Peyton Newell
editNewell started every game of his high school career on both sides of the ball, and posted record defensive numbers. Newell set school records with 257 tackles, 105 tackles for loss and 33 sacks, while registering 16 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, 12 blocked kicks and two defensive touchdowns. From his tight end spot on offense, Newell totaled 37 catches for 583 yards and seven touchdowns. Newell was named to the CBS Sports/MaxPreps Small School First-Team All-American squad. He was also named to the Topeka Capital Journal and Wichita Eagle's Top 11 All-State and was the all-class defensive lineman of the year by both papers. Newell was also named the St. Joseph News-Press Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year, earned unanimous Big 7 All-League honors and was chosen to participate in the 2014 Kansas Shrine Bowl. Newell had 34 scholarship offers, including Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, California, Clemson, Colorado, Duke, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan State, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, Syracuse, TCU, Tulsa, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Wisconsin. He was regarded as the top defensive prospect in Kansas by all of the major recruiting services, and was regarded as one of the nation's top 25 defensive tackles by 247 Sports and Scout.com. Newell is the son of Frank and Stacie Newell and the late Melissa "Malter" Newell.