Mustangs are looking to finish the season strong after midseason quarantine
FARGO, N.D. (BVM) — In what has become a fairly common aspect of sports since COVID-19, the Sheyenne High School football team found themselves having to get through a midseason quarantine.
After a positive test on the team, the undefeated Mustangs and for almost a month did not play a competitive game of football.
鈥淚 could already tell they were out of shape,鈥� Sheyenne head coach Jeremy Newton said about his team when they came back to practice following the quarantine. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 take long, but it took a couple workouts before we got them back into shape.鈥�
The Mustangs had no time to waste as they were getting ready for a matchup against fellow undefeated Fargo Davies on Oct. 9.
鈥淚 was a little worried about us and our physicality,鈥� Newton said.聽
But he had nothing to worry about.
The Mustangs came out and beat the Eagles 29-0 following the quarantine.聽 It was an impressive win as it is hard for any team to go almost a month without playing a competitive game and then come back the way Sheyenne did.聽聽聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e taking it one week at a time,鈥� Newton said.聽
In a year of uncertainty, that鈥檚 the best any team can do and it鈥檚 how the Mustangs got through their quarantine.聽
It is also how they started the season. Even though they were coming off a strong 2019 season where they were state runner-up, losing to Century in the state championship game 10-0, the Mustangs left that in the past.
鈥淭his year was unique in the fact that we didn鈥檛 even know if we were going to have a season,鈥� Newton said. 鈥淲e kind of just went in fresh and said, 鈥楬ey this is your seniors year. This is your team’s year. Let’s see what we can do.鈥欌��
Even during the summer when the season was still in question, the Mustangs were doing everything they could to be prepared.
鈥淲e tried everything to try to keep them going online and virtually talk to them,鈥� Newton said. 鈥淎t the end of the day we talked about it as a state and if you make these kids come in in August without having trained all summer you鈥檙e going to have a lot more dangerous situations.鈥澛�
Luckily for Sheyenne, they had a strong senior class to help the coaching staff in getting everyone ready for the season.
鈥淵ou got to have someone there to teach you the things that everyone should already know,鈥� Newton said. 鈥淲e had a great senior group that did that for us this year and that really helped us out a lot.鈥�
What also helped the Mustangs was the strong team chemistry they have this season.聽聽聽
鈥淚n a season like this to have that group of guys that get along well. We don鈥檛 have the locker room issues, we don鈥檛 even have a locker room, we don鈥檛 have drama on the team,鈥� Newton said. 鈥淢inimizing the amount of anxiety we have as a squad has helped us out a lot.鈥�
Especially when dealing with the midseason quarantine. Now that the Mustangs are back on track, they are looking to finish the season undefeated and win the Eastern Dakota Conference (EDC).聽
With a defense that has had two shutouts so far this season and NDSU commit running back Barika Kpeenu who has rushed for 782 yards on 99 attempts along with 111 receiving yards on five receptions and 11 touchdowns. The Mustangs are ready to finish the season strong.
Although the postseason is still in question the Mustangs aren鈥檛 focusing on that right now. The only things on their minds are their last two games and the fact that they are still able to play football.
鈥淲e鈥檙e playing football and I鈥檓 super happy to be out there with them,鈥� Newton said.
