Bladt Hopes Young Cyclones Will Learn From Season of 'Adversity'

Bladt Hopes Young Cyclones Will Learn From Season of 'Adversity' –

(11-2-23) - Despite the loss to Creston in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs, Harlan Community football Coach Todd Bladt knows his players gave their all this season.

“I'm so proud of these guys. The amount of adversity that they have faced this year, what they've been able to overcome and the effort that they have put in, it truly is incredible.”

Injuries forced younger players to have to step up and made the trek through this 6-4 season difficult. But Bladt and his coaching staff instill in their players they won’t ever quit, no matter the circumstances.

“Cyclone football players play hard and they never give up. There is no give up in them and they battled the whole way down the stretch all the way through major adversity.”

Bladt says he’ll miss the little things when it comes to his senior class. 13 seniors, Brehden Eggerss, Will Arkfeld, Ian Kearney, Cade Sears, Quinn Koesters, Elmer Argueta, Jason Erlemeier, Noah Schmitz, Matthew Sorfonden, Stephen Fah, Franz Reisz, Gavin Bruck, and Kyre Nielsen, left their mark on this team and great impressions on their coach.

“Our seniors are great leaders. They're great people. They're great citizens and to have that kind of adversity overcome it and come down here and almost pull an upset here.”

Those seniors also are the foundation for how the returning players will be able to improve for next season.

“Winning football games is very difficult. Everyone wants to win. Everyone puts in the time. I think that the leadership and the ability to stay positive, stay the course, trust the coaches, trust the process, what we are doing here and that kind of groundwork has been laid by those 13 seniors that were a part of this program. And that's instilled into those young guys and now we look for great things under these guys.”

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