Spartan seniors look to continue winning tradition

 EXIRA -- Going into Friday night’s season opener vs. Audubon, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton head coach Tom Petersen said of his football team, “Just a long way to go ... kind of a work in progress.”
 But it’s hard to ignore the talent and potential of this year’s Spartans, who begin 2016 ranked sixth in the 8-Player class by the Des Moines Register with a roster of 35 players, 15 returning letter winners and 11 seniors.
 Petersen’s team finished last season 8-2 overall, placed second in its district with a 6-1 mark and lost to East Mills 54-15 in the first round of the playoffs. The Spartans graduated nine seniors from that group, but reloading has rarely been a problem for one of 8-Player’s most consistent programs over the last four years.

EXIRA-EHK FOOTBALL TEAM
 Front row, L-R: Hunter Andersen (manager), Trey Petersen (manager), Tyler Petersen (manager).
 Second row, L-R: Noah Pettepier, Cole Bruns, Drew Buckholdt, Kyle Petersen, Jack Carroll, Cody Kommes, Chris Paulsen, Tyson Partridge, Connor Westergaard.
 Third row, L-R: Coach Tom Benton, Head Coach Tom Petersen, Coach Travis Nelson, Coach Ben Hansen.
 Fourth row, L-R: Seth Bradford, Francesco Bernardini, Harrison Olson, Aaron Allen, Brady Griffin, Cole Madsen, Anthony Kingery, William Paulsen, Creighton Nelson, Trey Nelson, Cade Bruns, Ian Leader, Cody Griffin.
 Back row, L-R: Jayden Jensen, Cole Burmeister, Carson Anderson, Crew McAlpin, Jacob Rattonberg, Dalton Vanderwal, Jayden Goodwin, Hudson Kitelinger, Will Carroll, Everette Carroll, William Paulsen, Ethan Conroy, Kellie Haas.
 Not pictured: Trevor Schulz.