Froid/Lake Football Wins First Title
The scoreboard read 44-19. All the off-season work and the season successes could be celebrated as the Froid/Lake Red Hawks claimed the Class C state six-man football championship over White Sulphur Springs on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The state football championship was the first one ever for either school. After coming close in the past, the title was certainly well appreciated by the strong support of area fans.
“It’s huge,” Josh Stentoft, a parent of two players, said of what the championship means for the community. “People talk about it all the time, about the ones that they lost.”
Stentoft added, “The boys getting into the weight room made a huge difference.”
Few fans were more loyal throughout the season and seemed more full of joy on Saturday than Casey Aasheim. He said he was confident about the team enjoying great success even before the season started.
“How did I know?” Aasheim said. “I just had a feeling they were going to do it.” He then paused and smiled, “I didn’t know about all of this.”
Aasheim credited the team’s senior leadership especially Issac Johnson, Walker Ator and Colt Miller.
He noted when he coached the boys when they were second and third grade basketball players, the boys were focused and listened intently even at that age.
“They looked me right in the eye,” Aasheim remembered. “They wanted it back then.”
Senior Colt Miller explained, “Every since we started in the seventh grade, we had this dream.”
Miller said that goal became even strong when members of the team watched MonDak play in the championship game a couple years ago.
“We worked super hard for this,” Miller noted.
The players displayed how much they sought success by faithfully heading to the weight room throughout the summer under the guidance of assistant coach Jalen Hendrickson.
“That was a big deal,” Aasheim said. “They have the talent and size, but needed to get stronger.”
Despite a competitive game, Aasheim explained he was confident before and during the title contest. “I knew we had it though White Sulphur is a good team,” Aasheim said. “I knew it had to be a dogfight. I think our boys wanted it a little more.”
He is so glad that the program’s faithful fans could now finally celebrate a state football championship.
“Oh man, it means everything,” Aasheim said. “They are great kids. They are my boys.”
