High school football team plays its first game in 11 years

BROWN COUNTY (KSNT) – Kickapoo Nation School went for 11 years without playing a football game, but that changed Sunday night.

It took Kickapoo Nation’s coaches months of planning to get to this point. They started the process of fielding a team last school year.

“We’ve gone up to the superintendent, the school board, and we just kept pushing for everything,” head football coach Craig Wahwahsuck said. “And finally, they just said we could go ahead and do it, as long as we have enough kids.” 

Kickpoo Nation’s superintendent told 27 News athletics are an essential piece to a well-rounded education. The K-12 school added volleyball and basketball programs last school year.

“Our community and our board have set some high goals, and it was again, work on classrooms, work on academics,” Superintendent Michael Couch said. “But also, the pressure was to make sure kids have these types of opportunities as a way to let loose some energy.” 

The most important thing: give students a chance to play the game. The players are adjusting to playing eight-man football with only 10 players on the roster, but those are changes they’re more than willing to make.

“It was most of our first game out there. So, half our players, they were a little scared the first quarter,” Trysten McGrew, a Kickapoo Nation junior, said. “But, when the second quarter came around, everybody was getting hyped up.” 

McGrew and his teammates rotate through several positions on different sides of the ball throughout the game. He said players were both excited for their first matchup, and about what this group has been able to accomplish.

“The only reason I joined just to like help out my coaches and my team here to make history and start up the football team again,” David Lewis, a Kickapoo Nation sophomore said.

Lewis and McGrew were four and five-years-old respectively, the last time their school’s football team saw the field.

“[I’m] excited that they all really wanted to come together and be part of something that’s really special,” Wahwahsuck said. “And like I keep telling them every day, we’re a big family. Even the community is a big family, and it all starts here with us.” 

The Warriors have three more games on the schedule for this season, and Wahwahsuck is in the process of adding a fourth. They lost their first game to Clifton Clyde’s JV squad, but are looking to make an impact over the course of their season.