In the Weight Room, a countdown clock silently winds down in anticipation for the football team’s season opener against Eureka on Friday, Aug. 27. Underneath it reads “Beat Eureka”, suggesting that the Wildcats are not just any opponent. Because the schools are so close together, players on both sides will be lining up against former classmates and junior football teammates. But those relationships certainly won’t be friendly after kickoff.   

“It’ll be a lot of fun, but I’m not friends with them on the field,” junior quarterback Will Dupont said.

This will be just the third time in history that Lafayette and Eureka have met on the football field. Eureka took the first meeting 12-7 in 2008, before Lafayette evened the series with a 14-7 road win last year. Both games were hard-fought defensive struggles and fans can expect the same Friday.

“We’re going to try to run the football, keep their offense off the field and play great defense. You don’t really know where their players are at. We’re going to control what we can control and work on fundamentals,” Coach Boyd Manne said.

Senior Thomas Swoboda will handle most of the carries as the most experienced running back. The game plan will rely heavily on strong blocking upfront, something that will be made more difficult by a season-ending injury to senior offensive lineman Adam Eckel. His presence will be greatly missed on a unit that Manne expected to the team’s strength this season.

The line’s main job will be to protect Dupont in his first game as a starting quarterback after making the transition from wide receiver, where he played last season. As a sophomore, he led the team in with 467 yards on 40 catches and was named first-team All-Conference. But with him now under center and the departure of two top receivers as well as leading rusher Kyle Green, Dupont will have to make plays on the ground and through the air.

“It’s going to be really hard, but with me and Thomas (Swoboda), it should be fine. It’s just another part of the game,” Dupont said.

On defense, the Lancers won’t face a great challenge against a team that lost many of last year’s playmakers. But the Wildcats will have experience at quarterback as Sean Strehl for his senior season. His main target will be junior receiver Aaron Schnurbusch, who had 22 catches for 329 yards a year ago.