Photo by Samantha Davis. The 2024 Yellow Medicine East football team consists of (in no order) Liam Anderson, Connor Bennett, Maxwell Bennett, Kolten Blankenhagen, Karter Canatsey, Brady Dahlager, Gunnar Fagen, Michael Guertin, Anthony Guzman, Joel Hidalgo, Dane Hildahl, Guadalupe Izaguirre, Easton Jaenisch, Eric Jimenez, Harley Johnson-Labat, Trae Jones, Aaden Kuehn, Hayden Kuehn, Seth Lecy, Caysen Lien, Breck Martin, Cooper McCosh, Calvin Mead, Jackson Mead, Jack Mensink, Drew Monson, Will Pederson, Jacob Peterson, Leonidas Robledo, Joseph Sillivent, Owen Slettedahl, Jahziel Tarin-Costilla, Beau Thull, Jacob Ullrich, Mathias Vonderharr and Lane Wohlman.

GRANITE FALLS — Facing the loss of six seniors, including three team leaders, the Yellow Medicine East football team will rely on its younger players to step into their new roles quickly so the team can reclaim its spot back in the win column.

“A lot of our younger guys are stepping up. A lot of the freshmen and sophomores are super hungry to play and earn spots,” head coach Lucas Damm said. “A lot of our sophomores are going to be guys to watch for the season. It’s a young team overall, not a ton of experience from some key positions. So, it’s going to be a lot of learning.”

Senior Jacob Peterson will be the starting quarterback for the Sting. Andrew Flaten was the previous quarterback, now graduated, who led YME last season throwing 393 yards on 31 complete passes and 94 attempts, and six touchdown passes.

Peterson got a glimpse at the position last season, throwing six complete passes on 10 attempts for 114 yards, and one touchdown.

“He’s [Peterson] not new to the team, but new to the position,” Damm said. “He knows the offense fairly well, but being in a new spot, [he’s] still got learning to do. I just expect him to basically step up and be a leader. He doesn’t have to ‘wow’ you, just needs to be a good teammate and execute.”

The Sting also graduated Adam Stengel, the team’s leader in receiving. He received 110 yards on seven catches and ran in for one touchdown.

Another hole to fill is the loss of Owen Cherveny, who led YME defensively with 54 tackles, 35 solo and 19 assisted.

Damm will be looking at senior Eric Jimenez, with years of varsity experience, to step up as a lineman leader on both sides of the field. He had 17 tackles last season.

“Defensively and offensively as far as line play goes, we’re looking at Eric Jimenez,” Damm said. “This will be his fourth year starting. He started on the line as a freshman as well. He’s going to have a big role this year, defensively and offensively, being a leader. He will be fun to watch.”

Junior Brady Dahlager is returning, last year’s leading rusher. He gained 772 yards on 148 carries and had seven touchdowns.

“I just expect him to be a leader in the backfield. He’s going to be, obviously, one of our leading rushers again,” Damm said. “High hopes for him doing well, but he is stepping into a little bit of a different role, just with a different team set up. But, he’s still gonna have a big role.”

Dahlager also was the second leading receiver behind Stengel, with 106 yards on five catches.

“I hope he gets more yards than he did last year,” Damm said. “Obviously that’s a goal we both have.”

YME finished last season 2-7 overall, where they previously were 5-4 in 2022. With only four seniors and several roster moves, Damm said they have been focusing heavily on their defense and tackling well throughout preseason camp.

The Sting will begin their season Thursday at Sleepy Eye, who were the 2023 Section 3A runners-up, at 7 p.m. The last time the two met to open up last year, YME fell short 14-34.