(Audubon) Former Audubon Wheeler Josh Lange had a breakout sophomore season on the football team at Buena Vista. Lange caught 36 passes for 390 yards in his 2nd season in Storm Lake.
His production exceeded his expectations. “It’s kind of crazy how it turned around like that. I played a little bit my freshman year. Going into my sophomore year I didn’t know how much I’d play. I’m still pretty young and we had quite a few other guys that moved positions and became receivers. I was number two on the team in receiving and it was really fun because I really learned a lot between my first and second year.”
He credits All-American wide receiver Eric Pacheco for showing him the ropes and says a lot of hard work and film study paid off. “I studied a lot of football and worked my butt off during the offseason.” Lange says, “I really learned a lot more about coverage, learned the playbook, and it really clicked and made me be able to start over those other guys.”
Lange admits he wasn’t in great football shape in his first season, so he got to work in the summer. Putting in another strong offseason will obviously be much more of a challenge with gyms closed. In addition to continuing to increase his on field production, Lange also wants to take on more of a leadership role with the Beavers.
Lange says he loves how welcoming the team is and how well they’ve bonded together. That makes this time of social distancing especially difficult. “We’re all super close. I was really shy coming in, but we act like the best of friends when we are at practice and around each other. It’s a great group of guys to be around and great coaching staff. I love my parents to death, but I can’t wait to get back.”
Among Lange’s biggest outings last year was a five catch, 40 yard, one touchdown performance in a 27-24 win over Concordia. He also had three catches for 61 yards and a TD in a loss to Coe.
