ABOVE: Front row, from left: Drew Henderson, Hudson Tirevold, Cole Nicoson, John Waller, Lane Bruhn, Draven Keeler, Jayden Hagedorn, Jeffrey Walker, Khael Jones. Second row, from left: Michael Tobin, Wyatt Leininger, Kael Vaske, Gabe Whaley, Caden Zotz, Casey Rezac, Wiley Stevens, Jackson Hutchinson, Max Merrill, Dyson Wikert, Cooper Hoye, Greyson Colegrove Third row, from left: Christian Reyes, Noah Hersleff, Zane Vaske, Castor Kollasch, Hunter Clendenen, Kaden Grimm, Hunter Geitzenauer, Kyan Walter, Carson Crouch, Drake Nelsen Back row, from left: Brock Marsh, Jakob Ernster, Luke Hansen, Max Heinen, Broc Bollig, Brekkyn Morphew, Noah Campbell, Austin Gillis, Lane Engelby, Taylin Jones.

ARMSTRONG – For the North Union High School football program, 2025 will be a year of firsts for both players and coaches.

This past March, the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced the districts and groups for the upcoming fall season. One of the biggest surprises from this was the announcement of North Union football dropping from Class A to Eight-Man.

After spending the past 13 years playing in Class 1A and Class A groups, this new placement will be an adjustment for everyone.

“There have been adjustments, but the kids have been really good with it, though,” North Union High School football coach Matt Ernster said. “Understanding that it’s a learning curve for all of us. I’ve got coaches with 8-man experience before, but the game has developed a lot.”

The Xs and Os have shifted for a program used to playing the typical style of football. Despite this, Ernster hasn’t seen too much of a struggle from his players.

Because of the high amount of returning varsity talent this season, many of the transitions have been easy to make.

“I think we are kind of lucky because we bring a lot of kids back,” Ernster said. “We’ve got kids that have played a lot of football, so when you are trying to install the new stuff, it’s not as big a deal to go back through it because they understand the concepts of things we are trying to say.”

As for on-field expectations, Ernster and his coaching staff have a lot of confidence in his team entering the season.

Last season was a learning curve for many key players for the Warriors, who are coming off a 2-6 finish in 2024. But with a year of seeing the speed and quickness varsity-level football is known for, Ernster believes many of these players are ready to leap this fall, including his junior quarterback Greyson Colegrove.

Following a season-ending injury from then senior quarterback Grady Madden, Colegrove was thrown into the fire, having to learn and make adjustments on the fly during his first action at the varsity level.

While his sophomore campaign was filled with ups and downs, Colegrove showed his abilities as a dual-threat presence in the backfield, combining for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground and through the air.

“I feel for us, he kind of got his sophomore stuff out,” Ernster said. “We expect a big year out of him. Now he’s not so much deer in the headlights look, now he’s an upperclassman. That [experience] was big for him.”

Supporting Colegrove on the offensive side of the ball will be three returning linemen from last season: senior Lane Bruhn, junior Max Merrill, and senior Cole Nicoson.

This experienced group will be one of the main focal points in North Union’s offense with the recent transition in classes.

“Luckily, you go from 11-man to eight-man, so you go from five linemen to three, well, I return three linemen,” Ernster said. “That’s nice to have three guys that started all last year for us on the line. Those guys are going to be able to move people up front and open up some gaps.”

Running behind this unit will be senior Draven Keeler, the leading rusher from last year’s team. After ending his junior year campaign with 645 yards and seven touchdowns, Ernster and his coaching staff expect bigger things in 2025.

Returning on the outside following his breakout 2024 campaign is senior Khael Jones. Jones came onto the varsity spotlight and shined, gathering 20 receptions for 273 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

“We have a lot of different options of things we can do [offensively],” Ernster said.

Ernster thinks his roster can be just as versatile on the opposite side of the ball this season.

Playing a 2-4-2 defensive front gives the Warriors a variety of different coverages depending on down and distance. While the learning curve for this side of the ball has been challenging, Ernster is confident in his returning players’ abilities.

“We feel like we got a lot of backend guys we can rotate into different spots,” Ernster said. “You can have coverage packages, run packages, with the big guys up front that we can rotate and keep fresh, too. We just feel like with the defensive side, we can adapt pretty well to whatever gets thrown to us.”

The Warriors open the season at home this Friday against Newell-Fonda. Kickoff is expected to start at 7 p.m. at the North Union High School Football/Track Complex.