The Thunderhawks kicked off their season this past Friday, August 23rd, defeating Bon Homme 26-12. This Friday, August 30th, the Thunderhawks will have a home game against Gregory in Tripp at 7 p.m.

Previously assistant coach, Mike Erlandson will be the team's Head Coach this year, assisted by Co-Head Coach Gordon Hooks, Brevan Hooks, Adam Miller, and Josh Knodel.

This year’s team will be led by their 11 seniors: Hunter Loeffler, Isaac Wunder, Sabas DeHaan, AJ Johnson, Brayden Ziegler, Garth Maas, Dalton Westendorf, Ty Archambeau, Payton Westendorf, Trey Breuer, and Riley Spaans. Juniors are: Alex Werkmeister, Traeson Weatherford, Kashton Garcia, Takoda Hare, and James Bagent. Jamian Medicine Horn, Grant Wunder, DaMarshay Webbs, Jayden Hinckley, Michael Chasing Hawk, and Oakley Spaans are this year’s sophomore players. Up and coming freshman are: Kale Daugherty, Landon Ronfeldt, Leo Mendoza, Kaylon Beaner, and Kaeson Garcia.

In the off season, the team attended a nine-man team camp at the University of Minnesota at Morris and played well together. Last season’s highlights include it being the first year that they won half of their games in the past several years. The Thunderhawks did not make it past the first round of the 11B playoffs, but they did have some good wins over some better teams. This year’s team will be returning the four all-conference players from last year’s team: Payton Westendorf, Dalton Westendorf, Riley Spaans, and Hunter Loeffler.

The team’s goals for the season are to win over half of their games and make it to the 11B playoffs for the first time since 2018. This year’s team captains are: Sabas DeHaan, Garth Maas, Riley Spaans, and Dalton Westendorf. Other key players that the team will look to are quarterback, Isaac Wunder; running back/linebacker, Hunter Loeffler; wide receiver/slot receiver, AJ Johnson; defensive tackle/center, Ty Archambeau; and offensive guard/linebacker Traeson Weatherford.

The Thunderhawks will face a challenging schedule playing against several teams in the regular season that are ranked in the top ten in this year’s preseason polls including Avon, Corsica-Stickney, and Gregory. With this year’s team having such a large group of seniors that have put in a lot of time in the offseason, Coach Erlandson is looking forward to seeing the team compete in nine-man football this year along with working towards a successful season as a team. His coaching philosophy is “One Team, One Vision, One Family.” With his coaching vision being two-fold, the first part is to win their conference and then the second the State Championship. In order to accomplish these goals, they will need to play as one as well as ensure that they are prepared for each game.

Good luck on your 2024 season, Thunderhawks!