B-H, LA Grid Openers Friday
The 2022 versions of the Britton-Hecla and Langford Area football squads will be unveiled on Friday.
Britton-Hecla will host Great Plains Lutheran for its 7 p.m. opener, while Langford Area will travel to Frederick to take on Leola-Frederick in a 7 p.m. contest.
The Braves have the luxury of a 35-man roster this season, up 12 from a year ago. Coupled with 13 returning letterwinners and 11 players who saw at least some starting action a year ago gives third-year coach Jacob Skogstad reason for optimism.
“I’ve been most pleased with our competitiveness,” said Skogstad. “When our second and third team guys are pushing for playing time, it just elevates the level of everybody.”
Starters on the offensive side of the ball for the Braves on Friday include BoDell Davidson (6-2, 185, Sr.) at quarterback, Bryce Hawkinson (5-6, 145, Fr.) at runningback, Gage Storley (5-8, 145, Sr.) and Ty Fagerland (6-0, 160, Jr.) at the receiver spots, Peyton Pearson (5-11, 220, Fr.) and Wyatt Tosse (6-0, 155, Sr.) at the tight ends, Connor Furman (6-0, 230, So.) and Elijah Jensen (6-2, 235, Sr.) at guards, and Andre Herrera (5-10, 285, Jr.) at center.
Defensively, Jensen and Tosse will be at the end positions, Herrera and Furman will man the tackle spots, Davidson and Collin Beaner (5-9, 165, Jr.) will be at linebackers, Fagerland and Luke Storley (5-7, 140, Sr.) at cornerbacks, and Gage Storley at safety.
The Braves defeated Great Plains Lutheran 42-8 on homecoming a year ago and Skogstad is hoping this year’s club can come up with a similar performance.
“They like to run the football, so we need to establish ourselves offensively. Last year we got up a couple of scores early and the wheels on their bus kind of fell off, so our goal is to jump on them early.”
During preseason practices Skogstad has been most pleasantly surprised with the young guys stepping up and filling holes.
“They’ve stepped up nicely and shown us that we can trust them on a Friday night,” said the Braves’ mentor.
B-H does have a couple of injuries prior to the opener. Sophomore Jordan McGregor is likely lost for the season due to a dislocated kneecap, and senior Tucker Mertens will be sidelined for at least six weeks with a knee injury.
Numbers LA Issue
Langford Area’s primary goal is to stay healthy this season with just 18 players on the roster that includes three eighth graders and a couple of foreign exchange students.
“We may have it make adjustments here and there depending on how things go,” said first-year coach Michael Alberts, who takes over the reins from Paul Raasch after serving as an assistant coach the past seven seasons. “But we will do the best we can with who we have, and we just want to keep getting better every time out.”
Named as offensive starters for the Lions against Leola-Frederick are Jesse Keough (180, Sr.) at quarterback, Kalen Godel (160, Jr.) at runningback, Conner Glines (160, Fr.) at wingback, Kassen Keough (150, Fr.) at receiver, Jake Samson 160, So.) and Carter Block (170, Sr.) at the end positions, Keegan Schock (195, Sr.) and Jacob Craig (150, So.) at the guard spots, and Tucker Hardy (250, Fr.) at center.
On the defensive side of the ball Block and Schock will be at the end slots, Hardy and Ryder Smith (245, So.) at tackles, Samson and Godel at outside linebackers, Jesse Keough and Glines at inside linebackers, and Kassen Keough at safety.
Alberts expects Caleb Mertz (160, So.) to also see considerable action, and Smith and Craig will also see time on the offensive and defensive lines respectively.
“We’ll be able to put out a pretty good starting lineup, but we just don’t have depth,” noted Alberts. “We’ll just have to see how far we can go.”