Football has started again for Brainerd as the Warriors began training camp for the 2024 season on Monday morning.
Brainerd is coming off an impressive season last year, finishing 8-2 while reaching the Section 8AAAAA championship game. With 32 seniors from last year’s squad graduating, Brainerd football is starting training camp from scratch and focusing on the little things.
“With all the new faces we have, sometimes you have to take things a little slower,” explained head coach Jason Freed. “You know, when you have an experienced team, you can move a lot faster and get things rolling faster. But when you have teams where guys are still learning, you have to take things… slower. And I think that’s a good thing even for us coaches sometimes.”
The boys prepared for the road ahead and took time over the summer to work on conditioning, speed and fielding to ensure they were ready to hit the ground running together this year.
“It’s nice to see everything you’ve been preparing for in the offseason pay off and all the guys that have worked hard with you pay off for them as well,” wide receiver Jordan Davis said. “It’s going to be really nice to see the team come together and see what we can accomplish this year.”
And that motivation will benefit the Warriors as they look to fill the gaps created by the loss of seven All-Area team players.
“Jordan Davis and Dax Hastings got some offensive line play last year, and Jayden Barnum even played a few last year as a sophomore. And we had some kids like Mav Badeaux who worked really hard this offseason, so I’m really excited to see what the kids really do when they step up in their different roles,” Freed added. “It’s going to be interesting to see what the work that was done in the offseason translates to on the field now and then of course on Friday night.”
Another change for the Warriors is their quarterback, as Ty Nelson now takes on the role of field general. But Nelson is confident that his upbringing and some good advice from last year’s quarterback Eli Hoelz will help him adjust to the new role.
“I’ve always been around the Brainerd program. I was a ball boy for a while and always hung around the quarterbacks, and then Eli was just a great quarterback to watch and learn from,” Nelson said. “So I think we’re going to be in a good place this year because we can learn from Eli and all my experience in the program. He played with a chip on his shoulder, and that’s something I can take from him and just have confidence out there.”
Brainerd will open the 2024 football season at home against Mahtomedi on August 30. Last year, the Warriors beat the Zephyrs 34-6 in the season opener.
