Alaska pipeline leads Wasilla seniors to Valley City State

WASILLA — With 17 Alaska players on its 2007 roster, the Valley City State football program could easily change its moniker from the Vikings to the Valley City State Alaskans.

Through his 14-year tenure with the Dakota 10 Conference NAIA program, Vikings head coach Dennis McCullough has built a virtual pipeline that stretches from Valley City, N.D., to the 49th state.

And that pipeline has delivered McCullough and the Vikings two more Alaska products.

Wasilla seniors Shane Green and Beebo Russell each signed National Letters of Intent, and will join the VCS football program in the fall.

“I think it’s a great choice,” Wasilla head coach Jim Shetter said on Thursday at Wasilla High School. “It makes for a nice transition. It seems that every one of our Alaska kids are either starting, made all-conference or are making an impact in their program.”

Many of the Alaska players on the Valley City State roster made an impact for the Vikings in 2007, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Five of Valley City’s top-10 tacklers hail from Alaska. Former North Pole standout Sean Ritchie led the squad with 96 tackles. Seward graduate and Viking defensive back Coty Beck was third on the team.

Another defensive back, former Palmer standout Michael Weber, was a team captain.

On the offensive side, former Wasilla starter Matt Crane appeared in nine of his team’s 10 games at wide receiver.

Both Green and Russell said seeing Alaskans have success at Valley City was certainly a draw. The ability to make the transition to the college level with a high school teammate was also a deciding factor, both said.

“Having someone that I know to go down there with helped me a lot,” Green said of his decision.

Valley City was also a school that aggressively recruited the Wasilla players.

“It was any easy choice,” Russell said. “They were looking at me, instead of just me looking at other colleges.”

Green, one of only four large-schools players to be named first-team all-state on both offense and defense in 2007, has the potential to play on either side of the ball for Valley City.

“Hopefully defense,” Green said. “They want me to play linebacker, but they could also put me at a position they call ‘jack back.’”

Jack back, an all-purpose position in the backfield, is the spot Valley City wants Russell to be.

“It’s kind of like Dallas Clark,” Russell said referring to the Indianapolis Colts veteran and former University of Iowa star. “He’ll play slot, fullback and sometimes tight end. That’s what I like.”

While Green could go either way, Russell said he’ll definitely play on the offensive side, and believes that’s where he is best suited.

“That’s more my preference,” Russell said.

Shetter said with his ability to both carry and catch the ball, Russell could be an effective weapon in both the one-back and I-formations that Valley City tends to use.

“Beebo had real good hands and was an elusive fullback for us,” Shetter said. “I think he’ll be a great asset.”

Shetter said Green could have a great opportunity to excel on defense.

“Just looking at their roster, they need linebackers,” Shetter said. “Realistically, he could play either offense or defense. But they’ll see that linebacker is the position for him.”

Ideally, Green said he’d like to be an inside linebacker for the Vikings, mainly so he can stop the run and be a hitter.

“The first person I see I like to hit, when they’re coming up the middle,” Green said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Russell, who plans to study physical education at Valley City, said he also considered Colorado College and Western Oregon. Russell has been playing football for about eight years, but said he only realized recently he may have the chance to play at the next level.

“I didn’t think it would be possible until a couple years ago,” Russell said.

Green got a later start in his football career. Also a basketball standout at WHS, he didn’t join the football program until his sophomore year.

But once he hit the varsity starting lineup as a junior, Green said football took all precedence.

Green, who plans to study fish and wildlife science, looked at a handful of schools including Eastern Oregon, Black Hills State in South Dakota and Bemidji State in Minnesota.

Another member of the WHS senior class, Zach Orr, has already committed to play for Bemidji State, an NCAA Division II program.

Shetter said he’s thrilled to see three of his seniors earn college scholarships to play football and sees the chance to get a college education as the most important part.

“We tell the kids, use football, don’t let football use you,” Shetter said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.