Josh Sarl, sports editor 

Last week, Maggie Zo and I interviewed head coach KiJuan Ware and three of his players, to assess the field ahead of the Homecoming fixture against St. Olaf college (Oles). We have returned to speak with them after their emphatic victory. 

We started with a temperature check, asking about their general feelings after the game. “I’m feeling great honestly,” says defensive back Rashad Sherwood. It was also a momentous affair for senior tight end Michael Lau, who “feels good to end the career with a homecoming win.” Inside linebacker RJ Chakolis, however, is still hungry for more and looks forward to the upcoming home fixture against Bethel University; “being able to stack back-to-back wins would be nice.” 

When asked about the challenges they faced in the match, Sherwood remarks on the hot weather conditions, which really required players to dig in deep. The defensive line, which managed to hold the Oles to less than 100 rush yards and prevent opposition points in the second and fourth quarters, certainly felt tested by these conditions. Sherwood notes their work rate in “jumping back and forth from run and pass” and “switching personnel,” as key challenges to their fitness and mental concentration. Being able to overcome these challenges is a product of the hard work that they put into their training and fitness. Coach Ware remarks on this level of athleticism as a defining factor in their win against Oles; “We were the better athletes, and it just let us take over.”

Special games breed special players, and this was certainly the case with quarterback Caden Rodkewich’s emphatic performance against Oles, who completed 26 out of 41 passes for 314 yards, leading to four touchdowns. Lau comments on Rodkewich’s committed attitude, saying “he always keeps composure and doesn’t complain at all.” Having such focused faces on and off the pitch clearly elevates the team as a whole and sets a standard for the rest to follow. Ware agrees, calling Rodkewich a “student of the game. He takes all he can from meeting rooms, to practise and to the game.”

Chakolis makes it clear that the objective of the team is to “stay 1-0 every week.” He states that the homecoming performance “made us see how good we can be, but we’re not all the way there yet.” For Sherwood it’s all about the “confidence” of the team, which “has to stay at one hundred percent, no matter what,” an exciting sentiment for all hopeful Augsburg fans. Congratulations to the team for putting on a very impressive display of homecoming football, and good luck for the season ahead.