Lynx aim for football state title

While the rest of 11AAA will kick off their 2017 campaign Friday night across The Rushmore State, the Lynx will have to wait until Saturday evening to showcase their squad. For a second straight season Brandon Valley will begin the year hosting Washington in the 17^th annual Pigskin Classic. The Warriors topped the Lynx 27-22 to start the season last year and the two heavyweights also closed out the season against one another in the 11AAA title game. Washington came out on top then as well, 41-31.

The Lynx, are no doubt, using those losses as motivation in their revenge against the defending champs this weekend.

“Hopefully we’ll get some revenge, but it’s just a great start for our kids and our staff to figure out where we are at and what we need to adjust going forward,” Lynx head coach Chad Garrow said. “Those are the benefits of playing someone good right away.”

The Lynx are looking to build off of their 8-4 season that brought home a state runner-up trophy, but will have to do so with several new players in the trenches. Coach Garrow and his staff have replaced 22 seniors that graduated and he’s hoping his 16 new upperclassmen can carry the torch. Brandon Valley does have the luxury of returning their leading rusher from a year ago, Braiden Petersen, who believes his class is ready to take the program to the next level.

“We’re very hungry and ready to get back at the Warriors,” Petersen said. “We have a lot of talent coming in, but we are a little short on guys. The talent that we do have is top-tier talent, so I think we should be pretty good.”

Petersen rushed for 1,049 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior. While No. 18 uses his fancy footwork to find the end zone, his senior counterpart Cade Terveer will use his power to pummel his way across the pylon. Although Terveer will be used to give Petersen a break on offense, it’s his defensive play that will lead the Lynx. Terveer paced his team in tackles with 58 in the 2016 season and put fear into opposing quarterbacks by racking up 13.5 sacks last year. 

The tailback tandem will have plenty of help surrounding them, thanks to fellow seniors Jacob King and Cole Jensen and “bash-brothers,” Blake Larson and Max Howard, fighting in the trenches. Howard, a 6-foot-6 lineman, has verbally committed to play football at South Dakota State.

The biggest question surrounding the Lynx this offseason is who will replace Alex Waltner under center? Garrow, a quarterback guru, has narrowed the search down to three guys. A pair of sophomores, Ty McCann and Thomas Scholten, are trying to keep their names in the running against senior Mason VanWeston, who started at safety last year for the Lynx. Regardless of who wins the starting job, they will have to replace the 2,006 passing yards and 20 TD tosses Waltner cashed in last fall. Those are big shoes to fill, Garrow said, but the Lynx feel whomever gets the job will lead them in the right direction.

“They are all very talented. They all have different attributes that they are going to bring to the table, so I am excited to see who comes out on top,” Petersen shared.

“It’s hard, obviously with sophomores, just because of the lack of game experience. You know when the lights turn on and you have everyone running around you, it’s a lot different,” Garrow said of his sophomore quarterbacks. “Mason has played a lot of JV and he started at safety on defense, so he has a little bit more maturity and you always like that out of a senior,” he noted about the senior quarterback, who went 1-for-2 for 10 yards in 2016.

Brandon Valley will play a tough schedule including games against the other four Metro Conference teams from Sioux Falls. Washington is obviously the favorite with a big chunk of their roster returning, but Roosevelt will be in the conversation as well as O’Gorman under second-year head coach Jayson Poppinga. Brandon Valley will also clash with members of ESD including Aberdeen Central, Watertown, and both Rapid City schools. 

With so many new faces it’s hard to say how the Lynx will fare in 2017, but if all goes as according to plan, they should once again be a major contender in 11AAA heading into the post-season.

“We always think that we should be in the top four, so nothing changes with that,” Garrow said about his team’s expectations. “It might be a little rough early on with so many new faces stepping up, but we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, if we do take a loss our guys don’t get discouraged and can look ahead to the finished product,” he added.

Petersen believes the team will gel over the next few months.

“I hope to see us do well. I think we have a lot of time to mature and over the next three months we’ll be a good team,” Petersen remarked.

 The Lynx and Warriors will clash this Saturday in Brandon at 7 p.m. If you are unable to make it to the 17^th annual Pigskin Classic you can watch the game live on Lynx TV, HD channel 226 through Alliance Communications or via TheCube.com.