The Mineral Point football team is currently 4-3 in their 2023 season. We asked coach Leonard and one of his players about the current 2023 season. The team’s quarterback Gibsen Sporle is having a great year after coming back from an injury with a 58% completion rate, 921 yards, and an amazing ten touchdowns, as well as being tied in first with Brock Lynch in rushing touchdowns with three. The team’s leader in rushing yards is Reid Acherman with 183 yards. The team’s leader in receiving yards leader is Tremaine Kennicker with 288 yards. Leading in tackles so far this season is Roen Carey with an astonishing 75 tackles. Landon Thousand is the team’s receiving touchdown leader with three. And finally, with four sacks so far this season Reid Acherman leads the team.

What are some things you guys do to prepare yourself for a game?

“You know, football is a little different than other sports, where you have a week-long process to get prepared for a Friday night. So it first starts with video, breaking down the opponent’s film, and then transitioning that to teaching the kids about, you know where we want to align how we want to execute our plays, and then also them on their part, they need to be watching film and preparing mentally just as much as the coaches do. And then we work on those individual skills during the weekly practices. And if they do the fundamentals, and they fall through with the game plan. Usually, we come out on the better side.” -Leonard

When you guys are down in the game, how do you keep the player’s mentality and your mentality up?

“I think it’s one of those things that you build as the year goes on. And it’s just the understanding that things are gonna go your way sometimes, but sometimes things aren’t gonna go your way. You know you have events in your life, events on the field, how do you respond, you know, and those are able to stay calm, cool, collected, and are seeking ways to improve during the game, and finding solutions to whatever those problems are. Those are the teams that end up with the W at the end of the night.” -Leonard

What do you think is going to be your biggest competition and how are you going to prepare for it?

“For us, it doesn’t change. It’s what we do is a week-to-week thing. And if you ever look past a game, that’s when you’re going to get bit. You know, that’s when you lose one of them when you should have won. You know, our focus this week, as I told the guys, we are not going to use the D work all week, We’re not going to talk about them. We are focused on Fennimore and that is our sole focus this week. And you know, when we get to next week then we’ll focus on whoever that next team is. And we just have to have that approach that week to week day to day approach and that’s what good teams do.” -Leonard

We questioned Senior Landon Thousand after their big conference win against the Fennimore Golden Eagles.

What are some things that went well and were there anything that didn’t go as planned?

Landon – Our defense was really good, and obviously some things didn’t go as planned but you will have that in every game

What are you guys going to do to prepare for the big game this Friday?

Landon – “We aren’t doing anything differently just trying to be the best version of ourselves.”

What have been some key turning points throughout this three-game-winning streak?

Landon- “We have been able to play as a team instead of individuals”

What are some things you guys do to recover from a loss?

Landon- “Watch film, work on our weaknesses, and try to learn from our mistakes.”

It’s not all about winning for Mineral Point; it’s about teamwork and dedication. The outcome of this year’s season will be determined week to week as they continue to progress throughout the season.