LAKEFIELD, MINN. - As Roman Voss heads home on a late August morning after captains’ practice at Jackson County Central High School, wind turbines rise above cornfields stretching for miles along Hwy. 86.

Twenty miles from his high school, Voss pulls into his family farm, only 5 miles from the Iowa border. The nearest township has a population about 200 and is same number of miles away from downtown Minneapolis.

“Sioux Valley doesn’t even have its own address,” said Voss’ father, Rod, who grew up and went to the old high school nearby before it merged with JCC. “The township is just a 6-mile-by-6-mile area.”

A 6-4, 230-pound senior quarterback and future college tight end, Roman Voss grew up with pigs, chickens and sheep. A buck head mounted in his bedroom came from one of his annual hunting trips, events he loves as much as shooting hoops on a full-sized basketball court in his backyard.

This small township in southwestern Minnesota helped produce one of the best high school football prospects in the country, a humble farm kid with a potential NFL future who in June verbally committed to the Gophers — over 18-time national champion Alabama.

“Not to put any pressure, but there’s a realistic chance he can play as a true freshman with the Gophers,” said Jackson County Central coach Tom Schuller, who coached the program to its first state championship in 23 years last season. “I think he’s that good.”

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck beat out Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer after both took turns visiting Voss this summer to give their best recruiting pitches. Play big-time SEC football or become a home-state hero. Voss chose the latter.

“The Gophers did a great job recruiting and with us getting to know them as people,” said Voss’ mother, Trisha. “That was pretty special.”

Roman Voss’ decision came as a surprise to many.

“P.J. has been amazing,” Voss said. “I love that guy. Just respect him a ton. But I really thought about Alabama hard. It was a tough decision.”

Forest Lake defensive lineman Howie Johnson and Rocori offensive tackle Andrew Trout are also part of Fleck’s 2026 recruiting class. But Voss was inspired by another small-town Minnesotan thriving with the Gophers.

Koi Perich’s smooth transition from tiny Esko to earning All-American honors as a freshman safety last year made an impression on Voss, who heard from Perich during the recruiting process.

“It definitely helped my decision that Koi went there,” Voss said. “To see him succeed at that level, it helped me know I could do it, too.”

Future NFL tight end?

College football coaches from the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC found a hidden gem three hours from the Twin Cities at Jackson County Central, but they couldn’t figure out what would be his best position in college.

Voss beat out two veterans as an eighth-grader to win the starting quarterback job, becoming the first varsity player in Huskies football history to start at QB for five consecutive seasons. Yet he was recruited as an athlete, which in football recruiting means it’s unclear what position he will play in college.

“Sometimes when kids come up early, they think they’ve got it made and won’t work quite as hard,” Schuller said. “He just kept working and working to get better every year.”

At a Gophers football camp following a solid freshman season, Voss had the obvious physical attributes, but he struggled throwing the ball. Minnesota co-offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. was watching.

“Roman was so nervous that his 5-yard out would go into the ground,” Rod Voss said. “Harbaugh was pretty blunt. He said Roman’s a great athlete and could play any position he wants but needs to focus more on quarterback if he wants to be a quarterback.”

Voss excels at multiple positions, including wide receiver, safety and return specialist.

“He’s such a weapon that we move him around,” Schuller said. “To get to the elite level, we pretty much told him it probably wasn’t going to be at quarterback. Ironically, he hasn’t played a down of tight end for us.”

Fleck initially sent defensive coaches to evaluate Voss, who got his first Division I offer from the Gophers after his sophomore year in May 2024. Offers from Iowa, Iowa State and Wisconsin followed.

A few days after being doused with mayonnaise when the Gophers won the Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Virginia Tech in January, Fleck came with his entire offensive staff to Voss’ home.

“They wanted to recruit an athletic guy like me who could catch the ball, get outside and not always be attached to the tackle,” Voss said about playing tight end. “You’ve got to get to a spot that is going to have the best chance for you to play in the NFL. And you need the best people around to support and believe in you.”

Alabama ended up being a big threat because of DeBoer, a South Dakota native with nearby connections from coaching 90 miles away at Sioux Falls.

