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BIG JOHN STUD

Bobcats’ Schoenfelder stands atop 5A in tackles

By Ross Thede 7 min read

By the time his senior season is over, John "JJ" Schoenfelder will have left more than his share of blood, sweat and tears on the turf at Leonard Cole Field.

Through the first seven games of his senior campaign, Schoenfelder has left a trail of tackled ball-carriers as far as Bobcat fans can see. Marshalltown High School's middle linebacker has led all of Class 5A in total tackles since a Week 3 inflection point of 23 tackles in a hard-fought loss at Mason City.

Schoenfelder enters the Bobcats' home-field finale this Friday night against Waterloo West with a 5A-best 90.5 tackles, including 39 solo stops and 5.0 tackles for loss. He also leads the class with four fumble recoveries to go with a forced fumble in a star-studded senior campaign that Schoenfelder has been working toward since the spring.

A life-long baseball player and three-year member of the MHS varsity squad, Schoenfelder called it quits ahead of his junior season and turned his attention to the weight room.

It was a painful decision to make, but one that he's since justified with his performance at the heart of the Marshalltown football team's defensive unit.

"Well, it definitely wasn't easy (to quit baseball)," Schoenfelder said. "You know, I played baseball since I was super young and I just had to make a decision that would affect me for the rest of my life. It was really hard, but I think the outcome of it is definitely worth it."

It was one of many changes Schoenfelder has made along his high school journey. He was a member of Marshalltown's varsity basketball roster in 2024-25 before the wrestling room became his winter endeavor, and he has since scored third- and second-place finishes at his weight class in the Iowa Alliance Conference Tournament.

It wasn't until the spring track and field season that Schoenfelder really started to think about his senior year of football and how he wanted to go out on the gridiron.

"He's a senior and he's a guy that we were really leaning on, counting on, coming into the year," said MHS head football coach Adam Goodvin, "and he's really stepped up.

"He's taken complete ownership of his own development as a football player -- not only out on the field, but in the weight room and watching film. We can see how many minutes our kids watch film and he's always up there at the top of that list, and it shows on Friday nights. He's putting himself in position pre-snap to go make a play and he's usually there."

It was ironic, Schoenfelder acknowleged, that he worked so hard to keep his weight down going into his senior season at linebacker only to get thrown into the mix on the offensive line. He played nearly every snap in the Bobcats' heartbreaking 23-16, season-opening loss at Ames, but as his two-way status was cut back, his tackles started piling up.

He tallied nine tackles and two fumble recoveries in a Week 2 loss to Waterloo East, and Schoenfelder erupted with a single-game school record 23 tackles (8 solo, 2 tackles for loss) and a forced fumble in a 22-13 defeat at Mason City.

Schoenfelder followed that up with a 20-tackle performance in the Bobcats' 17-14 overtime win over Des Moines East.

"You know, it's a heavy load that we asked from him when he and a few of those other guys didn't come off the field," Goodvin said. "Week 2 was extremely hot and that's a tough position to be in, but those guys and JJ, they didn't complain once, which was awesome. We didn't expect him to, but that's just how they are, how they're wired.

"It's been nice for him to be able to put a little more focus on that one side of the ball, the defensive side of the ball, and he's extremely valuable for us over there. It's been fun to watch him grow every single day."

Grow as a linebacker, not as a growing boy, mind you.

Schoenfelder is listed at 6 feet tall and 210 pounds on the Bobcat football roster, but that's not where his weightlifting regimen was taking him. He's wrestled between 190 and 215 pounds since his sophomore year, and it's been an ongoing process to maintain that weight throughout his high school career.

"I wanted to get bigger and I wanted to be leaner," he said, "so I had to stop eating as much food while still being in the weight room as much, which was not easy at all. That was super hard, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

"My plan was to only play linebacker, but [stuff] happens and we gotta do what we gotta do to help the team out."

Schoenfelder wouldn't seem to have it any other way. Pushed past the point of physical exhaustion, he's refused to leave the lineup at every opportunity, even if that means rinsing out what's left of the vomit in his mouth after puking on the field a time or two.

"It's definitely hard, obviously, but that's just what football is, you know?" he said. "The team needs something, you gotta do it. It's a team sport. Eleven players playing all the time, you can't be a one-man show like in a sport like wrestling."

That may be, but few have made the same impact. Going into Friday's Week 8 tilt with Waterloo West, Schoenfelder leads 5A by 29.5 tackles. Only three players -- all in 8-Man football -- have more tackles than him: Colo-NESCO's Colin Grundlingh has 111 tackles, GMG's Ethan Klemesrud has 101 and Central City's Chris Hanson has 93.5.

"It's huge, honestly," Schoenfelder said of leading 5A in tackles. "I never thought I'd be here, but it means a lot. It's amazing.

"It was definitely a big relief off my shoulders to see all the work pay off. It's felt really good and this season's been great."

It hasn't worked out record-wise for the Bobcats (1-6) after senior quarterback Jamison Niehouse was lost for the season with a broken leg in Week 1, but Schoenfelder had his sights set on some individual achievements that have proven pivotal just the same.

He's Marshalltown's leader by 61.5 tackles, he's tied for eighth in 5A with 39 solo tackles, and he'll give everything he has for his squad.

"I know that I'm obviously making plays and I know that I'm confident -- I'm always confident in myself that I'm playing good," Schoenfelder says, "but honestly it shows the most in just the way my teammates hype me up and congratulate me all the time. Just their support means a lot."

The community has noticed, too. KFJB 1230 AM's YouTube program has presented Schoenfelder with its male Athlete of the Week award as well as featuring his efforts for its Lillie Mae Chocolates Sweet Play of the Game twice this season.

"I think anybody that's got a vision and has goals can accomplish that stuff regardless of their different paths," Goodvin said. "We love to see guys playing four sports, but we're proud of JJ and where he's at right now.

"He's always been in love with the weight room, so that's never really been a huge concern for us -- we knew he was going to take care of business up there and be ready to go physically. He's a kid that's been out on the track team for the past couple years and he's not winning the 100-meter dash, but my goodness he's working. He showed up every single day and worked, and that's what it takes to give yourself a chance and it's paying off for him."

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