Eagles have great expectations

The dawn of a new prep football season is always a mix of anticipation and promise. Everyone starts out at 0-0 with dreams of conference and state championships, of good times and friendships that will last forever. The 2024 Sauk Prairie Eagles are no exception. Sauk Prairie narrowly missed out on its first playoff appearance since 2019 last season, but are hoping to fly high this fall. The Eagles’ first test comes Friday when they host Baraboo at 7 p.m. “Our theme is ‘Our future is now,’ ” fourth-year head coach Randy Wallace said. “Zach Rothman and I will be calling the offense for the second year, so it will be good. There will be more consistency. There will be some growing pains on defense, but I think we will be fine. “We have a staff that has been together for three years. The team captains are stepping up and taking a leadership role. Overall, we’re looking forward to the new season.” Sauk Prairie improved by two games for the second year in a row last season, finishing 4-5 overall, including a 3-4 mark that tied for fourth place in the Badger Small Conference.  While Sauk Prairie’s record in conference play was its best mark since going 4-3 in 2019, the Eagles lost out on tiebreaker criteria for that elusive playoff spot. Senior defensive end Mason Betley, one of Sauk Prairie’s four team captains, can’t wait to kick off the season and begin chasing a postseason berth. “Ever since we were little, we knew this year was going to be something special when we got to be seniors,” Betley said. “The class below us has a bunch of good guys. We’ve always been saying the dynasty has arrived.  “So, our time is now thinking kind of came from that, thinking that it’s our time. It’s right now.” Wallace said you can feel a sense of urgency that has carried over from a summer spent in the weight room and during the Eagles’ contact days this summer. “One positive this year is that we’re deep in a lot of spots that we haven’t been deep in the past,” Wallace said. “That’s good because you can see the competition coming out in the kids. “You can’t be complacent in your spot because someone’s coming for it. That has increased the intensity in camp, too.” Senior inside linebacker Lawson Maier, a returning all-conference honorable mention selection, agreed the Eagles’ future is now. “Our mindset is different this year,” he said. “We’re coming in to win every game and playing until the end instead of just trying to scrape by. We’re going to make the playoffs this year. We’re confident in that.”    Eagles’ offense ready to fly Wallace is excited about the growth in Sauk Prairie’s spread zone offense from last season, which returns all five starters on the offensive line, along with one of the most lethal passing attacks in the area. It all starts with the line, which includes senior Logan McIntyre at left tackle, and senior Collin Jadack — who earned honorable mention all-league honors — at left guard. They join senior Drew Deuman at center, junior Jake Buckles right guard and junior Lane Albers at right tackle. “Our offensive line has done really well in camp,” Wallace said. “Everything has been clean and they’re playing well together. Even when we’re subbing guys in, they’re in sync. “Jake really stepped it up last season. It was neat to see him take on a leadership role and be poised to be a major leader in the next two years. We’re excited about that.”  Also, a team co-captain, Buckles enters his third year as a starter after earning all-conference second team honors a year ago. He can’t wait to show what the unit can do. “What I like about our offensive line is that we’re very experienced,” Buckles said. “You see it in practice. The confidence is there. We’ve put in a lot of work. We’re not 6-6, 300 pounds. But we sure play like it, and we work out butts off. I’m really excited the jump our line is going to take this year.” Wallace said the time the unit has spent in the weight room and bonding off the field make it potentially one of the team’s strengths this season.  “Junior Curtis Hankins is right there on the cusp of being able to jump in there and do some things for us,” Wallace added. “If somebody goes down, he’s the next man up. Just his growth from his freshman year has been impressive.”  Jump-starting the attack will be senior Landon Schultz, who returns for his second season as the team’s starting quarterback. Schultz took over the position in the second week last season, then completed 115 of 249 passes for 1,566 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions to earn all-conference honorable mention honors.  Schultz also proved to be elite at running the ball, rushing 61 times for 303 yards (5.0 average) and five touchdowns.  “We’re looking to get a little more opportunity to get him outside and use his legs more this year. He had plenty of drives last year that he kept alive with his legs,” Wallace said of Schultz. “His improvement is his confidence in his ability and understanding the offense.” Schultz’s connection with senior Boden Frosch, who will be a three-year starter, made the offense go a year ago.  One of the state’s elite receivers, Frosch earned unanimous first-team all-conference honors after being a second-team selection as a sophomore. He caught 63 passes for a 1,047 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago. “They have a special chemistry,” Wallace said of Schultz and Frosch, who are also co-captains this season. “But a lot of it is Boden understanding the game plan and being patient. Just knowing he will get his touches because Landon was doing a good job with his reads during camp this last week.” Junior Kade Kinney will anchor the tight end position. The Eagles’ offense also got a boost at wide receiver in the off-season with the addition of two first-year players, who opted to join the team for their senior seasons. Nick Keyser and Casey Brickl, who both played soccer the past three seasons, will add depth at receiver.  “Me and Casey were iffy about it last year,” Keyser said. “But we figured senior year, we’d play something else.” A starting guard in basketball, Keyser brings his athleticism and competitive nature to the team. At 6-foot-4, Brickl, who also will play a key role on the basketball team this winter, adds another dimension to the offense. “Just to have those guys stepping out who hadn’t come out before, takes some stress off Boden and will be huge when we start the season,” Wallace said. “Junior Blayze Caldwell will also contribute.” Junior Wyatt Gibbs returns to lead the backfield, which will include Maier and Braden Schaaf, who is out for football for the first time. “It’s been fun just to see the competition there. The depth gives us a little more flexibility which is awesome,” Wallace said. “Maier will run more tackle to tackle while Gibby prefers outside the tackles. Schaaf, another basketball player, came out this year and will also be in the mix. Braden’s really given us a spark, which is pretty, cool to see in camp.”  Schultz said he expects the Eagles’ offense, which averaged 21 points and 292 yards per game a year ago, to take another positive step this season.  “We need to have more consistency everywhere, in tackling, blocking, catching, route running, and have everyone on the same page,” Schultz said. “The more consistency you have as a team, the better you play.”   Defense on the rise The defense, which showed dramatic improvement a year ago, returns six players who earned all-conference honors. The defensive line, like the offensive line, also returns intact this season and adds a promising freshman to the mix. Buckles, an honorable mention all-league selection, finished with 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He is joined by junior Max Fuller in the middle. Sophomore Brendan Marquardt will also challenge for playing time. But freshman Jameson Lewellin emerged as a player to watch in off-season workouts and preseason camp. “He’s repping some offense but will concentrate on defense for now,” Wallace said. “Jameson will allow us to move Buckles around a little bit. He’s got some learning to do, but he will be fine.” Junior Riley Jadack, who finished with 42 tackles and 2.5 sacks, will anchor the line at one end after earning second-team all-conference honors. Betley, also a returning starter at end, earned honorable mention all-league recognition and emerged as an energetic leader a year ago after finishing with 33 tackles and four sacks in eight games. “We bring back a lot of the same guys, so it’s looking good,” Betley said. “We have a great chemistry together. Me and Riley as the edge rushers, it’s looking great.  “All the mistakes we made last year, we’re thinking about what we can do better. It’s so amazing to have a young team coming back this year that has all that experience from last year.” Replacing the graduated Brason Ballweg, a unanimous first-team all-conference selection at inside linebacker, will be tough. He had a team-high 101 tackles and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Buckles is also competing with junior Bryan Breunig inside. “Brason is a big loss, but senior Lawson Maier is back and will be one of our leaders on defense,” Wallace said. “Junior Austin ‘A.J.’ Klemm will also compete for playing time.” Wallace said in the defensive backfield, the Eagles return juniors Trent Backeberg, who played a hybrid linebacker/safety position, and safety Cayden Hermsdorf. The duo both earned all-league honorable mention honors a year ago. Backeberg had 36 tackles and a team-best three interceptions, while Hermsdorf finished with 35 tackles. “At cornerback, we’re still working it out,” Wallace said. “We have a sophomore, Jackson Martin, and are looking at Wyatt Gibbs there. Nick Keyser could see some action out there, and Blayze Caldwell, a junior. Those are the top guys we’re looking at there at the position.” “We’re an old defense, but we’re still a young defense. All those guys played a lot for us with the exception Jackson stepped up and Blaze, who subbed in for us.    Kicking game  surprise When Connor Breunig, who earned all-state and all-Badger Small Conference first team honors at punter a year ago graduated, that left big shoes to fill on the special teams units. But the addition of Keyser, who was a starting outside backer on the soccer team, was a pleasant surprise for the Eagles.  “Nick will handle both the punting and kicking duties,” Wallace said. Added Betley: “It was such a relief. We had to convince him to play. It was ‘come out and play football, it’s super fun.’ You’re going to get a starting position as a kicker automatically.  “That was a big motivator for him to come out. That was such a relief, because we didn’t know who would step up into that position. Now we’ve got Nick, and we’re looking good.”   New league,  new goals Wallace said he likes the Eagles’ attitude on and off the field. “They’re really set on one game at a time and making the playoffs. The guys have bought into the mentality of its not what we lost, but who’s next to make a play,” he said. The Badger Small Conference underwent some major revisions in the off-season.  DeForest, Fort Atkinson and Monona Grove moved to the Badger Large, while Lakeside Lutheran and Madison Edgewood moved from the Capitol to the Badger Small. “This is a good conference for us,” Schultz said. “We have a really, good chance to win conference. I don’t believe there is a single team we don’t have a chance against.” Wallace said the Eagles believe they are better than the fourth-place team they were voted on by league coaches. “As three-time defending champions, Mount Horeb is still the team to beat, and Stoughton finished strong,” Wallace said. “Lakeside has had a solid program, and Edgewood is very competitive. Portage has an improving program, too, so, it will be a tough league.” But all that matters to the Eagles is keeping the program moving in the right direction. “My grade, and the seniors, a lot of people talked about how good we would be in high school,” Buckles said. “The future is now. We can be even better next year and the years after. Randy and the coaches have been building an amazing program. The future is now, and what Sauk Prairie football will be for many years to come.” At the end of the day, though, it comes to playing the game on Friday night. “Everyone believes we can be conference champions this year, that we can beat every single team on our schedule,” Frosch said. “We all have high expectations for this team this year.  “We believe our future is now. We’re trying to set the tone for the rest of the program, something they can carry on after we graduate. Building up this program has been our goal.”