Colby football
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good team.”
While this will be Rosemeyer’s first season leading the Hornets as head ocach, he is a familiar face on the Colby sideline. He has been with the program for several seasons, serving the last three as the defensive coordinator.
While there is plenty of competition in the conference, the Hornets bring in plenty of varsity experience, especially at the skill positions, from last year’s successful squad.
This is especially noticeable in Colby’s offensive backfield, where they will bring back most of their production. Senior running back Gavin Voss was the centerpiece of Colby’s rushing attack as a junior in 2023, accumulating 1,478 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns in the Hornets’ 11 games and earning himself first team all-conference honors.
Junior Brennan Geiger stepped into the full back role after an early injury sidelined Ivan Haemer for much of last season and he had 499 yards and three touchdowns on 80 carries as Colby’s second leading rusher and senior Brody Viegut collected 300 yards and four touchdowns on 54 carries. Junior Colton Orth will also likely see more time on the field after picking up 142 yards last year.
The Hornets will also have senior starting quarterback Tayt Smith return to the field in 2024. Smith threw for 738 yards and nine touchdowns while only having four interceptions as a junior and added 296 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
While top receiver Caden Kleparski will need to be replaced, Viegut and Voss served as the number two and three targets out of the backfield last season, with Viegut catching seven passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns and Voss adding 148 yards on six catches. Seniors Tucker Hayes, Hayden Kaiser and Braiden Johnson look to have an increased role this season and the primary options at the tight end and receiver positions.
Colby’s line will have the most new faces this season with all-conference starters Moises Fuentes and Braxton Meyer having graduated. However, senior first-team all conference lineman Jacob Hoppe and senior Hunter Reynolds return at left and right tackle to help anchor the line.
It will be a similar story on the defensive side of the ball, where a good number of starters will be back and looking to improve.
Top tackler and first-team all-conference outside linebacker Tanner Halopka and second-team all-conference defensive lineman Luis Nava Rojas were lost to graduation, but there are a number of award winners that the Hornets will look to lean on this year.
Voss co-led the team with Hoppe in sacks last season, ending the year with three apiece, and earned a first team all-conference honor for his play at defensive end last season. Hoppe garnered an all-conference honorable mention nod at inside linebacker, where his eight tackles for a loss led the team and Smith was named second-team all-conference at outside linebacker after finishing behind only Halopka in total tackles for the Hornets.
Viegut led the team with four interceptions last year and will continue to be a key part of the Hornets’ defensive efforts. Johnson and Kaiser added two picks each last year and Lukas Hannula and Devon Meyer will look to shore up a defensive backs group. Pass defense was an area of concern in the Hornets’ two playoff games last season, where Hornets were able to fend off a 340-yard, four passing touchdown performance from Durand-Arkansaw’s Brett Breidung their round one matchup and gave up 158 yards and two touchdowns through the air against St. Croix Falls, though neither team had averaged more than 80 yards per game before facing the Hornets.
When looking at the squad as a whole, the Colby coaches believe that being assertive and hard nosed on both sides of the ball will be a strength of this fairly experienced Hornets’ squad.
“One of our strengths is our overall aggressiveness,” Rosemeyer said. “We can pick out 11 guys and it's going to be 11 guys that can hit and fly to the ball and play good football no matter where we put them.”
Finding good fits on the two lines will be the biggest puzzle pieces for the Hornets to figure out in the early season as size could potentially be something that Colby could struggle against.
“Our weakness may be size up front a little bit,” he added. “And we are going to be a little inexperienced there too. Other than that, we are going to want to keep working on our secondary, because we are going to have some new guys there as well.”
The Hornets first test of the season will be an old foe from the Cloverbelt days, as they will invite Stanley-Boyd into town for a non-conference matchup this Friday, August 23. It has been five years since the last time the Hornets and Orioles faced off, with Colby taking a 33-6 road victory in the final regular season game of 2019 during their last clash. Stanley-Boyd was 8-3 last season and also lost in their second round playoff game. Kickoff for the opener is scheduled for 7 p.m.
