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High school football: Mahtomedi’s Corey Bohmert emerges as one of area’s top running backs

jace frederick, pioneer press
·3 min read

Corey Bohmert and Sawyer Seidl, the starting running backs in Saturday’s game between Mahtomedi and Hill-Murray, played football together in Mahtomedi’s youth programs growing up.

“I would just be kind of there,” Bohmert recalled, “and he would just run 70-yard touchdowns like it’s nothing.”

Seidl, one of the state’s most heralded running backs, is still doing just that for Hill-Murray. He ran for 1,878 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.

But Bohmert has since joined the party. Through two games, the Mahtomedi senior has rushed for 420 yards and six touchdowns. That includes a 225-yard, five-touchdown game last week against Cretin-Derham Hall in which Bohmert averaged a gaudy 13.2 yards a carry.

Mahtomedi has always had a dominant rushing attack. Zephyrs coach Dave Muetzel noted establishing the run is always a priority, particularly in Minnesota, where the weather can make passing a problem on any random Friday.

But so often the Zephyrs have featured bigger, punishing backs — Jackson and Jordan Hull come to mind in the past decade. Bohmert brings more of a home-run element to the equation.

“It’s been fun,” Muetzel said. “Corey is explosive, and he just has a knack where on his cuts, he’s always going downfield. Even on his cuts, he’s getting yards. He has good vision and is explosive, so that’s a pretty good combination.”

The emphasis on those positive cuts was prevalent in conversations this week, as it has been throughout Bohmert’s high school career. It was a lesson he learned as a freshman — on a touchdown run, no less.

Bohmert said he used three consecutive spin moves to get past a defender and into the end zone. But while the result was good, Mahtomedi assistant coach Robert Garry wasn’t thrilled.

The message was clear: One cut, and go.

“Somebody who’s going to do that sits there and dances for two seconds, and then somebody is there where they’re going to get tackled,” Muetzel said.

One big gain essentially can be offset by numerous negative-yardage runs. Bohmert took that message three years ago in stride and has applied it to his approach.

“I used to just try to move around players, and then these coaches helped me make one cut and then just sprint,” he said. “I think the coaches helped me a lot, because I would usually just dance around with them. I wouldn’t get as many yards as I do now.”

This process is simple. Trust your blocking to create a lane, find it, hit it and explode. The proof is in the pudding. Any conversation about the area’s best backs better include Bohmert. And any praise for Bohmert better include his entire offense.

Muetzel noted the Zephyrs have an athletic, though not overly large offensive line. It’s a unit that gets to bodies and delivers hits with consistency. Bohmert touted the line, noting Mahtomedi double teams generally drive opponents back to the linebacker level.

“The O-line kind of makes it happen. They open up hotels and I just kind of run track through it. I just have good speed, I guess, and that helps,” Bohmert said. “Those wide receivers block well, too.”

Bohmert certainly plays his part, as well. Muetzel said the running back has always been an athletic kid who also made significant gains this offseason. Still, even Bohmert couldn’t have predicted this type of start.

“Not the kind of success I have now,” he said, “I don’t know, I’m just trying my hardest. But yeah, I just thank the line for everything. I’ve got my speed, they block their guys, and we do us.”

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