Humboldt football team opens season at home Friday night against Algona
Returning letter winners for the Humboldt football team, front row (l-r): Tyler Vitzthum, Joey Busse, Lucas Volf, Timmy Larson and Sawyer Savery. Middle row: Jacob Weisbrich, Carter Krichau, Treyton Satern, Jamison Heinz, Jacob Thurm and Caiden Baker. Back row: Jack Arndt, Owen Newton, Matt Miller, Owen Terwilliger and Justin Jones. Independent photo.
The Derrick Elman era is under way for the Humboldt High School football program.
Elman, a Buffalo Center native and former Morningside College standout, has spent the last 14 seasons as an assistant at Iowa Falls-Alden. Elman replaces Greg Thomas, who stepped down last November after 18 seasons leading the Wildcats.
Elman inherits a Wildcat squad that went 3-6 overall in 2017, 2-5 and sixth in Class 3A District One. Certainly a lot of transition to deal with, but Elman says it couldn’t have gone any smoother since he arrived in Humboldt last May.
“We have had a good start in pre-season practice. The kids have looked real good on both sides of the ball, especially up front,” Elman said. “And we definitely have some guys in our younger grades who can help us and have shown it in practice right now.”
“We have a great group of seniors. Being a first-year head coach, you couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to work with. We had some leadership classes this past summer and I appreciated how involved they were with that,” Elman said.
“It has been fun getting to know the seniors and fun getting to know the coaches. I’ve really, really enjoyed the guys I’ve been working with. I think that is another thing that has helped me a lot, knowing that I have great coaches that I can go to for advice and talk to about certain things. It has been a great transition for us,” Elman said.
Humboldt opens its regular season at home on Friday, Aug. 24, when they host long-time area rival Algona in a non-district game. Kickoff will be 7:30 p.m. The freshman game begins at 4:45 p.m.
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