Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Cooper Spicher, North Star Football

Cooper Spicher's big senior season has helped the Knights bounce back

After a rough stretch that spans at least three seasons, the North Star Knights’ football program has finally bounced back.

The Six-Man Knights finished the season with a 3-5 record a year ago, but have already turned in a 5-1 record this fall. The Knights have also clinched a spot in the Class C playoffs already, but are now in the hunt for a conference title and a top seed heading into the posseason.

And a big reason for the early success comes from a talented senior in Cooper Spicher, a utility player that has perfected the equation in which speed equals touchdowns, and ultimately wins. In one of Spicher’s bigger performances this season, he rushed for 288 yards against the conference rival Box Elder Bears, as well as accounted for six rushing touchdowns. The four-time letter winner lines up at quarterback and tailback for the Knights, and is a very talented utility player as well, getting plenty of opportunities on special teams each and every week.

But Spicher is also a varsity guard for the North Star basketball team, as well as a standout athlete on the North Star track and field team.

Spicher will also be a four time letter winner in both track and basketball, and should be poised for a solid senior year across the board. Spicher has been to and competed at the state track meet the last two years, and is one of the area’s top Class C long jumpers, triple jumpers, hurdlers and sprinters.

But right now it’s football season. And Spicher and the Knights still have plenty of business. Once a Six-Man power, North Star has risen to the top yet again. The Knights have already clinched a playoff berth, and are trying to track down a North Division title. And Spicher is a big part of that equation, and with all of his talent and athleticism, he will be until the final gun sounds on the Knights’ bounce-back season.

Here’s five questions with Cooper Spicher as the Knights host rival Stanford-Geyser-Denton on senior day this afternoon in Rudyard.

HDN: What were the biggest changes the team made to be able to bounce back from last season?

Spicher: “This year we made a few changes in personnel, switched some positions around, and got some kids healthy. We really tried to work hard this year and put in the extra effort, and it seems to have paid off so far. With people graduating, we really had some kids step up to fill roles.”

HDN: The team has won some dominating games this season, but what does the team have to do to stay consistent the rest of the season?

Spicher: “We have to make sure we play our game and keep working hard in practice. We can’t overlook anybody and just have to treat everybody like they are the best and take it one week at a time. Compared to previous years, this has to be one of the fastest teams we have had. And we have to utilize that because we don’t have a whole lot of size, so we have to stick to our strengths, and our speed is one of them.”

HDN: How did you prepare or work out in the offseason to ensure you would have a standout senior season?

Spicher: “Mainly I just worked out all summer, kept lifting, and just worked here and there on my individual game. I just tried to make sure I was going to be the best player I could be coming in, being able to handle a bigger workload, and being able to play whatever position they needed.”

HDN: Which would be a bigger accomplishment, a big run into the football postseason, or a big run into the basketball postseason?

Spicher: “Personally, I think it would be cooler for our football team to make a deep run into the postseason. No particular reason, but it has just been a change in direction since our previous three seasons, especially the last two. It would just be nice to keep the success we have had so far going and keep rolling. But I wouldn’t turn down a basketball run either.”

HDN: The team has already found some success this season, but what will really make this season go down as a successful one?

Spicher: “Well we already clinched a spot in the playoffs and that is always the first goal. Now the goal is to host a playoff game, which requires us to finish first, or second in the division, and after that it is to win as many games as we can in the playoffs and go as far as we can. We can’t be complacent and be happy with mediocrity, we have to strive for the best.”