(Exira, IA) — After a 1-2 start to the season, the Exira-EHK Spartans picked up three key district wins to grasp an at-large playoff spot thanks to some major improvement made week-by-week. The Spartans took a Week 0 loss to Sidney followed by a dominant performance over East Mills, then fell short of district rivals Coon Rapids-Bayard and Ar-We-Va. Exira-EHK then saw a major resurgence led by a lethal senior trio in the backfield in Allen Olsen, Bryce Brabham, and Josten Kilworth. The three seniors would all get over 100 rushing yards a piece in a shootout win over CAM 56-52. Head Coach Drew Buckholdt says the production jump can be attributed to hard work and some versatile skill players:
When looking ahead to next year, the Spartans have plenty of offensive and defensive production to make up for, and Buckholdt says it all starts in the weight room:
A position that Buckholdt has confidence in replacing is the quarterback, a position that current sophomore Blake Nelson will look to fill. Buckholdt says getting Nelson’s mentality right will be a focus before he leads the offense:
The Spartans will look to maintain their consistency with a younger core of players next season.
