Birmingham Brother Rice football coach Aaron Marshall was hoping to keep his new secret weapon, well, a secret for at least a few more weeks.
But slot receiver Brock Zehnder had other plans.
The junior put on a show as the Warriors (1-0) downed Macomb Dakota, 30-20, in their season opener Friday, Aug. 28, at Lawrence Technological University.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pounder caught seven passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half.
That helped the Warriors take a 24-7 lead into halftime. Then all they had to do was hand the ball to Brandon Davison in the second half and let the sophomore running back ice the clock. He finished with 18 carries for 97 yards and two TDs.
“Brock is an unbelievable player because he’s so fast and so sneaky
with the way he just moves around the defense,” said quarterback Sam Eyde, who finished 12 of 21 passing for 176 yards. “I would say my connection with him is probably the best on the team. I can give him a look, and he knows what to do from there.”
And that’s saying something.
Eyde returned two of his top receivers from a year ago in Tyler Trusel and Christian Marshall. Trusel is a four-star junior, according to 247Sports, and has 31 offers. Marshall is a sophomore who already holds 18 offers.
“Brock stays ready,” Coach Marshall said. “He had a phenomenal summer, phenomenal camp. Brock is one of our slots that we thought was a secret weapon, but not no more. Brock is fast, man, an ultra competitor, a multi-sport athlete and stays locked in and ready.”
That, right there, is one reason why he had so much success against Dakota (0-1).
Lining up across from Trusel for most of the night was three-star defensive back Elijah Goins, who’s committed to Boston College.
Goins did an excellent job limiting Trusel’s touches, even breaking up a potential TD pass from Eyde in the corner of the end zone. It wasn’t until after the game was decided that Trusel snagged three catches for 24 yards, along with 59 yards in the return game.
“For sure, that’s what they [Dakota] were doing,” Eyde said. “Tyler is an unbelievable player, and he’s shown that. But that opened a lot of room for Brock to make plays.”
Of course, Eyde never doubted Zehnder would come through in the opener.
The only reason Zehnder is having a coming-out party now is that he was forced to sit behind two senior slot receivers a year ago. In the limited opportunities he’s had, he’s shown his potential.
Eyde knew Zehnder would be special after watching the receiver bowl over a defender after a catch against River Rouge last season and take a sweep for a big gain against rival Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
After a busy offseason of workouts, Eyde and Zehnder have never been closer.
So much so that Eyde nicknamed Zehnder “Jedi Mind Tricks,” a hat tip to the out-of-this-world things, from crazy catches to incredible route running, Zehnder has done in practice and the two’s ability almost to read each other’s minds.
“On Monday, he just gave me that nickname because we just have that connection,” said Zehnder, who has an offer from Kent State. “We know what we want when we want it. We just have to look at each other.”
That was evident on one of Zehnder’s touchdowns.
Eyde won’t give us the name of the play because he doesn’t want future opponents to prepare for it, but he made an audible at the line and then merely glanced at Zehnder.
Zehnder knew what to do after that.
“He’s one of the hardest workers we have,” Coach Marshall said. “He sets the tone and is a student of the game in the wide receiver room. He gives suggestions and takes coaching really well.”
The Warriors promise Zehnder’s breakout game won’t be his last big performance.
Playing in the Catholic League Central Division, Trusel and Christian will face some of the best defensive backs in the state. It’ll be up to Zehnder to continue getting open when opponents try to double-team the Warriors’ other top targets.
“We imagine that’s going to be [there] all season,” Coach Marshall said. “Tyler and Christian are going to get the double teams, so Brock and the slot receivers have got to win. He has to be special and do what he’s supposed to do because he’s going to have opportunities like he had today, and he’s got to take advantage of them.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Follow him on X at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: They call Brother Rice football’s new star receiver 'Jedi Mind Tricks'
