Sports
New region, new class, nothing new for Sioux
Tyler Ohmann
08/27/2013
It is another year and another region for the Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn Sioux. After the recent restructuring the Sioux dropped back down to nine-man football after two years at the Class A level.
However, it’s something they’re used to.
“It’s nothing new for us. It’s been enjoyable to come back, because we get some great rivalries returning,” said Sioux head coach Tom Nesvold about entering Region 3 of nine-man. “I guess we’ll have to watch a lot of film.”
One thing Nesvold does know is that the region they are now in is going to be a tough one. Region 3 includes nine-man State Champion Divide County as well as nine-man semifinalist Towner-Granville-Upham.
“It’s a great region. It’s a tough region,” Nesvold said. “It’s loaded, and it’s going to be interesting. The four teams that make the playoffs are going to be four teams that really deserve it this year.”
How to win that region and enter the playoffs is simple for Nesvold.
“Win the ones you’re supposed to and even the ones that are toss-ups or that you aren’t supposed to win, you have to find a way to come out with a victory in those,” Nesvold said. “Our goals is always to vie for a region title, and if you get to the playoffs like last year, you never know what will happen.”
The Sioux return only five starters from a team that finished runner-up in the Dakota Bowl in Class A in 2012. After going 5-4 in the regular season and 5-2 in their region they rattled off three straight playoff wins, but lost 55-28 to Hazen in the Dakota Bowl in November.
That loss made quarterback Hunter Braaten, who is back for his senior season, hungry for a title this year.
“Being my last year it makes me want it that much more,” Braaten said. “I want to make it to the championship and win it this time.”
Braaten is one of three seniors, joining Ethan Miller and Hawkin Smette as two-way players for the Sioux.
Braaten was first-team All-State in 2012, and he doesn’t believe that the Sioux are that much different of a team, despite a starting offensive line that is all sophomores.
“We lost a lot, but the team isn’t a whole lot different, because we had experience with younger players last year,” Braaten said. “Chase (Conway) and Dustin (Weeks) they started for us last year and a lot of younger guys got playing time.”
Both Braaten and Nesvold agree that a key to winning is teaching the younger players how to be more physical.
“We have got to play physical,” Braaten said. “We’re a young team and we’ve got to get used to the physicalness of the game.”
“We’ve got to take that next step and get more physical,” Nesvold said. “We’re physical enough right now, but you’ve got to really get into it, and time will tell.”
So far in practice Braaten believes that progress is being made.
“Practice has been going pretty good,” Braaten said. “We’ve had one or two sluggish days, but other than that we’ve had good practices.”
Some of the younger players that will compete for starting jobs for the Sioux include: juniors Nathan Gunning, Logan Tofteland, Zac Zahn, Michael Lemay, Brennan Lowell, Chance Kitzman, and sophomores Brandon Chalfnat, Chas Tofteland, Jon Heth, Reese Schell, Tim Kraft and Shane Getchell.
The Sioux open their season tonight at 7 p.m. in Glenburn against Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood.
“We’re expecting to win, but we have to take care of business in practice to win that game,” Braaten said.
The Sioux believe that they can overcome moving to a different region for the third time in four years, but they also know it might take some time.
“We’ve got a lot of great younger kids, and we’ve got three great seniors coming back,” Nesvold said. “We’ve got an entire sophomore line, and it’s going to be key, seeing how they come together.”
“We’ve got some athletes and we’re a little young, but as the season goes on we’ll put some things together,” Nesvold added.
WNG was predicted to finish fourth in both the coaches poll and the pigskin preview poll.