The 2021-2022 school year has come upon us, and the start of a new year means the start of fall sports. One of those fall sports that is widely beloved by many, is football.

Last school year was one to remember, with many things we are used to having being changed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. With certain schools not being able to play football or any other sports. Due to this, the schedule that the Lakeland Hawks Football team has this year is much different than the previous school year.

Schools such as West Valley, St. Maries, Columbia, and Preston are teams that Lakeland did not compete within football last fall, yet are on the schedule for the Hawks this season.

The 2021 season started on the wrong foot for the hawks. In their first game against the Preston Indians, the home team Indians won with the final score being 7-6.

The Hawks then hosted their first home game of the season against the Lake City Timberwolves. The Timberwolves were able to take the win with the final score of 14-3.

Brian Etchison, the offensive coordinator for the Lakeland Hawks discussed the adversity the Hawks have faced so far in the season.

“We started out a little rough, but it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you show improvement”.

Indeed The Hawks did show improvement when they traveled to Nampa, ID to go against the Columbia Wildcats.

The Hawks were able to get their first win of the season, with a final score of 39-14. With key skill players in Devon Suko, Alden Waddington, Richie Thomas, Thomas Calder, and John Cornish, scoring a combined 5 touchdowns for the Hawks.

“We saw adversity early on, which happens, even your best-laid plans don’t work out, so how do you respond to that? I thought we responded very well this past week,” Coach Etch stated when asked about the challenges so far throughout the season.

With six games left in the regular season, and the schedule not looking any easier. With tough matchups against schools like Post Falls and Sandpoint, Coach Etch and many other coaches will help their team fight through the season and battle adversity, just like they have done so many times, for the ultimate goal of winning state.

The Lakeland Hawks’ next game will be on 7 p.m., September 10, at Lakeland High School against the West Valley Eagles.