HENRY, S.D. — With a veteran core and a focus on sharpening fine details, Head Coach Nate Russell and the Florence-Henry Falcons are working to turn early-season physical play into consistent performance.
Coming off a 2-6 campaign last year that featured victories over Wilmot and Redfield, the Falcons enter the season backed by steady program growth. Florence/Henry boasts a roster anchored by seven seniors and six juniors, maintaining solid numbers after expanding the roster to 32 players last season and retaining 29 this fall.
Leadership on the field is driven by key upperclassmen, notably seniors Dawson Hlavacek and Tucker Keller. Both players make significant impacts on both sides of the ball, with Hlavacek lining up at running back and defensive back while Keller anchors the passing attack at wide receiver and contributes at defensive back.
Offensively, the Falcons aim to establish a physical, run-first mentality behind Hlavacek, while Keller provides a perimeter threat. Defensively, the standard remains relentless pursuit.
“Our identity as a whole as a team is to be as physical as possible, and then make sure that we are 100% effort every opportunity we have,” Russell said.
That effort was visible in last week’s 48-8 season-opening loss to Estelline/Hendricks, where the Falcons debuted new schemes installed over the summer. However, late-game fatigue contributed to minor technical breakdowns.
“As the game kind of wore on and you start to feel that fatigue, the technique and attention to detail can start to deteriorate,” Russell noted. “That’s our big focus for this week: clean up some of those small, fine details so that we can continue to make plays for the entire length of the game.”
That execution will be tested Friday night when Florence/Henry hosts Waubay/Summit. The matchup carries extra incentive for the Falcons, who fell to the Mustangs 39-22 in the final game of the 2025 season.
Facing a Waubay/Summit squad with a new coaching staff and roster turnover, the Falcons are prioritizing internal execution over external unknowns. Adding to the energy Friday night is Henry’s Homecoming celebration. As a two-school co-op, the program manages two separate homecoming festivities during the season, with Florence set to host its celebration on Oct. 2 against Great Plains Lutheran.
For Coach Russell, managing the dual festivities is all about perspective.
“It’s about understanding what the week is for, which is really celebrating the schools and the co-op,” Russell said. “Getting them to reframe a lot of those things so that they’re not distractions, but they are more motivations and focus sharpeners.”
WTN Sports Brent Nathaniel will have the call of the game Friday night at 7 p.m. on the Florence/Henry YouTube.
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