Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Colby Stull

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 fifth of those profiles below:

Colby Stull, RB/LB, 5-9, 155, La Crosse, 8-Man Division I

La Crosse football started off the 2021 season - their second playing 8-Man after finishing 5-4 a year ago - with two losses to powers Victoria and Hoxie. With that 0-2 mark, some teams may have felt a sense of premature defeat, not La Crosse.

Head coach Jon Webster’s squad bounced back from the losses and reeled off eight consecutive victories. Leading the prowl of Leopards throughout the season was senior Colby Stull.

“We knew both those teams were good teams, both of them were one game away from a state title appearance the season before, so we knew they would be a good match,” Stull said. “We hung with both of them while dealing with some very early injuries so we knew we could play with anybody really and we knew we could make a deep playoff run.

La Crosse closed out the season at 8-3 after getting knocked out in Sectionals by Hill City. The week before however, the Leopards played in one of the most exciting 8-Man games of the year against Argonia/Attica, a 58-56 barnburner that came down to the last seconds. Stull was a workhorse in the contest with 27 carries for 278 yards and five total touchdowns in that game.

“I have played in some pretty tight games before and some that have come down to the wire,” Stull said. “That one though was a whole new atmosphere especially, since they had knocked us out of the playoffs the season before. So it was a really great win and really cool to play in a game like that.”

On the year, Stull finished with 182 carries for 1,721 yards and 24 touchdowns, along with 12 receptions for 193 yards and five more scores. The 5-9, 155 pound back isn’t typically the biggest guy on the field, but a mixture of constant forward momentum and good instincts made him an issue for defenses.

“I think of Colby as a speed back with power,” head coach Jon Webster said. “He hits a lot of plays on the edge but can run inside the tight ends very effectively. I think Colby’s great strength is his vision. He sees his blocks well and knows when to cut back or hit it out the front. His speed is definitely helpful. He can turn any carry into a touchdown.” 

Stull is a playmaker on defense as well. The senior tallied 49 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, five hurry-ups, four interceptions, nine pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 2021.

“Colby is a smart player that understands angles and what the offense is trying to do,” Webster said. 

Stull’s ‘student of the game’ mentality mixed with his speed made him an agent of chaos out of the defensive backfield, forcing any quarterback to account for him all game long. His high IQ on the gridiron simply comes from lots of exposure.

“I credit my knowledge to just always being around the game really,” Stull said. “I’ve always watched football and been around the sport since I was really little.”

While Stull no longer returned kicks and punts regularly as he did in prior seasons, he managed to take back two of his four interception returns for touchdowns. He finished the season with 2,100 all-purpose yards and 31 touchdowns.

Stull leaves a glaring hole in next year’s La Crosse lineup after he accounted for over 5,000 career rushing yards and 93 total touchdowns along with nearly 200 total tackles and 10 career interceptions.

He is undecided on his college plans, but would like to play football at the next level if the right offer comes along. His plan is to major in Mass Communications/Radio.
 

*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.