Kiel High School senior Mitchell Mahler will be playing college football in southeastern Wisconsin next fall.
Mahler, a 6-foot-2-inch, 228-pound quarterback for the Raiders, has signed to play at Carthage College an NCAA Division-3 school in Kenosha.
Mahler was part of an outstanding Kiel football team last season when the Raiders went 13-1 and took home a silver trophy in State Division-4. He accounted for 2,068 total yards and 35-touchdowns for the E-W-C champions.
Mahler says Carthage has been following him since his sophomore season and the run-pass-option/spread offense the Redmen utilize is very similar to what they used at Kiel.
When asked what now-retired Raiders head coach Mike Dressler meant to him. Mitchell said, “Coach Dressler was like our grandpa. He would give us life advice and always pushed us to be a better person, student, and athlete. He taught us to be humble and not take life for granted because you never know when it will be your last play.” Mahler added, “He was overall a great coach and I thank him for making us men and not just good football players.”
Mitchell also spoke of how the 2018 season had an impact on their performance last fall, saying a 2nd round loss to Martin Luther fueled them to be great and outwork their opponents.
He also commented, “Our success was driven by senior leaders and (just) the brotherhood we had on our team.”
Mahler said the transition from high school to college football is going to be a huge change but feels he’s ready for it. He anticipates needing to work on “being more of a student of the game and getting faster.”
As for home-schooling during COVID-19, Mahler said at first it was nice to be home, but after a while, he wanted to be at school, instead of doing schoolwork online.
He added, “It’s sad for the class of 2020 because this is our last ride and we might not have a graduation ceremony or all end of the year senior activities.”
