A few months ago Central Michigan received their first football commitment in Kaneland (IL) athlete Blake Serpa. Serpa committed to the Chippewas after a few visits to the school.

"I went there for their Junior Day, and right after I left they emailed me and everything," said Serpa. "I had just sent out my highlight tape, and shortly after I received a call from Coach (Kirby) Cannon and he said Coach (Dan) Enos wanted to offer me a scholarship. I came back for another visit and I just really liked the coaches. Then of course I came back for the CMU camp last weekend and got to know all the coaches even more."

It was at the Chippewas individual camp last weekend that ChippewaCountry was able to get a look at Serpa up close. The 6-foot-2 and 230 pound Serpa practiced at both defensive end and tight end during the camp, and it's still up in the air what position he will play at CMU.

"I weighed in at 225 pounds at the camp, but with another year of lifting I should be up to around 240 by the time I get to CMU. Obviously a lot of guys say they prefer offense because they like to score and everything, so I will go with that," laughed Serpa. "I probably have a higher ceiling on defense at the next level, but right now I like to play offense more. I think I'm just an athletic guy who can play a lot of positions, and I'm a quick learner."

Serpa was also able to meet fellow CMU commit Alex Niznak at the Chippewas camp.

"Yeah, I had a chance to meet Alex. We just talked about our high schools and our seasons. He committed that day and just said it felt like home for him and it was a place he felt very comfortable."

While Niznak is quickly gaining the reputation as the ringleader among the 2011 commitments, Serpa has also been helping the Chippewas on the recruiting trail.

"There is a kid who goes to my school, I think he's been talking to the coaches," said Serpa. "His name is Tyler Callaghan (6-foot-4, 215 pounds), he's a real big boy, but he got injured last season and not a lot of people know about him."

Serpa and Callaghan are both returning for Kaneland this season and they will be faced with high expectations.

"We're looking pretty good," added Serpa. "We just moved into a new conference and that should help us. The opponents last season that were probably the hardest, are off the schedule now, and I don't want to say we don't have tough games in the new conference, but we should make playoffs."

Kaneland finished last season at 6-4, including a first round playoff loss to Sycamore. They open their 2010-11 season on the road against Burlington Central on August 17th. As usual, ChippewaCountry will keep you updated on Serpa and Kaneland throughout their season.

Stick to ChippewaCountry for the latest in CMU athletics and recruiting.


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