The Minnewaska Area football team went 2-7 overall during the 2023 season, which included a 2-5 mark in the sub-district.  The Lakers were seeded fifth for the Section 6AAA Tourney and Minnewaska lost at fourth-seeded Sauk Centre in the opening round, 52-18.

Albany and Rockford tied for top honors in the Mid State Northwest White Football sub-district with 6-1 league records, followed by Pierz (5-2),  Montevideo (4-3), Howard Lake-WW (3-4), Sauk Centre and Minnewaska (both 2-5) and Melrose Area (0-7).

“I thought that we definitely made some positive strides this year, and there is a lot of room for growth,” second-year head coach Jared Lyle said.  “What I am most proud of is that our kids, no matter the score, played hard from start to finish.”

The Lakers opened up the 2023 season with a 40-20 loss to Morris Area, a game in which the Lakers were within striking range for most of the first half.

Following a 46-8 loss at Sauk Centre and 35-0 loss at home to Pierz, the Lakers picked up their first win with a 18-12 overtime victory at Howard Lake-WW, Sept. 22.

The next three weeks were losses as Minnewaska fell to Rockford in the Homecoming game, 34-7, and then lost at home to Francis O’Malley and the Montevideo Thunderhawks, 44-22, before losing at Albany, 52-6.

In the final regular season game, the Lakers won at Melrose Area, 28-6, before the season came to an end with the loss to Sauk Centre in the playoff opener.

Sauk Centre scored a touchdown on four of its first five possessions on the way to the section victory and the early touchdowns included a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown after the Mainstreeters had sacked Waska quarterback Levi Johnson and the ball popped loose, falling into the arms of Tucker Kuhlmann, who ran untouched the other way to give Sauk Centre an early 16-0 lead.

“That fumble proved to be a giant turn in the game,” coach Lyle said.  “Sauk Centre has some good talent up front; their front four and linebackers are pretty dang good football players.”

Albany went on to beat NLS for the section title, 24-23, before going on to lose to Dilworth-GF in the state quarterfinals, 33-6.

Minnewaska Area seniors who played their last game at Sauk Centre were Austin Ballhagen, Austin Weber, Nathan Dell, Bode DeZelar, Jack Majerus, Myles Reichmann, Austin Hoverud, Cole Kittelson, Kenneth Czech, John Jenson and Ben Jenson.

•  This year’s roster included 11 seniors, 16 juniors and 20 sophomores for a total of 47 players in grades 10-12.  Assisting Lyle this fall were Matt Meagher, Jason Weber, Jeremy Christensen, Brian Gruber, Zach Traphagen and Nathan Snider.

“Every group is different, but I will miss this group of seniors and all that they brought to our program,” coach Lyle said.  “I told them that any success we have in the future is a direct correlation of the work and foundation they laid down this year; they really exemplified what it meant to be a Laker.”

•  The Lakers were 62-of-135 passing for 810 yards this season with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.  Levi Johnson was the main quarterback this year, completing 60-of-128 passes for 836 yards, while Marc Gruber was 2-of-7 for another 19 yards.

Laker quarterbacks were also sacked nine times for minus-45 yards, while the Lakers had 11 sacks this season.

Austin Ballhagen was the main receiver, catching 26 passes for 329 yards.  Tristan O’Neill was next with 10 receptions for 178 yards, while Austin Weber had seven catches for 100 yards, Luke Danielson had six for 139, Owen Meulebroeck had four for 53, Myles Reichmann had four catches for 14 yards, Zach Guggisberg had three for 27, and Carter Huckle and Kaiden Harvey also had one catch each.

Jack Majerus did the bulk of the groundwork for the Lakers this season, rushing 129 times for 595 net yards and two touchdowns (4.61 average per rush).  Overall, the Lakers rushed 283 times for 1,193 net yards, or 4.22 yards per try.

Levi Johnson rushed 42 times for 72 yards, while Asante Adams ran 38 times for 183 yards, Carter Meyer had 36 carries for 158 yards, Myles Reichmann ran 17 times for 121 yards, and Kearri Dickens had 10 rushes for 44 yards.

On defense, tackle statistics were not available, but the Lakers did record 11 sacks this season with Adams recording three; Meyer and Kaiden Harvey earning two sacks, and Connor Frey, Dickens, Meulebroeck and Reichmann ending the season with one sack each.

The Lakers also had five interceptions for the season with Marc Gruber snaring two and Weber, Danielson and Reichmann ending with one interception each.

Meyer had two of his team’s four fumble recoveries, while Frey and Reichmann both had one.

The top returnmen for the Lakers this year were Weber, Dickens, Adams and O’Neill.  Dickens had 14 kickoff returns for 214 yards, while Adams had nine for 168 yards, O’Neill had 11 for 128, Weber had four for 53 yards, Danielson had four for two, and Meulebroeck had three for 19 yards.

Riley Dell and Austin Ballhagen shared punting duties with Dell punting 27 times and averaging 25 yards a boot and Ballhagen punting four times with a 24.5 average.

Zach Gugisberg was the kicker for the Lakers this year.  He was 0-for-1 on field goals and 5-of-7 on extra-points.

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