Football is a staple to the american experience. Without it, Sioux Falls would look very different, not to mention how LHS would be different.

Our revered football team would not be able to function, however, without the leadership from their summer captains. Having said this, new captains have been announced for the 2018 season.

The offense captains are juniors Terel Eisenbraun, Zach Hanson, Austin Sorensen, Grant Treiber and sophomores Dylan Hanson and Ayden Sand. The defense captains are juniors Jacob Murphy, Avery Rice, Mitch Eihacker, along with sophomores Ethan Jirsa, Alex Oppold and Jacob Randle. These captains were selected due to a multitude of factors, but the biggest one was weight room attendance.

“We have a point system and we get points from our grades at the end of the year,” said Oppold. “Over the summer we get points for attendance, [wearing the] right attire, lifting, not messing around, daily competitions in the weight room, effort and weekly competitions.”

As rigorous as the football training is, the boys still enjoy playful rivalry between the two different “teams” of offense and defense.

“The team with the most points at the end [of the year] gets steak from coach Fredenburg, while the losing teams just get hot dogs,” said Oppold.

The majority of the football players enjoy the program though, as it pushes them to be the best that they can be on the field. Junior Cole Needles has never been part of a better football program, and is excited for the next season.

“It is a great way to get more people into the weight room and it allows for our team to become more of a brotherhood rather than just teams,” said Needles. “Instead of just seperating ourselves by grades or skill-level, we are bringing everyone together.”

The team is very flexible and works hard to ensure that students do well both on and off the field. They strive to make sure that every student excels and that they have the leadership abilities to lead themselves, and each other, well.

“I can’t even think of a negative thing for the lifting program, because it is overall super positive,” said Needles. “It also improves [the] athletes academic performance because the team with lower grades gets docked points.”

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