The 2024 Waseca Bluejays football team is looking to repeat as section champions and make a run in the state tournament, where they lost in the first round last year.
The team is led by Brandyn Jascha, Demarius Russell, Ben Hagen, and Tauston Rupe. The four seniors were named captains for the 2024 season as they head into their final season playing under the lights on Friday nights.
The Bluejays are coming off a season where they won the Section 3AAA championship before losing to Stewartville in the first round of the Class AAA state tournament.
The four captains are looking to bounce back after the first round loss. They have a bad taste in their mouth and want to repeat as section champions and go further in the state tournament.
While they lost a few guys to graduation last year, they still have players returning in key positions to help them to an even better season this year.
“We’ve got some guys returning, but we had a lot of guys that left, especially on our defense,” Rupe said.
The Bluejay captains are confident in new players and starters that are going to fill those holes, seeing them put in the time all summer.
“There’s some new guys that have been working pretty hard to earn their spots,” Russell said. “They’ve been looking pretty good to fill those roles.”
Like many teams around the state, the Bluejays will have the same schedule as last year, with just the location of the games flipped. The Bluejays went 6-2 in the regular season last year, losing their first game of the season against Stewartville and their last game of the regular season against Fairmont.
After losing to Stewartville two times last season, Waseca is set to open its season against the Tigers Friday away.
The road to another section championship and a run in the state tournament will not be easy, but the Bluejays are confident in their abilities and in the leadership of their four captains.
Jascha, Russell, Hagen, and Rupe are excited for the opportunity to lead their team this season.
“It feels good knowing that my team can rely on me,” Russell said.
Rupe feels the same way, as he has been waiting for this opportunity ever since he joined the varsity football team in eighth grade.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted ever since I was a freshman and an eighth grader,” Rupe said about being a captain and a leader on the team. “You eventually want to be there; you want to be the captain. You want to be the person that’s leading the team onto the field and showing them how it’s supposed to be done.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0