Hilltopper football team will need to replace key players in 2023 season
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THE GLENWOOD CITY FOOTBALL team will kick off its 2023 season at home this Thursday, August 17 when they host Eleva-Strum in a non-conference game. The Hilltoppers look to improve on their 4-5 finish from a year ago. Front row (L to R): Cheerleaders Syd Sroka, Maiya Childs, Sadie Stansbury, Shaylyn Hubbell, Tayler Nutter, Kyra Dahl, Emily Tews, Jayda Howard, Ella Johnson, Lillie McGee and Kayley Dickmann. Second row (L to R): Conner Gross, Steve Booth, Zach Hill, Will Standaert, Eli Nerby, Jackson Halbach, Morgen Eggert, Brett Peterson, Jared Hager, Damian Shervington, and Tucker Augesen. Third row (L to R): Coaches Matt Lamb, Shane Strong, Jordan Myers, and Preston Shelton. Fourth row (L to R): Esdyn Swenby, Andrew Blaser, Blake Fayerweather, Mitchell McGee, Jackson Logghe, Vinnie Wheeler, Charlie Lamb, Logan McVeigh, Preston McNamara, and Blake Blaser. Fifth row (L to R): Ryley Dickman, Landon Obermueller, Mitchell Main, Brady Thompson, Brody Riba, Brody Olson, Vincent Yang, Jacob Hager, Ben Klatt, Logan Klatt, and Carson Anderson. Back row (L to R): Zach Bacon, Logan Hillman, Lucas Halbach, Waylon Wagner, Corey Strong, Brock Wood, Max Peterson, Sawyer Bischel, Tristen Wink, Preston Arvey, Jack Main, and Will Obermueller. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
by Marlys Krueger
Sports Correspondent
GLENWOOD CITY — If the Glenwood City Hilltoppers hope to improve on last year’s record of 4-5 overall and 2-5 in Dunn St. Croix Conference play, they will have to replace four all conference players from that team. Gone are Brady Klatt, the D-SC Conference Defensive Player of the Year along with fellow all conference players Gabe Knops, Nick Hierlmeier and Max Janson.
Three seniors are expected to lead the Toppers this season including Steven Booth, Conner Gross and Morgan Eggert. According to head coach Shane Strong, who begins his 15th season leading the team, Booth has been an outstanding leader in the off season and has been a starter the past two seasons on defense. Strong is looking for him to have a solid year. Gross has made a strong commitment to the weight room with his numbers having jumped significantly since last year and is expected to be a hammer on both sides of the ball. Eggert returns as a strong safety and has a great nose for the ball and runs the alleys well.
Junior Andrew Blaser and sophomore Brody Olson will be battling it out for the starting quarterback position. Both are working hard and are capable of starting. Strong has confidence in both of them and one will play a skill position if they are not at quarterback. Junior Mitchell McGee is the Toppers most experienced running back and had a great off season preparing to be the guy on offense.
Strong believes the team strength is literally just that – their strength. The weight room attendance was awesome in the off season, according to Strong and their offensive line strength numbers went up significantly. This will be very important to the success of the team. They also have some young receivers that can catch the ball and they run well. Their main weakness, like any small school, is depth and they will need to stay healthy to compete in the conference.
“Our goal is to play to the standards/principles of Glenwood City football,” Strong said. “We have specific rules/standards we practice, play and live by. Those are team-related things shared only with our team. We feel that if we play to those standards, we can reach our full potential,” he added.
Defending conference champion Spring Valley along with Boyceville should be top contenders for the conference title, Strong believes. Spring Valley has their entire offensive line back and good skill players while Boyceville has had everything you look for in a championship team the past few years including size, speed, skill and power. Their kids play extremely hard on Friday night and they will be tough to beat with the level of talent they have had, he commented.
Assistant coaches for the team are Matt Lamb, Jordan Myers, and Preston Shelton.
2023 Roster
Seniors: Jackson Halbach, Morgen Eggert, Steven Booth, Eli Nerby, Jared Hager, Zach Hill, Conner Gross, Brett Peterson, Tucker Augeson,Will Standaert, Ben Wittmer
Juniors: Andrew Blaser, Mitch McGee, Blake Fayerweather, Jackson Logghe, Vinnie Wheeler, Charlie Lamb, Esdyn Swenby, Logan McVeigh
Sophomores: Brody Riba, Brody Olson, Brady Thompson, Ben Klatt, Logan Klatt, Landon Obermueller, Jacob Hager, Mitchell Main, Vincent Yang, Preston McNamara
Freshmen: Corey Strong, Jack Main, Brock Wood, Sawyer Bischel, Rylie Dickmann, Max Peterson, Lucas Halbach, Waylon Wagner, Zach Bacon, Triston Wink, Will Obermueller, Logan Hillman, Abe Draxler, Preston Arvey