With Connor Cade, Jonah Shine and Bo Bokman all graduated, who would stand up and take the reins at the forefront of Lakeville South’s potent rushing attack this fall?
It took all of one play for Nicolas Swanson to raise his hand. Swanson took the handoff on the Cougars’ first offensive play of the season Friday in Lakeville and went 77 yards to the house to kick off the Cougars’ 34-7 season-opening victory over Mounds View.
Swanson got the party started early, and delivered last call late, with a 67-yard touchdown dash to extend the lead to three scores midway through the final frame.
The senior finished with 14 carries for 244 yards. He and Griffen Dean figure to feast all fall behind an offensive front that features the likes of Asher Collins, Carson Scholl and Mitchel Kelvie on the line with big tight ends such as Brady McCloud — who caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Drake Fritz on a play-action rollout Friday — and Henry Hauge.
The Mustangs responded after Swanson’s initial house call, as a 59-yard strike from Beckham Wheeler to Weston Kuchar set up a 2-yard rushing score for North Dakota State commit Godson Rufus-Okomhanru. Wheeler, who replaces 2024 Mounds View star Jacob Sampson under center this season, completed his first nine passes on Friday.
The 6-foot-4 signal caller had what was described by coach Aaron Moberg at the outset of camp as an “outstanding offseason” and put that work on display on the field Friday.
He completed 12 of his first 15 passes, and two of those misses were drops. But Lakeville South finally flummoxed Wheeler in the fourth quarter, getting pressure that resulted in a game-sealing interception by Diego Neutz in Mounds View territory that set up a Chavon York rushing score.
More of that will be needed this fall for Lakeville South, which probably failed to reach its ceiling a year ago because of shortcomings on the defensive side of the ball.
But, if Friday was any indication, the Cougars could be a far more balanced — and, thus, dangerous — collection in 2025.
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