Alex Eisen/MDN The Lewis & Clark/Berthold Bombers huddle up before the start of a football practice last week in Berthold.

BERTHOLD — Following a 2-14 record over the past two seasons and, more relevantly, a lack of bodies within the program, the Lewis & Clark/Berthold Bombers have rejoined the 9-man football landscape for this upcoming season.

The Bombers stint in Class A, Region 3 lasted for 10 years from 2009 to 2018. They made the playoffs five times and had four winning seasons.

Prior to the move up in 2009, LCB played at the 9-man level.

“It makes the field a lot more wide open,” LCB head coach Matt Eraas said. “It’s definitely going to be a big adjustment. There are going to be some pros and some cons, but we are just going to take it as it comes. Do the best we can week after week.”

The Bombers also had a longstanding co-op with Our Redeemer’s to bring in a few more players but that ended this year as well. ORCS is now filtering players over to in-city rival Bishop Ryan.

Regardless, Eraas hopes the hardships the Bombers have faced recently will lead to more success this season.

“Some of our players are getting a little bit older and we feel we are a little more experienced,” he said. “We think this year could be something that we haven’t seen in a while.”

Sophomore Pat Simons returns as the starting quarterback. He will have a pair of upperclassmen receiving targets with senior Jericho Limke and junior Matt Schauer.

With only a handful of upperclassmen on the roster, Limke and Schauer have had to take on leadership roles.

“We got a lot of younger kids that want to play (defensive back) or safety,” Limke said. “Matt (Schauer) and I also play defensive back, so we will have to lead them, tell them what to do and how to do it.”

Schauer is the only returning captain from last year.

“We aren’t as big, but we do have some speed on this team,” Schauer said. “That’s a big strength. And we have to be able to mentally adapt to contain situations because we have a lot more field to work with. So, we have to be on our man and know our duties.”

A possible area of concern for the Bombers is in the trenches.

“Our front line is kind of up in the air,” Eraas said. “We have had a complete revamp with those guys. We lost everybody from last year, but we have some pretty good prospects.”

LCB opens the season Friday on the road at Surrey.

The last time the Bombers played the Mustangs was back in 2014 at the Class A level. Berthold won that contest in an absolute landslide, 67-0, which remains as one of the biggest shutout wins in school history.

Berthold would certainly take a similar result, especially after only scoring 88 points during the 2018 season and 45 points in 2017.

“You never really know what is coming at you and what the other teams are going to have,” Eraas said. “The only thing you can control is the things you do yourself. So, we are just looking to get out there and play hard.”

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.