Last month, I released the 16th episode of my podcast “Work Hard, Play Harder” with Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball players Natalee Rolbiecki and McKenzie Tolk. This week, I am dropping episode 17 with Lakeview football head coach Scott Hanson.

What a season Lakeview had, winning nine games and defeating the Minneota Vikings on the road for the first time in the school’s history.

Also, Hanson has been coaching for several years in a number of sports. Hanson is a principal as well at Lakeview High School, giving back to the community by helping the youth and educators of Cottonwood. Hanson, a South Dakota State alum and a Webster, S.D. native, always wanted to be involved with education. Through education, Hanson found his passion for sports and is now building a talented football program that made it to the Section 3A Championship this year.

The Lakers would ultimately lose 28-6 to Minneota, but Hanson vows to come back stronger through the lessons learned this season.

In this podcast episode, we dive into Hanson’s memories of the 2022 Lakeview football season, his upbringing, and his way into sports and coaching. We also talked about what it meant to the Lakeview football program to win against a powerhouse like the Minnesota Vikings for the first time in their school’s history

“You know Minneota is one of those programs in our section that you’re chasing,” Hanson said. “Their success goes back to the ’80s and ’90s. So for us to beat Minneota for the first time in school history was huge for us. I remember that we took control early in the ballgame. It was a back-and-forth contest at first and then it was the Nathan Fenske and Owen Louwagie show. That was the difference in that game as to the section championship. If you think about Saturday’s state semifinals, you have Springfield and Minneota in it. We beat both of those teams. So we got to smell the state tournament, just didn’t get a chance to taste it.”

The Lakers are losing a lot of players, but Hanson is excited for the underclassmen to step up and have an immediate impact next season. After the section championship loss, the players are already getting ready for next year by getting into the weight room, Hanson said.

One of Hanson’s favorite memories of the season was the Lakers’ rematch with the Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks. The Blackjacks defeated the Lakers in the regular season, 16-8.

“We left some plays out there, and we’ll see them again,” Hanson said. “This loss is good for us. We will see what we’re made of.”

In the rematch of the semifinals Section playoffs, the Lakers won 38-32 over the Blackjacks on the road in one of the best games of the season.

When it came to mental health, Hanson talked about the team loving each other and being open as possible about how they’re doing. Hanson advocates for addressing mental health through three main tenets: togetherness, discipline, and handling your emotions.

Work Hard, Play Harder Episode 17