The ‘boys of fall’ face first competitor Friday

Sonja Karp

NLJ Sports Editor

The Newcastle High School Dogie football team is gearing up to get their 2024 season under way. Head coach Matt Conzelman and his crew are hard at work to get ready for their first contest of the year Friday.

There are 31 boys out for football this year, which is down from 35 last season. They lost a few players to graduation and a few to relocating, however, Conzelman is returning quite a few key players.

“Our depth won’t be where I hoped we’d be, but we can work with what we have,” Conzelman said.

Returning skill players include quarterbacks Teddy Troftgruben and Dane Crabtree, running backs Landon Hatheway, Connor Stohlhammer and Collin McConkey, and receivers Cort Perino, Drew Conzelman and Adam Butler.

“It’s great to have Collin and Connor back after they got banged up and sidelined last year,” Conzelman said. “We will have some options for ball carriers this year which will take some of the load off of Landon.”

On the line, the Dogies return Aidan Butler, Dayne Evenson, Jonathan Anderson and Cole Erb. 

Two foreign exchange students will be suiting up this season, one of whom has an extensive background as a soccer goalie. Conzelman is looking forward to seeing how he factors into the team dynamic as a potential kicker and punter. 

“It seems like the foreign exchange students are meshing really well with the team, so we’ll see what they think of things as the season gets underway,” he said.

Conzelman also has some young players returning and joining the team. 

“We have eight freshmen out here and they are doing really well. Obviously, they are still learning the ropes,” he said. “The first week of practice is mentally and physically demanding and we ask a lot out of these guys, but everyone is pushing through and holding on pretty well.”

The Dogies had their annual Black and Orange Scrimmage Saturday morning. The White Team won, but the Black Team scored on the final two-minute drill so got a little vengeance before all was said and done. 

Preseason rankings have the Dogies ranked second in the East, behind Big Horn.

“I usually like to go in stealth mode, flying under the radar, but these guys are just going to have to step up and show everyone why we got that ranking,” Conzelman said. 

The Dogies will kick off their season at 6 p.m. on Friday, the 30th, in Buffalo where they will take on the Bobcats of Thermopolis.