Future varsity football participants for Vandercook Lake High School include, from left, Eadon Briston, Armani Spaulding, Coach Dan Midena, Justin Barnes, Nick Gardner, Stephen Fair, and Dezelle Bramlett. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
(August 23, 2023 8:00 AM ET) Vandercook Lake High School will be moving back to 11-man football this season.
But the Jayhawks won’t host a varsity squad until 2024.
New Coach Dan Midena will be coaching a junior varsity squad made of mostly freshmen and sophomores.
Last year Midena coached the eighth grade football team to a 5-0 record in the Cascades Conference – 6-2 overall.
He is hoping to keep that squad together along with a number of sophomores and juniors with football experience.
“Our numbers are up, and we expect to have about 25 players on the junior varsity squad,” Midena said during JTV’s Media Days. “I am happy with the way we have worked and participated in the weight room.”
Midena was hired as the head of the football program earlier in the year. He has an advantage over other coaches who have headed the football program as Midena is a teacher in the middle school. He teaches physical education at Vandercook Lake.
“Our goals are to compete and get better.”