By: Con Marshall
The first 12 days of fall football practice went well for the Chadron State Eagles, Head Coach Jay Long said late last week.
“We’ve had real productive practices and I expect that to continue,” Long said. “The players have worked hard. We’re getting better every day. So far the focus has been on us. We’ve concentrated on what we’re going to do. During this week, we’ll spend more time preparing for Northern State.”
Long is speaking of the Northern State Wolves of Aberdeen, S.D., where the Eagles will open the season on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 5 p.m. MT.
The Eagles have won just one of the previous seven games with the Wolves and were held scoreless in four of them. But it’s been a long time since the teams have met on the gridiron. The last time was 1987, nearly 40 years ago.
The Wolves initially blanked the Eagles 40-0 and 48-0 in 1962 and ’63. The second game was played at Aberdeen about the same time as the Fischer quintuplets were born there. That was the first time all five quints born in the United States had survived.
Afterwards, CSC Coach Jim Kuechler observed, “They do things in a big way up there.”
Northern also won 17-7 at Aberdeen in 1976, but the Eagles prevailed in1977 while winning their Homecoming contest over the Wolves 31-6. Coached by Sparky Adams, Chadron State won its final six games and finished 8-2 that season. All 11 CSC seniors were starters.
The teams also played three times in the 1980s with Northern winning 17-0 in ’83, 37-0 in ’84 and 30-16 in ’87.
Last fall, Northern State finished with a 7-4 record and had a potent offense. The Wolves outscored their opponents 385 to 315 points and out-yarded them 457 to 379 per game while leading the Northern Sun Conference in total offense.
Last year’s leading rusher, Wyatt Block, ran for 1,271 yards and scored nine touchdowns but he was a senior. In addition, neither of the quarterbacks who shared that position last fall is on this year’s roster.
During the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll in July, Northern was picked to finish sixth overall in the 14-team conference, one notch below Wayne State, the only Nebraska team in the league.
The Wolves’ head coach is Mike Schmidt, who has 30-25 record through his five years at the helm. He’s also in charge of the team’s defense. Northern has a new offensive coordinator, Keifer Price, who was the offensive line coach a year ago, his first with the team.
Chadron State Defensive Coordinator Clint Sasse said it’s a challenge to play the season opener against a team with a new offensive coordinator, but noted that practicing against Chadron State’s multiple offense directed by Micah Smith helps prepare his unit for “just about anything.”
“If we do things right, our defense should work,” Sasse said. “We’ve got a good group. They have good speed, they are tough and disciplined. But we still have to execute.”
Sasse added that the Eagles have good depth in most positions.
“A lot of our guys got to play last year and know what it’s like to be on the field,” the coach noted.
Smith also had good things to say about the Eagles’ offense.
“We’ve had to replace three starters in the offensive line and two wide receivers, but we have a lot of good people to choose from,” he said. “I’m excited.”
In particular, Smith said the Eagles are fortunate to have two excellent quarterbacks in senior Aidan Thompson and sophomore Wyatt Sprague, and have ample depth at running back.
The offensive coordinator also said Koye Gilbert and Colter Hanft, both at least 6-foot-4, 250, are “traditional tight ends who can both catch the ball and block and will be among the best in the conference at their position.”
Smith also said the line, led by senior center Dominic Castanon, is shaping up. He added that sophomores DeAndre Berry and Corben Holler were starters last fall and noted at least six capable candidates are battling for playing time up front.
Head Coach Long, who also coaches the offensive line, agrees that Castanon is a special player. Long said the Californian is of the same category as Sam Parker, Jake Geil and Michael DeCaillis, all of whom have been selected as All-RMAC centers during the 15 years he’s been the Eagles’ head mentor.
Parker received the honor three times.
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As usual, the Eagles ran up what used to be called the King’s Chair after they had completed their two-a-day workouts. Nowadays the Eagles only practice once a day during the preseason and this year classes are beginning later than usual, and the “chair” at the top of this hill south of the college has disintegrated. But the players still went up the hill last Saturday. It was halfway through the preseason workouts.