Varmah Sonie Talks Recruiting News

Varmah Sonie, a 5-foot-9, 156-pound WR/DB from Apple Valley, was recently named Minnesota Mr. Football. Sonie, who was a standout at the Minnesota Gophers passing camp last summer, was named to the Minnesota Vikings All-State team that was honored Sunday and GoldenSports.Net caught up with him to learn the latest.

Varmah Sonie won the Minnesota Mr. Football Award over Blaine quarterback James Peterson, Northfield linebacker Cole Jirik, Edina QB Anders Lee, Pelcan Rapids QB Tydan Storrusten, Becker RB Jake Gibbons, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City RB Kurtis Huisman, Brainerd RB Colby Ring, Owatonna OT Casey Dehn and Orono LB Brett Skoog.

Sonie was named first-team Minneapolis Star Tribune and KARE 11 Sports All-Metro and to the Associated Press and Minnesota Vikings All-State teams after leading the Eagles to a 5-5 mark this season, losing to Eastview 35-0 in the second round of the playoffs. He caught 41 passes for 416 yards and three touchdowns. Sonie rushed 36 times for 342 yards and one score. As a defensive back, he had six interceptions this season, including one returned for a touchdown. Sonie also returned three punts for touchdowns.

GoldenSports.Net talked to Sonie at the Vikings game versus Atlanta to learn the latest on his recruitment. He is getting some new interest from a local school.

"I got a visit from Northern Iowa. They came to my school last week. They talked to me about the school and coming down for a visit. I am thinking about going down there January 7th. I saw them play on TV against Richmond (in the semifinals with the Panthers losing in the last seconds 21-20)."

Sonie was named All-Lake Conference in basketball as he helped lead the Eagles to an 11-17 mark, losing to top-seeded Burnsville 68-57 in the Section 3AAAA semifinals last year. Sonie was named co-MVP as he led the team in assists (201) and steals (67). He is one of the three captains this season. Sonie is pleased with their play in the tough Lake Conference,

"It is good. We played against Eagan on Friday and beat them by 20 (74-54). Right now, we are 2-2 in the conference and our overall record is 2-3."

Sonie was proud of being named Minnesota's Mr. Football.

"It was a great honor," he said. "It was a great group of guys. I just want to thank my coaches and teammates. I'm just happy that I won. I was surprised. They were some great players in there. I am just honored to be Mr. Football because Michael Floyd won it last year."

Sonie enjoyed the experience of serving as the honorary captain for the Vikings game.

"It was fun. It was a good experience to be out there with the Viking players and see how big they are," he said. "It is a lot faster than in high school."

Sonie was named special-mention Associated Press All-State as a junior as he helped lead the Eagles to a 3-8 mark. Apple Valley started the season 0-7, but won their regular-season finale and beat Bloomington Kennedy and Rosemount in the section playoffs before losing to Eastview in the section title game.

Sonie had eight interceptions with two returned for touchdowns. He is a three-year starter with 19 interceptions in his career. He is usually asked to shut down the leading receiver of the opposing team and finished as the second-leading tackler on the team as a junior. Sonie is also an elusive special teams players who returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown last season.

An opposing Lake Conference coach called Sonie the "most talented skill player in the Lake Conference, most dangerous offensive threat, outstanding coverage corner."

Sonie was named All-Lake Conference in basketball as he helped lead the Eagles to a 11-17 mark, losing to top-seeded Burnsville 68-57 in the Section 3AAAA semifinals last year. Sonie was named co-MVP as he led the team in assists (201) and steals (67). He was named one of the three captains for the upcoming season.

Sonie was also a standout on the Apple Valley track and field team. He ran the 200, 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relays and long jump. He runs a 4.45 40-yard dash and finished with a 23.72 200-yard dash and a 20-8 1/2 long jump in the Section 3 championship.

Sonie comes from an athletic family. Older brother Laminu was a preferred walk-on at Minnesota, where he redshirted as a freshman. He transferred to North Dakota State, where returned one punt for minus-4 yards in 2006.

Sonie is an undersized player, but has excellent quickness and is very hard to tackle due to his elusiveness.