“One of the biggest pieces in this was did I want to go to [Minneapolis] and live there?” Voss said. “I thought about it and the more I went up there the better it got.”

Family of athletes

Flags wave outside the Voss home representing their college program allegiances: South Dakota State, Sioux Falls and now the Gophers.

Voss’ siblings set the bar high. Pictures of their achievements dominate the walls of their massive garage turned weight room — and also with paper clippings in the basement.

“I never tried to compare myself,” said Roman, who as a player on JCC’s basketball team last year boosted the Voss family’s combined total for career points over 5,000.

“My parents did the best job they could building a path for me without being crazy about what I needed to do. They said, ‘It’s your decision to be great.’ ”

In 2021, Sadie Voss became the JCC girls volleyball program’s career leader in kills. Following in her mother’s footsteps — Trisha played volleyball at Northwestern College in Iowa — Sadie is a returning all-league senior at Division II Sioux Falls.

Rudy Voss, who graduated from JCC in 2020, holds school records in basketball and football. He’s the all-time leading scorer in basketball with more than 2,000 points and passer in football with over 4,500 yards.

Two years ago, Rudy retired from football because of a back injury, but he still won a national championship with South Dakota State before joining the JCC staff.

Roman, who switched from No. 2 to Rudy’s old No. 4 this year, was in the sixth grade when he watched his brother lead the Huskies to the Class 3A state semifinals in 2019.

“He’s always been the biggest supporter in my life,” Roman said. “I’ve never really had the feeling of I need to do anything better than him. Because he always kind of just showed me the way.”

Football and farm life

Roman Voss and his best friend and teammate Weston Rowe take deer hunting trips to Ekalaka, a small town in Montana, every year.

“First time I went out there I missed,” Voss said. “But Weston and his dad walked me through it and I got one.”

This summer, Roman walked Rowe, a South Dakota State recruit, through competing at the Jackson County Fair swine show.

But their squealy and snorty companions missed out on getting showcased at the Minnesota State Fair.

One of the pigs got stage fright. Yeah, seriously.

“I’m like the total opposite of my brother, who is really into the farming,” said Roman, whose pigs were sold back to the local market.

The family business is run by Roman’s father, a second-generation feed salesman, and Rudy will move into the house and work on the farm where their father grew up a mile away.

“We’ve had chickens and eggs,” Roman said. “I wanted sheep one year. Just so I could have sheep. That was cool.”

Staying healthy

Before a morning weightlifting session in August, Voss donned a North Carolina blue Michael Jordan T-shirt as he pointed out the Huskies’ state championships trophies. They also won a Class 3A title in 2001.

Arguably the greatest athlete in school history, Roman carries a bit of MJ aura at school, especially with a state championship after being a part of JCC’s 2A title team last year. But he feels something is missing from his legacy.

“I consider myself a state champion, but I don’t at the same time,” said Voss, who suffered a broken ankle in last year’s state quarterfinals.

In that game, Voss ran for a 73-yard touchdown on the opening drive. He didn’t play in the title game vs. Staples-Motley weeks later.

Two years ago, Voss was hospitalized after suffering a concussion when his head hit the turf during the state semifinals. It was a scary moment when Roman was carted off the field at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“I don’t even remember what happened for 24 minutes,” said Voss, who has the jersey hanging in his basement that the medical staff tore from his body.

On the football field, Voss is usually the one delivering menacing blows as a powerful runner. He is now up 15 pounds from last year. His speed makes him a big-play threat when the ball is in his hands.

Last season, Roman combined for 2,000 yards and 28 TDs passing and rushing and also caught six passes for 177 yards with three TDs. He’ll play some defensive end this year, too.

The Huskies are 35-1 over the past three seasons when Voss is healthy. He never lost at the youth level, from third through sixth grade.

“It feels like there’s still a lot left,” Rudy Voss said. “I’m hungrier for them to win this year than I was last year.”

In JCC’s season opener Thursday, Voss finished with 295 total yards and two rushing touchdowns in a 61-25 win at Maple River.

Before he suits up as a tight end for Fleck, Voss vows to help Jackson County Central win another state title.

“I’m just super excited,” he said. “I’ve been playing with my buddies since third grade. This senior class we’ve got is solid. We should have a great year.”