Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Tyson Struber

Kansas Pregame polled 8-Man coaches earlier this month who voted for the top four seniors they coached against this season. Kansas Pregame staffers then used those votes to develop a Top 8 list of seniors for each division. Kansas Pregame will provide features for each of the 16 Top 8 selections. Check out the fourth of those profiles below:

Tyson Struber, RB/LB, 6-2, 200, Canton-Galva, 8-Man Division I

Canton-Galva has flourished during the span of senior Tyson Struber’s career. Between the years of 2008-2017, the Eagles had an overall record of 31-58, with only two winning seasons in that span in 2013 and 2014, both 5-4 seasons.

Jump to 2018, Struber’s freshman season, and a wave of change blew through the program.

Along with a talented group - including names like Brayden Collins, Landon Everett, and others - Struber helped Canton-Galva to a 10-2 record and made it all the way to the state semifinals before being knocked out. Struber finished the season with 898 all-purpose yards.

The next season, Canton-Galva went on to win a state title with a perfect 13-0 record, Struber’s play was instrumental, and he recalls the memory fondly.

“Looking back at my high school career I feel the most proud of the 2019 state championship run,” Struber said. “That team really bonded on another level and pushed each other everyday to be the best we could.”

While they were unable to win the title during Struber’s junior season, they still managed an excellent season, finishing 10-1, but were unable to overcome Madison in the state quarterfinals.

After the conclusion of his junior season, Struber, who is among the most highly recruited 8-Man players in Kansas history, made a decision to commit to Kansas State, officially announcing his verbal commitment on December 19th of 2020.

With the college decision out of the way, Struber proceeded to tear the opposition to shreds during his senior season, finishing the year with 72 receptions, 1,472 yards, and 24 touchdowns, along with 379 rushing yards and 13 more scores on 9.7 yards per carry.

“Tyson’s skillset is tremendous,” coach Shelby Hoppes said. “His athleticism and ball skills are as good as any player I’ve coached, but I believe what is going to be the difference maker for Tyson at the next level is his football IQ. He started attending high level football camps at a very young age, and by doing so, he’s been coached by some of the best college coaches in the game. He just understands the game of football. He understands it from a schematic standpoint, but what separates him is his understanding of body position, leverage, footwork, and all those types of attributes and that understanding of the game is so important at the next level.”

Defensively, Struber, a long time defensive back, made a switch from playing safety to linebacker going into his senior season. 

“The move from safety to linebacker was a big learning curve, but I had a great defensive coach (in Defensive Coordinator Tyler O’Connor) to teach me everything he knows and make sure I was prepared to play the linebacker position,” Struber said.

The move wasn’t necessarily ideal for Struber, who is built like a prototype safety, but it was more about what was good for the team.

“He continued to improve each week, getting more and more comfortable with the playbook and his job responsibility on both sides of the ball,” Hoppes said. “Because of his willingness to work at all those positions, as a team we were able to have the versatility needed to compete at a very high level.”
 
Struber’s transition to the linebacker role was smooth and productive. He tallied 129 tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, nine pass deflections, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a blocked punt this season.

The Eagles finished the year 9-2 and were knocked out in the 8-Man I East semifinal in one of the most exciting games of 2021. After falling to Little River in Week 6 of the regular season, 60-52, the two rematched in Sub-State and managed to push the scoreboard’s lighting capabilities in a 76-68 contest.

Despite the loss, Struber put forth a Herculean effort, finishing the game with 14 receptions for 263 yards and three touchdowns, along with 51 rushing yards for another score.

Struber’s Eagle teams went 42-5 in his four-year career. His impact - along with that of his coaches and fellow players - started a football renaissance in Canton-Galva, whether it continues after his graduation remains to be seen.

“The biggest challenge in replacing Tyson will be schematically,” coach Hoppes said. “Tyson was so versatile on both sides of the ball. Offensively, with the skillset Tyson had, he played all three receiver positions for us, he played running back for us, and even played some quarterback. We were also able to use him as a decoy a lot because of all the attention he gathered from opposing defenses. So, from an X’s and O’s standpoint it will obviously be very different next year. We still have some really good players on the roster that will make up for the productivity lost by losing Tyson, but it's going to have to come from multiple guys playing those positions instead of moving one guy around.”

Up to this point in his career, Struber has been physically dominant over just about every player he has faced, but he hasn’t let that prevent him from growing as a player, and he mentioned lessons that should help him in his next stage.

“The difference from freshman year and now is probably my physicality,” Struber said. “I really learned to prepare my body and my mind for every game and I knew how I needed to perform every week.” 

Struber’s maturity and experience is likely to serve him well as he embarks on a new chapter in his football career in "The Little Apple."

*Note: Struber did not sign during the December 15th Early Signing Day as anticipated, but according to a report by Arne Green of The Salina Journal he will sign in February and will be a full scholarship player for the Wildcats.

*Editor's Note: Kansas Pregame has opted to include only seniors in our Top 8 list in an effort to reward them for their success in high school. This year, especially in Division II, there were a number of top players who were juniors. Axtell's Isaac Detweiler, Wheatland-Grinnell's Jett Vincent and Thunder Ridge's Dylan Bice are just a few of those likely among the Top 8 players in the classification. Fortunately, multiple other outlets have recognized those athletes for their contributions this season and Kansas Pregame will consider each of them for feature coverage in our 2022 Football Preview along with the many other top returning players from across the state.