Photo courtesy of Nick Kockelman: The 2023 Canby football team includes (left to right) front row: Rex Hernandez, Wyatt Varpness, Ben Drietz, Daven VanEngen, Wesley Verhelst, Landen Behrens, Jace Rangaard, Jake Midtaune, Matthew Zitzman, Landon Meyer-Thovson, Owen Peterson. Middle row: Parker Balvin, Clayton Drietz, Issac Guzman, Eli Greenman, Evan Engesmoe, Johnny Duis, Sawyer Verhelst, Dylan Houseman, Colton Bauman, Levi Fairchild, Jace Sigler, Cash Antony. Back row: Jordan DePestel, Titus Vogt, Allen Maldonado, Brodryck Gravdal, Sam Drietz, Brady Hulzebos, Nick Wagner, Gavin Noyes, Bryant Hansen, Nathan Cole, Cody Stoll, Eli Thovson, Dyllon Christianson, Blake Heideman.

CANBY – The Canby football team had its ups and downs in 2022. The Lancers finished with a 4-5 record, capped off by a three-game losing streak but they’ll look to make a jump forward this season.

While player development is among the key goals for the Lancers this season, the team is yet to zero in on specific areas. Watching practices and preseason scrimmages doesn’t quite give the same insight as game film, so it’ll take until after week one to get a clearer answer of where the team is at, head coach Nick Kockelman said. Still, consistency will be a point of emphasis.

“I think continuing to be consistent, knowing what we’re doing, and doing it with the right attitude throughout everything, both offense and defense and special teams,” Kockelman said. “Figure out our roles and just continue to improve and be consistent within those roles.”

Lane Fink started at quarterback last season, throwing for 1123 yards and nine touchdowns, but now its going to be Nick Wagner’s opportunity to take snaps under center.

Wagner played minimal snaps at quarterback in his junior year, throwing just nine passes for 26 yards, but he still showed off his abilities as an athlete. He was the team’s leading wide receiver, catching 21 passes for 404 yards and five touchdowns.

The biggest challenge ahead for Wagner may be that he can’t throw to himself as the No. 1 receiver. Brady Hulzebos, Isaac Guzman and Eli Greenman are now going to be given plenty of additional targets and the opportunity to prove themselves in an expanded role.

Canby will come into the season as one of the league’s smaller teams on defense. While physicality is a key element of the game, the Lancers will look to take advantage of their speed.

“We’re going to be small, generally speaking, on both sides of the ball. I think we have one guy that’s over 200 pounds, but we can fly to the ball,” Kockelman said. “We have to know our assignments defensively, getting into the right alignments and everything… just using our speed and being aggressive, getting through blocks and getting to where the ball is.”

Sawyer Verhelst had 46 tackles in his sophomore season, putting him behind only seniors Isaac Guza and Sawyer Drietz. With another year under his belt, he’s among the players that could take a big leap forward for Canby.

Still, much of the team’s success is going to hinge upon Dylan Houseman’s ability to run the ball. He was limited to six games last season because of injury but still ran for 407 yards on 6.6 yards per attempt, both team highs. His five scrimmage touchdowns were also second to only Wagner.

“It speaks volumes to what he’s able to do when he’s in the game,” Kockelman said of Houseman’s stat line from last season. “He’s a small, quick, shifty guy. He knows when to make a guy miss and when to run a guy over, but for him, just being consistent so he knows where to go, he knows how to get there and he makes guys miss. We’re going to lean on him quite a bit this year running the ball.”

The Lancers open their season at home Friday night against Martin County West. Canby last faced the Mavericks in 2020, when the Lancers took a 13-6 win.

“I’m excited to see us run the ball, to be honest,” Kockelman said when asked about his thoughts ahead of the season opener. “Running the ball has been a little bit of a struggle the last couple of years. Dylan Houseman at running back, Nick Wagner at quarterback and Isaac Guzman’s another running back that can run the ball, so we have a bunch of guys that are pretty good at running the ball and getting into space and making guys miss.

“Up front, even though we’re undersized, all those guys do a really good job at getting on bodies and just holding the blocks long enough for a really good running back to find some open grass to run through.”