Outlook: HCHS Cyclones 2024 Offense & Defense

Under the leadership of defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Sam Brummer, the Cyclones are expected to have a stellar year defensively starting with their season opener at Merrill Field Friday night against their rival, the Lewis Central Titans.
“I’m super excited,” Brummer said. “It’s a new school year. It’s a fresh start. Hopefully you’ve got guys that have been up in the weight room getting bigger, faster, stronger, which I feel we have. It’s getting to be that time where you put it out on the field, and hopefully, it shows that the hard work is starting to pay off.”
During the 2023 season, Senior Matthew Sorfonden led the team with 69 tackles, but multiple Cyclones were not far behind him in those categories including Juniors Bryce Van Baale and Jozef Reisz with 36 and 36.5. Senior Quinn Koesters had 40.5 tackles, while Junior Hayden Soma had 26.5 and Senior Franz Reisz had 25.
With Sorfonden, Franz Reisz, Koesters, and other graduated, Brummer sees some returners stepping into those roles, along with some new faces that may be playing a different role this season.
“We lost a lot with graduation, which a lot of teams in the past have experienced too,” he said. “We’ve just to look to reload, not necessarily rebuild. Jozef Reisz, I think will be a very integral part of what we do defensively in our success. We’re looking at four sophomores that we’ll bring into the starting lineup out of 11. Almost half or a little bit short of half. Guys like Shane Cooper, Dallas McDowell, who is a junior that were looking to step up, or Bryce Van Baale, who is one of our captains and we’re expecting a leadership role out of him on the field as well.”
Junior Gabe Arkfeld will be the new everyday starting quarterback. Seniors Jacob Brouse and Ben Leinen will take on the roles of right tackle and right guard. Senior Caden Bruck will fill the role of tight end, while Senior Lukas Francis will be a running back and Senior Landen Kaufman at wide receiver.
Arkfeld will have a big test in front of him taking on the defending 4A Champion Titans. Brummer talked about what will be key for the defense to do on their end to take some pressure off Arkfeld when he’s playing quarterback.
“It is very much a team game, so we’ll make due with what we’ve got in the situations we’re in,” he added. “Obviously defensively we just need to force a lot of three and outs. Give our offense as many chances to score as we can and I think history has shown with [Mark] Kohorst’s offense and Coach [Todd] Bladt, Coach [Jeff] Hassert kind of orchestrating the running game and the passing, we can score points with a lot of teams in the state regardless of class.”
With just practices and a scrimmage against Kuemper Catholic completed to this point, Brummer talked about positives he’s taken away from the defensive side of the field.
“I think on defense, our mantra has been the last several years that we pursue tackle and takeaway all tangible things that we coach in practice and teach in practice and then things you can see on Friday when the games are happening from the sidelines,” he said. “I’ve been impressed with how our guys have continued to adopt that.”
The Titans offense comes in led by Senior Brady Hetzel at quarterback. Hetzel led the team in passing yards last season with 2,587 passing yards.
“The quarterback is generally the keys to the car,” Brummer said. “He had a whale of a game against us last year. He’ll be looking to do some things, and we’ll have to try and shut his water off early and get him in some unfavorable situations with some 3rd and longs and things of that nature. They’re bringing back some running backs, they have size, they’re big up front. They’re ranked #1 in 4A for a reason. They’re a good team.”