Illustration by Sam Thiel Marshall's Bryce Lance was named the 2019 Marshall Independent Offensive Player of the Year.

MARSHALL — Bryce Lance has had a lot of time to study and grow as a football player, learning from several of his teammates over the past couple of seasons. So when it came time for him to make his mark, he made sure not to miss.

All that patience and time as a student of the game paid off for the Marshall junior, who posted a record-breaking campaign for the Tigers and helped them average nearly 44 points per game and reach the Section 2AAAA championship game. Lance’s contributions on the field have earned him the 2019 Marshall Independent Football Offensive Player of the Year.

Lance said it’s a great honor and credited his teammates and coaches for pushing him every day and that there was a lot to went into their success as a group.

“It’s pretty cool; the whole year, coach [Bahlmann] told me I was going to be good and I didn’t know if I really believed him as much about how good I was going to be, but I can only give the credit to my team and the coaches,” Lance said. “They set up the plays and the team did exactly what they’re supposed to do and made me look good, so there’s a lot that went into it.”

One of those aforementioned players Lance watched with a close eye in previous years was his older brother Trey, who currently is orchestrating the North Dakota State University offense on the gridiron as the starting quarterback for the Bison. Lance said it’s pretty special to be able to watch his brother continue his career and be following in his footsteps a couple of years later.

“I grew up watching my brother; everyone obviously knows him, so it’s pretty cool and he’s doing big things at NDSU now,” Lance said. “It’s pretty cool to follow in his footsteps.”

Marshall coach Terry Bahlmann felt that Lance surprised some people with what he was able to accomplish and is excited to watch him continue to grow.

“I think he surprised a lot of people with his explosiveness and things, but he came out and broke almost every receiving record we had and also is the all-time leader in a lot of our receiving records,” Bahlmann said. “The exciting part is I think the best is still yet to come for Bryce and he’s improving every day and growing as a person and as an athlete, so he’s got a bright future for us.”

This past season, Lance was a key asset for the Tigers in all three phases of the game. As a wide receiver, he shattered records by setting the single-season mark at 873 yards, breaking the previous mark of 657 set by Skyler Stensrud in 2009 while also collecting 38 receptions and eight touchdowns. Lance also showcased his quickness on special teams, averaging 24.1 yards per punt return while tallying 289 total yards and three scores. On the defensive side of the ball, Lance led the team in interceptions with five while also forcing a fumble.

Lance said the Tigers knew they had something special with their team this year and added that they put a lot of work in the offseason — particularly at the South Dakota State University team camp — to get better.

“We knew that we had something special going into this year with having a lot of guys coming back. We went into our team camp at SDSU and we actually ended up winning that and I got more confidence from that, just learning my routes more and getting more playing time and getting more involved in the game as opposed to last year,” Lance said. “It was also a blessing that my dad got to coach me this year too and he’s always helping me, coach Bahlmann’s always pushing me and we never want to be complacent so we’re always wanting to get better.”

Bahlmann said Lance is continuing to grow as a leader each day and he’s looking forward to watching him step into more of a veteran role.

“Bryce is growing into his leadership role; again, people follow him and his work habits are outstanding and his character is always top-notch and he’s going to be a leader for us on both sides of the football,” Bahlmann said. “He’s key for us in the secondary setting up our defensive coverages and then a playmaker on offense.”

Lance credited his coaches for the hard work and dedicated they put in for their team as well as his teammates for continuing to push him to get better and motivate him.

“I obviously wouldn’t have the success I had without them. Coach Bahlmann is one of the best coaches in the state, he knows each defense and spends countless hours watching film and studying each team so he knows what plays we’re going to run and helps us prepare that week,” Lance said. “My teammates, it’s a tradition here that we’re always behind each other and never getting down on one another; we’re always pushing each other to get better, so that’s another big thing.”

Lance’s time as a Tiger is not quite done yet, as he will look to help lead the way for Marshall next fall. He said he’s looking forward to getting back onto the field with his teammates and work towards getting past the section championship game and back into the state tournament.

“I’m just looking forward to another season with the guys,” Lance said. “We obviously didn’t finish where we wanted to this past season and we’re just looking to get back to that section championship and winning that thing. We want to go to state next year and I think we’ve got the guys to do it.”