Players embrace growing mentality during DWU football's spring sessions (2025)

Apr. 15—MITCHELL — Transitioning from high school football in Hot Springs to college, Landon Iverson wanted to find a welcoming community.

He found one in Mitchell and with Dakota Wesleyan University, and is now embracing the idea of becoming an impact player.

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Iverson and the other running backs currently on the Tigers roster saw their snap counts increase during the last week of the spring practice season following Koby Kayser going out with a left knee injury. Iverson and Kaden Froehlich saw the bulk of playing time in the backfield in DWU's spring football game on Saturday.

With spring practice focused on rediscovering the fundamentals of football and focusing on locking those in, the running backs also quickly formed connections off the field, with Iverson recognizing there's much to learn given the young age of the group.

"We just want to be a team," Iverson said. "We have a lot of young guys on this team, especially on the offensive line. We have a lot to figure out and a lot of time to bond together more."

Last season as the No. 2-running back in DWU's offense behind Kayser, Iverson ran for 244 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also accumulated 22 yards receiving and is expected to factor into the Tigers' passing game in specific spots similar to last season.

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In addition to Iverson, who'll enter his junior season in the fall, and Froehlich, a freshman, on the depth chart, Lane Darrow also returns for his senior season. DWU also recruited current high school senior Juju Carrasco out of Meridian, Idaho, to join the room.

DWU head coach Alex Kretzschmar noted Kayser missing time due to his knee injury was out of precaution in order for him to be healthy by the time summer camp begins. He also said it was important to see how everyone else stepped up over the last week in practice and focused on what the program wanted to accomplish in the spring.

"It's a matter of having that next-man-up mentality," Kretzschmar said, "No matter what's going on or in the game situation, we ultimately have to focus on what our job is, what the task at hand is and go out there and execute."

"You just have to fall back on the habits we created and the guys have done a great job of doing that," added linebacker Joe Van Overschelde. "It also comes down to doing your assignment and trusting the guys out there next to you."

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Even with setbacks, the players have discovered the importance of being uplifting towards one another knowing the spring session is spent to rehash important skills, such as lining your eyes up with the ball and executive a basic tackle during full-contact drills.

"It's doing the little things," Iverson said. "It's trying to be a better individual, a better teammate and trying to bring my teammates up when things aren't going our way ... bring the energy level up during practice."

Dakota Wesleyan will reconvene in the summer prior to its first game of the 2025 season, the annual rivalry tilt against Dakota State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, at Joe Quintal Field. The message to the players from the coaches is to continue to embrace the idea of being ready for the moment when their number's called upon, while also matching their goals with the time put in to achieve them.

"We talk a lot about investment versus expectation," Kretzschmar said. "If you have an expectation of being at a certain level, record or whatever it may be, then you have to put in the time to get there. If you don't, then you can't really be upset if you don't get to that expectation. Investment has to match expectations."