KFBCA Top 11: Riley Marx

The Kansas Football Coaches Association picked their All-State teams on December 4th and 5th, including the All-Class Top 11. Kansas Pregame is providing capsules for each of the Top 11 selections. Check out Andale fullback, linebacker, and defensive end Riley Marx's capsule below, one of 13 total KFBCA Top 11 capsules for 2022 due to a pair of ties in voting.

Riley Marx, FB/LB/DL, 6-1, 215, Andale

Andale football is on a historical stretch of dominance since winning their first state title under current head coach Dylan Schmidt in 2019. In that time the program has won four straight state titles, including a 2022 title victory over Holton, 28-0, this November, and 51 game winning streak. Schmidt has lost just two games in his six seasons as Andale’s head coach.

The current senior class has not lost a game in their high school careers, leaving them among the most successful groups in state history. The gridiron meat grinder that is Andale football has no shortage of talent, but according to head coach Dylan Schmidt, senior fullback, linebacker, and defensive lineman Riley Marx stands out among the loaded squad.

“I mean, number one, he's just a better athlete,” Schmidt said. “And when I say that, that's no knock on any of those guys. I mean, he's just exceptional. He can do some things physically and he's got some tools that other kids don't have. You know, 385-pound hang cleaner, four-time state champion in track and field – two in the disc, two in the jav – second at state at 220 in wrestling. I mean, he's just a special, special athlete with physical tools, but I think the thing that impressed me the most about him is, he's a humble guy.”

Marx’s athleticism is indeed unique. The 6-1, 215 pound senior’s PR in the javelin stands at 209-9, and discus at 162-1. He runs a 4.77 40, benches 340 pounds, and squats 470. He also has a career record of 52-23 on the wrestling mat after picking up the sport as a sophomore in high school, with a fifth place state tournament finish that first season to go with his 2022 state runner-up finish.

Over his career on the football field Marx has tallied 103 tackles defensively with 1,176 rushing yards and 20 TDs on offense. Last season he carded 33 stops with 20 for loss and rushed for 524 yards with nine TDs on 9.7 yards per carry.

Those stats are despite sitting out during much of the season’s second half with frequent blowouts of their opposition, including a 108-0 win over Nickerson, and while his ability as a ball-carrier is unquestionable, it’s arguably blocking offensively and flexibility on defense where he makes his biggest impact.

“He is super-talented so playing our fullback position, we run the ball a ton as you know, and we need bumpers,” Schmidt said. “We need guys that can just run in there and blow guys up, and he was definitely that guy at the same time defensively. We had the ability to move him all over. He played some nose for us, he could play some D-end for us, he played linebacker for us. So, you know, there's some versatility there defensively that made us really good.”

The coach that got to see the most of Marx and Andale, Pratt’s Brent Hoelting, had nothing but praise for the talented senior.

“Riley is a phenomenal football player,” Hoelting said. “He is very physical and very fundamentally sound and he plays really hard every play. When you combine that with his athleticism it makes for one heck of a football player. Facing him twice was tough because he is a smart player and is constantly making adjustments to take away what you do well.”

Marx has numerous avenues he could take going forward as a collegiate athlete, he currently has three DI football offers from UTEP, Old Dominion, and Southeast Missouri State, along with a multitude of DII and JUCO offers for football and a DI offer from Wichita State for track, and could see an uptick in interest from other track and field programs. He’s currently split between which of the two sports he will choose to play.

Whatever his college decision, he’s leaving behind a legacy as one of the winningest athletes to walk the halls of Andale High, and a consummate leader in the eyes of coach Schmidt.

“Most guys, if they were that talented and had all the accolades that he had, you could see it'd be very easy to say, ‘you know what, I'm pretty good. I don't have to do those things.’ I've never got that sense from him ever. He shows up and works hard every day. I mean, the amount of weight that he moves in the weight room is unbelievably impressive. So that's what's always impressed me. Obviously really talented physically, but then the other thing is just, you know, a lot of humility there with being able to continue to put in the work every day and know that hey, ‘I gotta get better.’ Really fun kid to be around.”