honor student at first was attracted to some Ivy League schools like Yale and Princeton.
He's narrowed his horizons -- just slightly.
"The closest thing to the Ivy League in Iowa is Grinnell College and I'm considering them,'' said Folchert of the NCAA Division III school. "I've decided I want to stay closer to home, in the Midwest.
"Eventually I want to study to become an orthodontist.
"My older brother, Matt, is now a sophomore pre-med student at Creighton University.''
While offense is Folchert's forte, he also intercepted a pass in an opening loss to Marshalltown and returned it 67 yards.
"They put me in there in certain situations at cornerback or safety,'' said Folchert, who says he gets a chuckle from the several ways his last name is pronounced.
For the record, Folchert is pronounced Fol-curt.
"I think my height and weight are exaggerated too,'' he said. "I'm not quite 6-2 and even though my weight is listed as 200 and 190 pounds in different places, I'm probably between 180 and 185.''
Folchert has little regard for football's individual numbers, even his own.
"The important thing is to put a 'W' on the board and to do what you've got to do and perform to the highest standard every time you compete,'' said Josh.
Hanks praises his senior in every respect.
"Josh is the No. 1 key component for our team and he's had to take on an even bigger role with this team because we're so darn young,'' said Hanks. "I think we added some confidence with the win over a tough Ottumwa team.''
Special Mention
CROSS COUNTRY
Karyn Kelly, South Sioux City: The senior, a two-time state meet qualifier, was the individual winner in a dual meet against Wayne and also finished first at the Wisner-Pilger Invitational.
Nate McKewon, Bishop Heelan: The Crusader senior finished first individually in the Gary Meyer and Galva-Holstein invitationals with times of 17:04.13 and 17:12.74 over 5,000 meters.
"I think the nickname fits because he's a beastly player on both sides of the ball when he's on a football field,'' said North High Coach Keith Hanks of his senior standout, Josh Folchert, The Journal's Metro Athlete of the Week.
"You're talking about an extremely intelligent kid here,'' added Hanks, whose team is 1-2. "You tell him something once, he's got it. He doesn't need to take the playbook home.
"He understands the game and plays it as hard or harder than anyone.''
After rushing for 534 yards as a junior last year on a 7-3 Class 4A playoff team, the 6-2, 185-pound Folchert has come back with a rambunctious start to his senior season, rambling for 356 yards in three games.
In a stirring 20-19 come-from-behind win over Ottumwa in North's homecoming game on Friday, he rushed for 131 yards on 23 carries and caught a five-yard TD pass from Danny Rudeen.
Folchert went over the 100-yard mark for the third straight game.
"My job is to do what I'm supposed to do to benefit our team'' said the 18-year-old son of Dr. Kevin and Trisha Folchert. "I hope I've put in the necessary work to help our football team win another conference championship and get back to the playoffs.
"There are just three seniors (returning starters) on our team -- myself, Ethen Leff and Nolan Grieves -- so I've accepted an obvious leadership role.
"I'm definitely not a vocal leader. My way is to go out there and give it 100 percent every play and hope everybody follows my example.''
Josh, who was born in Yankton, S.D., also competes in basketball and track and field for the Stars.
"I love all the sports, but maybe lean toward football as a favorite,'' said the track sprinter and hoops forward.
Folchert definitely wants to play college football and the academic-centered honor student at first was attracted to some Ivy League schools like Yale and Princeton.
He's narrowed his horizons -- just slightly.
"The closest thing to the Ivy League in Iowa is Grinnell College and I'm considering them,'' said Folchert of the NCAA Division III school. "I've decided I want to stay closer to home, in the Midwest.
"Eventually I want to study to become an orthodontist.
"My older brother, Matt, is now a sophomore pre-med student at Creighton University.''
While offense is Folchert's forte, he also intercepted a pass in an opening loss to Marshalltown and returned it 67 yards.
"They put me in there in certain situations at cornerback or safety,'' said Folchert, who says he gets a chuckle from the several ways his last name is pronounced.
For the record, Folchert is pronounced Fol-curt.
"I think my height and weight are exaggerated too,'' he said. "I'm not quite 6-2 and even though my weight is listed as 200 and 190 pounds in different places, I'm probably between 180 and 185.''
Folchert has little regard for football's individual numbers, even his own.
"The important thing is to put a 'W' on the board and to do what you've got to do and perform to the highest standard every time you compete,'' said Josh.
Hanks praises his senior in every respect.
"Josh is the No. 1 key component for our team and he's had to take on an even bigger role with this team because we're so darn young,'' said Hanks. "I think we added some confidence with the win over a tough Ottumwa team.''
Special Mention
CROSS COUNTRY
Karyn Kelly, South Sioux City: The senior, a two-time state meet qualifier, was the individual winner in a dual meet against Wayne and also finished first at the Wisner-Pilger Invitational.
Nate McKewon, Bishop Heelan: The Crusader senior finished first individually in the Gary Meyer and Galva-Holstein invitationals with times of 17:04.13 and 17:12.74 over 5,000 meters.
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Dale Drees wrote on Sep 16, 2008 12:18 PM:
Sheila Coyle wrote on Sep 16, 2008 5:19 AM:
Living proof that a family who is rock solid as the Folchert's are raise respectful, striving for excellence on and off the field, kind, gentle, yet competitive, true to themselves, accepting, a spark of great humor (I vividly remember the "little tricks" Josh and Justin Thiele used to play on me in the art room...!
Congratulations to Josh, his wonderful parents, and his family...because together they allow their children to dream and live those dreams!
Sheila Coyle
North Middle Sdhool
Visual Art Teacher "