This year’s Red Raider football season kicked off with an away game on August 23 in Chamberlain. The Raiders took the win with a score of 34-8. Their next regular season game will be played on August 30th at 7 p.m. in Winner with the following week of September 6th being the Raider’s first home game against Hot Springs.

This season, the Wagner Red Raiders are being led by Head Coach, Hunter Hewitt. This is Coach Hewitt’s second year as head coach of the team. He is assisted by Riley Kirwan, Trevor Greger, Jason Knebel and Michael Koupal.

Senior members of the team are Hunter Lhotak, Parker Petry, Gabe Houseman, Preston McFayden, Carter Smejkal, Glen Weston and Frank Soukup. Juniors on the team include Slaten Podzimek, Brayden Kreber, Gannon Knebel, Trey Segura, Shea Kjeldgaard, Ky Arpan, Johnny Redlightning, Kobe Drapeau, Kasen Krans and Kenny Weddell. Javian Pesicka, Carlos Galindo, Beau Otte, Trasin Dilts, Octavian Kocer and Winston Little Moon are the sophomore team members. Freshmen team members include Richie Turner, Bodie Chafin, Radek Kotab, Gavin Tjeerdsma, Cruise Koupal, Payne Petry, Steven Peters III and Bennet Kuhlman. The two eighth grade team members are Thane Tjeerdsma and Jaxton Hill.

The team attended the South Dakota State University (SDSU) team camp for three days this summer. The camp included individual drills with SDSU coaches and players. It also allowed the team as a whole to compete against local schools and teams from Minnesota and Iowa.

Last year’s season ended with a 6-3 record and Wagner hosting a playoff game. The team had multiple all conference players and two players that were named to the All-State team.

This season’s goals are to see improvement every week as well as to grow as a team and family. Parker Petry, Hunter Lhotak, Kobe Drapeau, Gannon Knebel, Carlos Galindo, and Javian Pesicka will be key players for the team this year. The team’s toughest games will come against Elk Point-Jefferson, Winner, and Hot Springs.

As the Head Coach, Hunter is looking forward to watching his team grow on and off the field. He believes that in order to be successful, they have to build a competitive environment on the practice field. Competition builds excellence. If coaches and teammates are not pushing each other, it will be tough to be competitive on Friday nights.

Best of luck Red Raiders on your 2024 season!