GREG KAHN / Staff

St John Neumann's Austin Nelz (34) tackles Golden Gate's Tony Mitchell (3) during the second half as the Golden Gate Titans hosted the St. John Neumann Celtics in preseason football on Aug. 29. It was the first time the Celtics played a Collier County public school.

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When Austin Nelz, and certainly his family, thought about high school, it wasn’t about where he would get the best exposure for playing football in college.

“When I made my choice it was mostly for education and because of my Catholic background,” Nelz says. “I knew it would cost more, but I was looking for the extra value that a Catholic school could give more than public schools.”

Four years later, as he and St. John Neumann readies to go against Lely Friday, Nelz feels he and his family made a good decision.

“I think I made a good decision to go to a smaller school as you pretty much know everyone,” he says. “Facilities and notoriety by playing at a larger public school might have been better, but I just feel that colleges will notice a good player, no matter where I went to school.”

The thought of playing in Class 1A, rather than 3A like Lely, may have some advantages, but he likes the smaller school advantages.

“There is definitely less competition for a position because of the smaller team numbers, yet at the same time you have a better chance to develop on offense and defense because you get more attention,” Nelz says.

He admits that the lack of depth is a problem when playing larger schools as a number of players on the Celtics play both ways.

“I don’t think the quality of players goes down, it is just that when you have less people they will get tired,” he says.

St. John Neumann lost to a 3A Golden Gate in the preseason — a team that Lely beat last week 47-20.

“We’ve played public schools before, like Estero, but not the caliber of Golden Gate and Lely, yet I think we can play with them,” Nelz says. “Lely will have some big kids, but nothing we haven’t seen before.”

His goal as a defensive back is to help stop Lely’s high-flying running back Darian Hall. His goal as a running back is to gain yards to help the Celtics control the ball.

“Austin is one of those kids who soaks up everything you give him,” Coach Steve Howey says. “He learns from the positives and the negatives. He is a quiet leader, who leads by example. He gets a break on offense, but never comes out on defense.”

In three games, Nelz leads in tackles and solo tackles. He also leads in sacks of the quarterback. At the same time he is second in rushing, averaging 4.5 yards a carry, while also a threat as a pass receiver. In his three catches he has averaged nearly 20 yards a catch.

“I prefer defensive back,” he says. “I like hitting someone, rather than being hit.”

At five-feet-11-inches, 215 pounds, Nelz has drawn interest from colleges and he would definitely want to play in college. He has applied to University of Central Florida and Florida State University.

“I think Austin can play a low end of Division 1 and high end of Division 2,” says Howey. “Wherever he goes, they will be getting a solid player.”