Chinook seniors make it to the very end

For the seniors on the Chinook Sugarbeeters football team, it's been a season of lasts.

As seniors they have participated in their last summer camps, their last two-a-days, their last season opener and their last homecoming. And on Saturday the seniors will play in what will be their last ever high school football game.

But very few seniors find themselves in the same situation as the Beeters. Saturday's matchup against Wibaux doesn't just represent the finale in a long line of "lasts," it also represents a first, as the Northern C Beeters will play for their first ever state C 8-Man championship.

"The goal is to always get to that last game and end the season with a win," Chinook senior running back and linebacker Tyler Molyneaux said. "And in your senior year that's huge, you want to leave a lasting mark. This is what we have been working for all four years of high school and even before that. It has taken a lot of hard work; we set a goal at the beginning of the season and planned on reaching it. Now we are in the state championship, just what we wanted all a long.

"We have been waiting for this chance," Chinook senior QB Lane Schmitt said. "And we have put our hard work in so when it came time we just had to play. This is what we've been working for forever and it's the best way to go out."

And Molyneaux is just one piece of the talented senior puzzle.

Also making up the senior portion of the roster is Schmitt (quarterback/defensive back), Taran Huestis (kicker/defensive back), Chris Haider (tight end/defensive end), Connlin Brown (center/tackle) and Josh Jones (guard/defensive end).

After a 4-4 season and missing out on the postseason a year ago, the Beeters have bounced back in a big way. They are now 10-1, and will play for the state championship Saturday in Chinook. And a big reason for the Beeters' turnaround is this year's senior class.

The six seniors tucked away on the Beeters roster have carried this team with an astounding work ethic. They put in countless hours on and off the field, during the season and during the offseason. If it makes the Chinook program better, these seniors are doing it, including summer camps, considerable time in the weight room and just going out and throwing the football around.

"This past summer they really worked on getting the younger kids to go out and throw the football," Coach Matt Molyneaux said. "It was like their own open gym sort of thing they did over the summer. (The seniors) have played a huge role in the team's success, a lot of these kids have lived and breathed football for four years, and some even longer than that. They were the kids down in the end zone paying football when the games were going on, and they are the ones that have put in all the extra hours in the weight room. Their role has been really important."

"It's been countless hours in the weight room over the offseason that has made us successful," Tyler Molyneaux added. "The weight room is really where we have put in a ton of work with team workouts. Camps have always helped out as well, but the weight room is where it all starts for us, and we firmly believe that is a huge contributing factor to where we are right now."

But the seniors aren't working hard for themselves. Yes, the hard work has made them better individually, but their work ethic and leadership has also made the program better as a whole. And setting the bar high, this years seniors has set a precedent for next years seniors, the seniors after that and the seniors after that.

"We always looked up to our upperclassman and seniors," Tyler Molyneaux said. "And we expected them to be an example whether it was their work ethic or just how they conducted themselves. We try to do the same thing and just show that hard work will eventually get you where you need to be.

"We have been trying to set the example," Schmitt added "And we've been dragging them (younger players) into the weight room with us. We want them to realize that they have to put in the work if they want to go far."

And according to coach Molyneaux, his seniors lead in different ways.

He called Jones and Haider his fiery leaders, the ones who are the loud and outspoken type. And for Tyler Molyneaux, Schmitt and Brown, they are more of the silent leaders, the more reserved of the group, leading by example.

Huestis has also had a major impact on the Beeters. He has been known more for his talent on the soccer field, but has given the Beeters a huge boost in the kicking game.

"Huestis is a soccer player if you ask him," Coach Molyneaux said. "That is the sport he really loves, and he came out to help us in the kicking position."

The senior group also has a solid list of accolades to their name.

Haider was an all conference defensive end as a junior, and Brown was an all conference defensive lineman as a junior. And Jones, who transferred back to Chinook from Skyview earned all state honors as a guard and defensive end as a junior. Tyler Molyneaux has also earned some credit for his hard work, grabbing all conference honorable mention as a sophomore linebacker, and all conference as a running back and linebacker last season as a junior.

Waiting to see if the Beeters claim their first ever state football championship isn't going to determine whether this senior class or even this program has had a successful season or not. This talented group of football players has already put in their blood, sweat and tears trying to make this an elite football program, and making it this far has already proved how tough, hard working and successful they are, and will continue to be.

"They have had their challenges," Coach Molyneaux said. "But it's because of their love of the game and pushing the limits of the game with such a high intensity that they have succeeded."

Chinook and Wibaux will play for the Class C state championship Saturday at 1 p.m. in Chinook.