Learning, day-by-day approach are goals for Minot North’s first season
Trending
The 2022 season will be the start of something new for Minot North High School. While there will still be time for the school to develop and start, the football team will have their inaugural season this year and the players are ready to put their skills to the test against other teams.
"It's been fun, there are kids who are willing to learn and excited to play football. They just want to play with their friends and play football. The energy around the team is growing as we add more bodies. The more guys we get, the better the energy becomes, and we are just having fun playing a great game," head coach Jacob Holmen tells The Minot Daily News.
Building a football program from the ground up is a rewarding, yet challenging experience and is something that Holmen is embracing. It will be something new for him as well, with Minot North being his first head coaching gig.
One of the most exciting aspects of the start of a new team is the ability to build relationships with the players and to truly get to know them throughout their high school experience. Holmen believes this is one of the advantages of this unique opportunity.
"Looking down the road, we are going to be with these kids for four years, so the relationship side of things, that's what we want our coaching staff to do, and we have really good relationship builders on our staff," Holmen said. "Getting to know the kids and being able to coach them for four years is a huge advantage in knowing how they function, knowing how they play, and teaching our system."
For the Minot North players, they are presented with a unique opportunity as well. While the team will be playing at a freshman level this season, they have the benefit of being able to be coached by a varsity staff which is something that's uncommon in football.
One aspect of this that stands out to Holmen thus far is the ability to have the players watch a lot of film. The team has spent time watching film before practice, which Holmen says is not something that you see very often at the freshman level.
With regular season games starting soon, Holmen's goal for this season is simple: he wants to see the team get better every day, while absorbing everything and having patience with the process.
The expectation for the team this year is that they will place an emphasis on running the ball and will be a physical team on both offense and defense. Holmen says they have athletes in multiple spots, and he would like to spread the ball out and find ways to let them make plays.
Minot North Sentinels played their first game of the season on Aug. 22 and put their skills to the test against Williston.
SCHEDULE
Monday, Aug. 22
Williston 4 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 29
@ Dickinson TBD
Monday, Sept. 5
@ Williston TBD
Thursday, Sept. 15
Dickinson 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 22
@ Bismarck TBD
Thursday, Sept. 29
Minot 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 6
@ St. Mary's TBD
Thursday, Oct. 13
@ Legacy 5 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 17
@ Watford City 4:30 p.m.
ROSTER
No. Name Position
4 Eliah Rogers WR-DB
5 Bransyn Harrington WR-DB
6 Austin Hale WR-DB
7 Elijah Baltazar WR-DB
8 Evan Berg RB-LB
10 Cole Richeson RB-LB
11 Brayden Blikre QB-DB
12 Christian Deadmond QB-LB
14 Jason Spain Jr. RB-DB
16 Eli Lopez WR-DB
17 William Bentley TE-LB
20 Noe Borrego III RB-LB
50 Gavyn McKeithan OL-DL
52 Andres Good OL-DL
54 Curtis Villa OL-DL
55 Ethan Kropp OL-DL
59 Dawson Nicholes OL-DL
70 Liam Loving OL-DL
77 Kolden Hale OL-DL
78 Gabriel Mendez OL-DL
80 Traydon Bachmeier TE-LB