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LAUREL - Izak Reifenrath opens his first campaign as head Bear on the sidelines here in a couple of weeks on the gridiron.
Reifenrath began his coaching career helping on the court in the winters and on the course in the spring, but this will be his first venture into being the head man at the school he performed at just a few years back.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge returns five starters on both sides of the ball and 11 letter winners from a team that finished 1-7 last year under former coach, Alan Gottula.
“We will be a very young team coming into the fall,” said Reifenrath. “We have a couple of key returners that will help guide this young team.”
The five returning starters played on both sides of the ball.
Kolten Settje is the lone returning starter that is a senior and should be one of the main weapons in the offensive backfield.
Juniors, Cade Johnson and Kyle Rasmussen return on the interior and Tanner Thompson as a receiver and in the defensive backfield along with all-around athlete, Drey Puppe, a sophomore.
“Drey will be our ‘x-factor’ meaning he can play any position on the field except for lineman,” said the coach. “He has speed, can throw and can run, so we will be looking for as many ways to get him the ball as possible. He will also take on an increased amount of playing time on the defensive side of the ball, as a freshman he stepped in and played some defense as well. I’m really looking forward to what Drey can do for us this season.”
The new coach called Johnson perhaps the leader of his young team.
“Cade is probably the leader of this young team, he has come in and played at the varsity level as a freshman so we hope to see a big time jump out of him this fall,” Reifenrath said. “He loves to win and is always working his tail off to get better. He will be a key player for us throughout the season on both sides of the ball.”
Another lineman the coach will be looking to lead is Rasmussen.
“Kyle will play a key role for us throughout the year,” said the coach. “He started playing more varsity minutes at the end of last season and he will continue to play a bigger role at the varsity level.
“He is a good receiving threat to have while also being a great run blocker to follow. On defense, he will play a big role for us at defensive end, controlling the edge.”
Reifenrath also analyzed Thompson’s ability.
“Tanner is another one of those guys you can kind of move all over the field,” Reifenrath said. “He will have an increasing role on the offensive side of the ball and was kind of a back up guy on defense last season until he earned his spot on the field, ever since then he was a pivotal guy for us. We are hoping to see him take another step forward this year.”
Tyler Boysen is another multi-use player for the Bears this season.
“Tyler is a very versatile player for us,” said the coach. “He is the kind of guy we can move all over the field on the offensive side of the ball. On defense, he will also see an increased role with his playing time.”
The biggest objective for the preseason is to find the right person to start the LCC offense.
“One of our biggest areas for concern will be at the quarterback position,” said Reifenrath. “We will find our best possible option for that.”
Three seniors, three juniors and another sophomore return to fill out the returning letter winners and other hopefuls to assist in 2025.
Boysen, Jaylen Carpenter and Dillon Munter are the returning seniors; Paul Allison, Talon Carson and Ian Sohler are the returning juniors and the other sophomore is Dayton Korth.
The Bears open the 2025 campaign entertaining Guardian Angels Central Catholic on Aug. 29 before hitting the road to take on Pender on Sept.5.
The Bears will travel to take on Tri-County Northeast in Emerson on Sept. 12 then host Lutheran High Northeast on Sept. 19. They will finish the month in Tilden to take on Elkhorn Valley on Sept. 26.
