MaxPreps Weekly Honor Roll, presented by the United States Marine Corps: Colton Amos, Prescott

Since it was a rivalry game, Colton Amos amped his intensity up just a couple more notches.

As if his desire to succeed wasn't already high enough.

Amos and the Prescott (Ariz.) football team took the field against Cactus Shadows, the state's No. 6-rated team, in a Week 3 regular-season showdown.

Amos, the team's strong safety, already amassed 14 tackles by halftime. But he was long from being done. The junior finished with 29 stops — 16 solo — as Prescott toppled Cactus Shadows 35-25.

The 29 tackles in a single game marked a school record for a school that has been around for 107 years.

"I was really excited when I first found out about that," said the 5-foot-10, 170 pound Amos. "My coach told me the following week and then he also told me about another record we had with the all-season tackle record."

The school record for tackles in a season was 152. Amos set a new mark for that, too, with 156. He averaged a remarkable 15.6 tackles per game in his second season as a starter.

"Colton is like the ultimate football player that defies convention because he's not necessarily the biggest guy, he's not necessarily the fastest guy, but he is an absolute beast of a football player," Prescott head coach Michael Gilpin said. "It's crazy to watch because when my defensive staff reported the tackle stats every week, I was like, ‘Are you guys blowing these up or something?' And so, I started paying specific attention, and he is on like every single tackle of the game — it just blows your mind.

"The guy's got a nose for the football like you wouldn't believe. His instincts are amazing."

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Amos has great field awareness, is smart and can read a play even before it develops. The 17-year-old gets his play-making ability by his experiences on the field and from being around the game so much.

But what's the main reason Amos is such a good tackler?

"I think I owe it to my wrestling," he said. "I started wrestling in about third or second grade, and my dad was a wrestler. Being able to take people down applies to the football field. It makes it really easy that way."

Said Gilpin: "One of the first things you learn in wrestling is like that double-leg takedown, which Colton is very adept at. Obviously in wrestling when you shoot it and get hold of somebody, you've got to keep hold of them, so he has incredible grip and stick-to-itiveness."

Amos is also a game-film addict. On Saturday mornings, he watches the previous night's game with his coaches for three hours and studies throughout the week leading up to his team's next game. He'll dive into a half of a game before he turns out the light for bed. On average, he'll log 10-12 hours of film study each week.

The postseason honors rolled after Amos' strong junior campaign. He was named first team All-State, first-team All-Region, made the Arizona All-Academic football team and was invited to play in the International Bowl for the U.S. Under-18 National Team in January.

Amos appreciates all the accolades, but being named a team captain for his football team holds a special place in his heart.

"I was really honored to have it, because it was voted on by my team," Amos said. "Especially as a junior, it really showed how much they looked up to me and it made me step up my game, too, because it showed me how much they value me as a player."

"He's humble and he's well-known and well-respected all across the campus, but he's nice to everybody," Gilpin said. "He's not ‘Mr. Big Shot,' nothing like that."

Along with being a standout football player, Amos is an aforementioned wrestler and competes in track and field. He's had a winning record in all three of his seasons on the wrestling team and is competing at 160 pounds this year. Amos is a pole vaulter and runs in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles — his mom is a former hurdler — on the track and field squad.

Participating in three sports doesn't give Amos much time away from athletics and school, but he likes to be involved in as many activities as possible.

"It always gives me something to do and I always like being around different people, so it makes it fun that way," Amos said. "Going from sport to sport, it's always something new and different movements and different things to work on."

Away from athletics, Amos is just as busy with eye-popping accomplishments in the classroom. He carries a 4.0 grade point average, saying school comes easy to him.

He was class president the first two years of high school and was inducted into National Honor Society this year. Amos is a part of the Student Athlete Leadership Team, which is a program where varsity athletes who are leaders in school come together and work on service project.

As a volunteer, Amos helps out the Special Needs Adult Program (SNAP) in Prescott. He works with special needs people and recently made arts and crafts with the adults.

Even while fitting in volunteer work, Amos is starting to turn his attention to college. He's been attracting interest from plenty of Ivy League schools for academics and athletics. Amos has made unofficial visits to Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania.

"I've always wanted to play college football and having that extra of being an Ivy League football player I think it would be an outstanding achievement and accomplishment," Amos said. "It's definitely what I'm working towards."

Right now, Amos' front-runner is Princeton. He attended this past season's Princeton-Yale game and was able to tour the campus.

"It was amazing," Amos said. "It definitely motivated me and just opened my eyes to all the possibilities that could happen. ‘Wow, this could be me. This is so cool.' It just showed me what my life could be like."

Amos is undecided what he would like to pursue for a profession, but he's always had interest in math and science. He notes a chemical engineer or civil engineer might be right up his alley.

"He's going to go far in life because he has some God-given gifts, but the parts that he doesn't have like size and stuff, he works to overcome that," Gilpin said.

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