ELKTON – Ryan Krog will go down as one of the best athletes to ever put on an Elkton-Lake Benton football. He was a three-time Dakota Valley All-Conference selection, made All-State in 2022 and was the Dakota Valley Conference MVP this season. Now he can add one more accomplishment to that list as he is the 2022 Register Football Player of the Year.
Krog led the ELB football team to a 10-1 record and a semifinal finish in the Class 9AA State Tournament. He was a dual-threat quarterback on offense and a hard-hitting safety with a knack for the ball on defense.
On offense, he threw for 1,707 yards, 29 touchdowns and had just two interceptions, while completing 54% of his passes. On the ground he rushed for 1,458 yards (10.27 yards per carry) and had 20 rushing touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, Krog had 60 total tackles to lead the Elks and 10.5 of those tackles came in the backfield. He had one sack and three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and seven passes broken up.
ELB head coach Ethan Pearson says he thinks the three-year starter really came into his own his senior season because of the experience he had in the previous two.
“I think a lot of [his success] is because the game has slowed down for him the past the few years. We started him as a sophomore, and he started as junior as well. The game slowed down for him [this year] and I think he really saw a lot and is a sports fanatic too. So, being able to understand the game of football and understand what the defense is doing to him and understand where he needs to go with the ball is a big piece and what made him successful this season,” Pearson said.
Krog said he felt like there was a chance that him and his teammates could have a special season, but it was all about buying in in the offseason that led to the successful season.
“To be honest, I think everyone bought into the program and liked what we were building on and liked winning and kept it up and grinded in the weight room and stayed honest with each other. We just became victorious after a lot of success in the offseason. I thought there was going to be some special moments this year, but I didn’t know it was going to be as good as it was. I definitely thought we were going to have a chance this year because you could tell by the energy,” Krog said.
It was the second time in school history that the Elks made it to the semifinals. ELB came up short as it did not make the State Championship, but they accomplished a lot of great things. It was the first time in school history that the Elks went undefeated in the regular and in the DVC. It was also the first time in school history that ELB was a top-two seed in the playoffs as they were the No. 2 seed.
Krog said it’s pretty special to be a part of such a successful season and it will be fun to look back on.
“I think it was a cool experience [to have the success that we did]. I’ve always been kind of pushed to be really good because my brothers were athletes themselves. I just think it’s cool that hometown people recognize you and tell you congrats on a Sunday or something like that. It just builds off the energy of the fans and the students and the whole team. I think it’s pretty special and cool that down the road we’ll be able to say that we were a part of that,” Krog said.
Krog didn’t only lead the Elks on the field. Pearson said he is an all-around great leader and is the reason that a lot of his teammates improved throughout the season.
“He’s a big reason that our kids got in the weight room. He’s one of those kids that is going to push you to be the best that you can be because he knows that he needs the rest of the team to be successful. He’d pick up kids to get into the weight room on his way in. He’s pushing kids all the time and wanting kids to improve at their skill. He’s really just one of those leaders that our young kids have looked up to in the past two or three years. He’s just all over the place to be quite honest with you and he’s one of the better athletes to ever come out of Elkton too,” Pearson said.
Krog said the reason he became such a leader this year is because there was no other senior to help him out, so he took it upon himself to make sure the younger kids had someone to show them how things get done.
“I’ve always kind of [been a leader], but this year I knew I had to step up because there was a lot of young guys on the team and it was just kind of me being the oldest on the team. I knew I had to tell some young kids what to do, like it’s okay to make mistakes. I just hope they can look up to me and remember me next year and try to be a good person on and off the field when no one is looking,” Krog said.
For his career, Krog had 4,699 yards passing, 61 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He ran for 2,360 yards and 28 touchdowns and had 2.72 yards per carry. On defense, he had 108.5 career tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, one sack, three interceptions, 10 passes broken up and one forced fumble.
Pearson said he’s going to remember all of the amazing plays Krog made over the past three years, including a 55-yard Hail Mary as time expired in ELB’s final regular season game this season that gave the Elks a 36-30 win over Castlewood.
“[I’m going to remember] some of the plays he’s made over the past three years. When in doubt, put it in Ryan’s hands and good things are going to happen. That’s basically it. Some of the plays were just magnificent that he made. Looking back, thinking about some of the roll outs passes he’s made, I’d get in the headset and tell the other coaches, ‘how in the heck did he just make that throw’ or ‘that was the most perfect throw on the run that I’ve ever seen a high school kid make.’ The Hail Mary at the end of the game against Castlewood, just plays like that where if we’re down and we need something to happen, we put the ball in Ryan’s hands,” Pearson said.
For Krog, he said he’s going to miss all of the time he spent with his teammates and hopes that they learned a lot from him.
“I’m probably [going to just remember] all of my teammates and all of the team meals, the practices that were hard and all the running that we had to do, and all of my younger friends now. I just hope that they buy in and make the program that I helped start build have more success down the road,” Krog said.
Krog does not know where he will be attending college next fall. He said that he wants to try and have a college football career and has had some Division III and Division III schools reach out to him. If his football career doesn’t pan out, Krog plans to major in something with agriculture.
