Sue Sitter/PCT Rugby Panthers football players run through a drill on their first day of practice Aug. 4.

A large group of Rugby Panthers lined up on Johnsen Field for their first day of football practice early on Aug.4.

Coach Travis Risovi warned them they’d be “achy for about a week.”

“They’re getting back in shape,” Risovi said after the practice, smiling.

Risovi said practice started at 7 a.m. to beat the heat, which would soar to 90 degrees that day.

“It was a really good first day,” he said. “It was nice and cool this morning, and that’s always a good start. It’s getting warm now, but that always helps when it’s cool in the morning.

“We make sure we take five-minute water breaks after every drill we do,” Risovi said.

“Then in the middle of practice, we actually take a 30-minute break where they can take their helmets and shoulder pads off, shoes off if they want, they drink and take a good rest for 30 minutes just to cool down and unwind,” he said. “Then, we get after it.

“Honestly, their attitude was good and everybody here seemed to be excited to play,” Risovi said of the 2022 Panthers.

Risovi said the Panthers aimed to get after their first opponent on the schedule, the Harvey-Wells County Hornets, at home on Johnsen Field.

The opening game is set for Aug. 19, nearly a week before school starts for the year.

This year’s schedule shows a few teams moved from other regions and other leagues. Rugby now shares Region 2 with the Hornets after the Panthers spent a year grouped together with teams from the western part of the state.

Bottineau will also return to 11-man football in Region 2 this year, after a year as a 9-B team.

“It will be interesting this year,” Risovi said of the Panthers’ game with HWC, a team with a history of intense battles and wins against Rugby.

When the Panthers last met the Hornets at home in 2020, HWC won 32-12.

Risovi said of this year’s matchup, “Both of our teams have a lot of new players. I think Harvey graduated 16 seniors last year from their football team, and we graduated 11.”

“So, there’s going to be a lot of new faces this year, and it will be fun playing that rivalry game,” he said.

Risovi said a core group of players that have followed each season on Panthers baseball and basketball squads would make up a key part of the football team.

“We have Brody Schneibel, Erik Foster, Logan Harner, Jacob Ripplinger, Macen Heisler, Dylan Bartsch – a good group of seniors,” he said. “We have 14 of them.”

“I don’t see Dylan and Macen in basketball because they’re hockey players,” he added, “but they play sports year-round. A bunch of them are on track. They love competing and being out here.”

Risovi said he expected good things out of this year’s seniors.

“I’m excited about this group. I think they’ll be a lot of fun to watch on the field. They’ve put their time in,” he said. “They put time in the weight room; they worked to become better athletes, and hopefully, for this group, it pays off for them.”

Risovi added, “We have a small junior group, but some good talent there.”

“We have Austin Schneibel, a junior; we have Micah Musser, a new face people are going to see on the field, and then Cy Walker,” Risovi said, listing the five juniors on the Panthers team.

“There’s a nice group of sophomores, too,” he added. “The sophomore group is a lot like that senior class, where they’re just into everything.

“There’s Tucker Volk and Colton Bohl, and Tatum Risovi – they’re a big group also and I think they’re going to be like that senior group. Every year, we’re going to see more and more of them on the field,” Risovi said. “They’re going to be a fun group.”

“And,” he added with a laugh, “the freshmen are here to learn.

“All in all, I think it’s going to be a good season,” Risovi said.