Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Brayden Hilgemann poses for a photo with his family and football coach Terry Bahlmann after signing his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to play football at Concordia-St. Paul.

MARSHALL — Wednesday marked the official start to the signing period for high school athletes across the country, and another Marshall Tiger inked their name to extend their athletic career.

Marshall senior Brayden Hilgemann signed his National Letter of Intent to play college football at Concordia-St. Paul, saying he’s excited to finally have the day come and be committed.

“It feels good to officially get it done and be for sure going and make sure it’s all said and done,” Hilgemann said.

Hilgemann added he’s always known he wanted to continue his football career and felt the location of the campus and being in a familiar conference were big keys in the decision process. He also plans to major in criminal justice with a minor in psychology.

“I’ve always wanted to play football since I was in third grade, that’s when I started playing flag football. When I was a sophomore, I got to start and coach [Terry] Bahlmann made sure to get my name out there with help with recruiting and all of that,” Hilgemann said. “And then the location definitely helped being in the cities, I wanted to be there and be in the NSIC. We lived in Aberdeen (Northern State) and then moved to Marshall (SMSU), so I just wanted to stay in the NSIC.”

Last season, CSP finished with an overall record of 6-5 and a fifth-place finish in the NSIC South Division. Bahlmann said they’re happy for Brayden and his family and believes he’ll be a nice fit with the Golden Bears and their program.

“We’re excited for Brayden. He’s known all along he wanted to go into law enforcement and Concordia-St. Paul has a strong program for that and their football program is rising and he was a good fit there right from the beginning,” Bahlmann said. “We think they’re getting a really good player, he’s done a lot of different things for us and when he concentrates on linebacker only there, I think he’s going to be a really good player in the NSIC.”

The past few years, Hilgemann has helped guide the Tigers on both sides of the ball on the gridiron. This past fall, the linebacker finished sixth on the team in tackles with 45, including nine tackles for loss and five sacks. Offensively, Hilgemann added 276 rushing yards as well as five touchdowns on the ground.

Bahlmann said what made Hilgemann’s play so special was his ability to be put wherever on the field and play at a consistently high level.

“He’s consistent, that’s the thing we know where he’s going to be and we’ve given him the freedom on defense to run because he knows the schemes and knows where he’s supposed to be,” Bahlmann said. “He’s been a playmaker for us on that side; this year offensively, he was sort of our change-of-pace guy, when we needed something to go that maybe we weren’t smooth on offense with we would bring him in and give him the ball. He played fullback, slotback, tailback and even some slot receiver for us.”

Bahlmann added that although he’s known as a quieter guy, Hilgemann has grown into becoming an everyday leader and helped set an example for the younger players.

“He’s a quiet guy and he’s always where he’s supposed to be,” Bahlmann said. “As he’s gotten older he’s gotten those leadership skills and he’s another one of our guys that leads by example, so he’s always where he’s supposed to be and really takes some of the younger players under his wing.”

Hilgemann said his coaches and teammates have had a huge impact on him and he’s extremely grateful for their support.

“It’s meant a lot because they got my name out there and made me want to play football. Obviously the winning has helped and made football a lot more fun, so just in that aspect of making me want to play football,” Hilgemann said. “My friends and teammates have made sure that I get to where I want to be and make sure I’m staying on track. They’ve been supportive through it all.”

Hilgemann added he’s looking forward to hitting the field with his future teammates and is excited to go toe-to-toe against some of the best in the conference.

“Just getting on the field with all of these great players that are coming up there,” Hilgemann said. “There are a lot of good people in the NSIC.”