3 things to know about Reedsburg football during the 2024 season (2024)

A strong start snowballed quickly on Reedsburg last season.

For as much went wrong for the Beavers last season, all of those lumps could lead to a successful campaign this fall with a wide-open Mississippi Valley Conference.

Here are three things to know about Reedsburg this fall.

New faces but plenty of experience for Reedsburg offense

The Beavers’ struggles to get into the win column last season were compounded by what seemed like a never-ending string of injuries. That was felt the most on offense with coach Calvin Zenz needing to rotate players in and out across the offensive line, backfield and at wide receiver.

While that helped prevent the Beavers from finding any sort of groove — Reedsburg averaged just 9.6 points per game and scored a total of 12 touchdowns — Zenz believes it has helped lay the groundwork for more success this season.

“While we lost some talented players, those guys also missed a lot of time with injuries, so there’s a good chunk of experience coming back as well,” he said. “We’re not worried about the talent of our guys, just getting some up to varsity speed.”

That will be most important at quarterback as Will Mikonowicz takes over under center for Hunter Abbott. The junior spent some time at running back last season due to those ailments so Zenz is confident he is ready to step in and take over as his new signal caller.

Mikonowicz will have some experienced pieces alongside him in the backfield as leading rusher Landin Purifoy is also back after notching 444 yards last season, along with third-leading rusher Jack Fenwick (175 yards).

Reedsburg defense ready to lock in

Injury woes weren’t exclusive to the Beavers’ offense, either.

Reedsburg’s defense was heavily impacted, both by what it could and couldn’t control.

“The offensive struggles also put the defense in a bad spot multiple times and with injuries, guys were often playing out of position at a spot they had a week to get ready for,” Zenz said.

That doesn’t mean his hitting the panic button this fall despite allowing 23.9 points per game. Zenz doesn’t intend on changing his defensive scheme, but instead is focused on reps and experience.

The returning group has shown they’re ready for the challenge, too.

“There’s an influx of new/young talent that really works hard and is extremely coachable,” he said.

Helping spearhead that charge is Mikonowicz in the defensive secondary, while Clint Harms will help lead the way in the trenches. Harms finished third in tackles with 52 last season, including 5 tackles for loss, while the line as a whole could be the Beavers’ biggest strength as it “could go two deep and will have some great competition,” according to Zenz.

Buy-in outweighs Reedsburg’s uphill battle

Against the rest of the Mississippi Valley Conference, Zenz acknowledges the Beavers are among the lower half of team numbers.

Despite that, the fourth-year coach isn’t counting out his bunch at all and compared them the Beavers’ 2022 team, which tied for runner-up in its first year in the MVC.

“This group has bought in even more so than the 2022 team because they saw last year what happens when your choices don’t put the team first,” he said, referencing Reedsburg’s off-the-field issues that led to multiple disciplinary measures.

Zenz said this year’s team is stronger and faster than that group, and believes their talent, work ethic, mindset and leadership is equal to that team as well.

“This is really just about building our program and developing a winning culture and attitude,” he said. “That is the hill that we are climbing and working every day to achieve. Those teams do have more numbers than us, so we have to make up for that in how we work and prepare.”

The skinny Coach: Calvin Zenz, fourth season (eighth overall), 24-38 Last season: 1-8 overall, 0-7 Mississippi Valley Conference. Returning: Avery Olson, OL/DL, Jr.; Brayden Klemp, OL/DL, Jr.; Luke Spencer, WR/DB, Jr.; Gavin Budnik, WR/DB, Jr.; Jaxon Hess, WR/DB, Jr.; Kallen Barker, TE/LB, So.; Bennett Rhodes, OL/DL, Sr.; Bo Bestor, DB/WR, Sr.; Kaiden Fuhrman, OL/DL, Sr.; Brett Wilson, TE/DL, Jr.; Dane Eberle, SR/DB, Sr.; Grayson Klicko, WR/DB, Sr. 354908fa-b7f7-4719-9a8e-a4f67d441caa