BATTLE LAKE, Minn.– Back for another fall, the Otter Tail Central Bulldog Football team returns with confidence heading into the 2025 season.
“Oh, I’m very excited. I just can’t wait to get back out there and do what I love,” said senior running back Tayden Soma.
Head coach Eric Olson enters year nine as head coach of the Otter Tail Central. It’s a return to form for the Bulldogs, who return to Class A 11-man football after spending the previous two seasons in Class 9-Man. Coach Olson says his team is always ready to play football, no matter how many players are on the field.
“Everything is the same except for a couple extra players offensively, defensively,” said Olson. “Football is football and it’s the same game.”
55 athletes are out for OTC this fall, the largest number the team has had in over five years. Replacing last year’s four seniors won’t be easy. But coach Olson knows his 13 seniors, along with a strong group of juniors, will bring out the mainstays of Bulldog football.
“We got to be physical,” said Olson. “We got a solid group of lineman. A couple physical backs. so we got to win the line of scrimmage. We got to be able to take care of the football. Move the ball on the ground to set up the pass. So defensively, we better run and tackle well on that side.”
One of those physical backs is senior Tayden Soma.
“Thinking about running hard and fast and hitting someone,” said Toma. “I get really low and I just don’t stop moving.”
Some knows that the team is capable of making some noise in section 6A. But he knows that starts with making sure everyone on the team is working together.
“Yeah, we know that if we just, our main motto right now is just making sure someone is blocked so we can get down the field and score points,” said Toma.
Another running back looking to show that Bulldog physicality is senior William Schwartz.
“Just keeping up right and leading into someone,” said Schwartz. “When someone is coming head on I go head on into them.”
As he enters his senior year, the main goal for Schwartz is to have a good time with his friends out on the field.
“This year, I’m just looking to have a good year with my buddies. Getting to where we want to go as a team and working together to get there,” said Schwartz. “Learn how to work as a team better and just go as far as we can.”
The Bulldogs go back to their Class A schedule. Re-igniting local rivalries with New York Mills, Parkers Prairie, and Breckenridge. Every week is a rivalry for coach Olson, who looks to start strong in the early weeks of the season. Especially after going through the grind of the first few weeks of practice.
“We’re ready, it will be a week without sleep and a lot of nerves,” said Olson. “No matter how long you do it, you still have that stomach turning and those nerves before that first game of the year.”
Otter Tail Central started out the year on the right foot, defeating Ashby/Brandon/Evansville in Henning by a score of 22-18. The Bulldogs will go on the road to square off with New York Mills on Friday, September 5.