On August 30, Faith Lutheran’s middle school tackle football teams took the field,

hoping to recover from last year’s losses.

    As of October 1, the A-Team stands at 1-1 overall, and the B-team stands

undefeated at 5-0.

     A-Team’s head coach, Mr. Cy Frederick, said “[the team] needs to be able to

recognize, understand that we are a talented group, capable of great things.”

     This season, the A-Team developed strong overall bonds which overcame any

kinks in their communication.

     Dylan Krueger, eighth grade A-Team quarterback, feels the team needs to

develop a stronger game-time mentality.

     “We get intimidated, and that’s when we get scared, and the team breaks down,”

said Krueger.

     Assistant B-Team coach, Mr. Ben Ersland, said the low number of players on this

year’s team makes up the B-Team’s biggest challenge.

     “With only 23 on the B-Team, there is no depth at some positions and practicing

against a scout team can be difficult,” said Ersland.

     The B-Team, despite the number of low players, found a solution to their

problem, by playing “ironman football”. “Ironman football” is a term for when a player

plays two positions. When a player plays two positions, it wears the team twice as much

when playing a game, due to playing two players’ positions.

     “Everybody play both offense and defense,” said Ersland, “a few play more

offense, and a few play more defense. Several start both ways.”

     Despite all these challenges, both teams still expect successful seasons. Krueger

said the A-Team’s strength is being “the underdogs of the year.”

     “When great things happen, we can be a great team, and we’re able to stick in

those tough games,” said Krueger.

     Nate Meredith, eighth grade A-team linebacker, said the team’s strength lies

(through) coming in clutch during the fourth quarter, “where it matters the most.”

     Jake Christiansen, eighth grade, says the A-team’s strength lies in their great

chemistry.

     “[We] are all like brothers, and we all bond together on the field,” said

Christiansen.

     For some players on the team, their drive comes from a true love of the game.

Meredith has a unique perspective, saying “Football is like poetry on the field.”

     As for the B-Team, Ersland said, “When all players realize that playing up to their

potential could make the team great, they will be difficult for any team to beat.”

     “There isn’t much hidden potential of the B-Team players-they show it all on the

field,” added Ersland.

     Ersland also believes the B-Team will do well as the A-Team next year. “This

team will play very well as A team next year as they understand how to play football with

full effort. A little more depth will help solidify them as a solid football class.”

     The middle school student body appears to be split over this year’s anticipated

performance. Seventh graders Richard “Ricky” Remley and Ethan Schwartz have

different viewpoints of this year’s seasons.

     “The B team has a really big chance of winning; since they’re doing really good

right now,” said Schwartz.

     Remley said, “I think the B team would definitely win this year, and maybe the A

team this year, their chance is pretty high and they’ll probably get second.”

     Players and coaches both agree the season shows overall success this year.

“The coaches are really good, they know how to coach, and they care a lot about

you[us],” said Christiansen.

     ” The season is going great. We are 1-0 in league and 1-1 overall. We have had

a great start to the year and are looking forward to many close fought games that

hopefully end in victory for FL,” said Frederick. (as of September 21st)