And after suffering through consecutive losing years, the Fillmore Central football team is having a lot of fun this season.
“It’s just a good group of kids right now,” Falcons veteran head coach Chris Mensink said.
Fillmore Central is off to a stellar start and has a 4-1 record heading into today’s game against Kenyon-Wanamingo.
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“It’s pretty exciting to have a winning season for the first time in a long while,” senior offensive/defensive lineman Haven O’Connor said.
The Falcons are enjoying success despite having just four seniors on the team.
“We’re starting a lot of sophomores and juniors,” Mensink said. “Last year we started a lot of these juniors as sophomores.”
“We have some younger guys coming up who have stepped up and done a really good job,” junior wide receiver/cornerback Jake Fishbaugher said.
The Falcons were 2-4 in last year's shortened season and the players put in extra work during the offseason.
“I think that we put our work in during the summer, in the weight room,” O’Connor said. “We started early this year, just doing captain’s practices and working hard.”
“They had a good summer of practices and they’ve been doing a good job in the weight room,” Mensink said. “I think the biggest thing is these kids get along together and they’re just a competitive group. They want to win.”
The Falcons have also put in a lot of time in the film room to study themselves and their opponents.
“It’s been a lot of fun to see them (grow),” Mensink said.
Fillmore Central’s Bryce Corson (12) runs the ball during a game against Hayfield earlier this season. The Falcons are 4-1 this season after having losing records each of the past three years. Post Bulletin file photo / Traci Westcott
Offensively, the Falcons have featured a balanced attack. Senior running back/defensive end Alec Sikkink and junior Bryce Corson have shared the load at running back and can also catch the ball out of the backfield.
“Our talent level has gone up and our senior running back Alec Sikkink has definitely been a huge guy on our team, too,” Fishbaugher said.
Corson rushed for more than 200 yards and six touchdowns in the first week of the season.
“Now teams have kind of keyed on him and Alec has kind of stepped it up,” Mensink said.
Leading the way at wide receiver are Fishbaugher and sophomores Jayce Kiehne and Luke Hellickson.
“We’re not one dimensional,” Mensink said. “The quarterback has three or four kids that he can throw the ball to and he spreads it around. We have a couple of different running backs, so I guess it’s been tough for teams to take just one thing away from us.”
The Falcons suffered a blow when junior quarterback Dylan O’Connor injured his leg last week. He is likely to miss the rest of the season. Sophomore Chase Christianson will take over at QB.
“He’ll do a good job,” Fishbaugher said.
While the Falcons have averaged 29.2 points per game, the defense might be even better. Fillmore Central is allowing just 12.0 points per game and the defense has allowed just two touchdowns over the past three games.
“Defensively we’ve really stepped it up the last three weeks,” Mensink said.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Haven O’Connor and junior Gunner Benson anchor the inside of the defensive line while Sikkink and junior Will Parker are the ends.
“We’ve been able to get pressure with four guys up front,” Mensink said. “And guys on the back end, they’ve got some speed and are pretty savvy and have good ball skills.”
Fishbaugher and Hellickson are the cornerbacks and the speedy Kiehne plays safety.
“He’s a speedster back there, but he’s also a physical kid,” Mensink said of Kiehne. “He’s stripped a few kids of the ball when they do get in the secondary. He’s a pretty aggressive tackler back there.”
The Falcons have been playing well as a unit and had a three-game winning streak going into the contest against K-W.
“I’d say it’s a true team effort,” Mensink said. “We have guys all over who are making plays and they play well together.”
“I think there’s definitely a lot more team chemistry this year,” Haven O’Connor said. “We definitely know each other and we know each other’s strengths and we’re using that to our advantage.”
The Falcons have high hopes for a strong postseason run. But looming as a Section 1A obstacle could be state-ranked Rushford-Peterson. The unbeaten Trojans beat Fillmore Central 26-15 earlier this season.
“We played Rushford-Peterson earlier in the year and we fell short in that one,” Fishbaugher said. “We lost to them a few years ago in the section finals and I know that was a really close game. I think if we can meet them again in the section finals and play a good game, that would be a really good goal.”
The Link LonkOctober 08, 2021 at 07:04PM
https://www.postbulletin.com/sports/football/7227353-They-want-to-win-Hard-work-has-Fillmore-Central-on-a-victory-roll
'They want to win': Hard work has Fillmore Central on a victory roll - PostBulletin.com
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