Sauk Rapids-Rice Football Rebuilds With Veteran Roster And Experienced Upperclassmen Leaders

The Sauk Rapids-Rice football team is in search of a bounce back year after enduring a season with just 2 wins and numerous injuries.  Storm Activities Director and Head Football Coach Phil Klaphake joined me on WJON.

Tough Opponents

Klaphake says "playing 5A football is no joke".  He says "we play against strong programs, coached by really good coaches...the level of football is awesome".  He says their goal is to win as many games as they can but he knows the schedule that they play makes it tough.  Klaphake says his players worked really hard last year and he's not disappointed in the any in the kids on the roster.

Growth

The Storm had approximately 17 seniors on the roster last season but 6 to 7 of them weren't able to finish the season on the active roster due to injury.  Klaphake says their returning players did a lot of work to prepare for this season which includes playing other sports and work in the weight room.

Numbers

Sauk Rapids-Rice has 107 kids grades 9-12 playing football this season.  Klaphake says of the 107, they have 18 seniors, just over 20 juniors, approximately 30 sophomores and around 45 freshmen.  Due to injuries in 2025 the Storm played more sophomores and juniors in varsity games.  Klaphake says that experience gained should help them this season.  He believes the adjustment to game speed and coaching is so important and when a player is into their 2nd year of varsity, there is significant growth that happens.

Preparation

The Storm have had almost 2 weeks of practice and Klaphake feels they have a veteran and experienced team this year.  He believes they have some strong upperclassmen leaders that really understand going through practice.  I asked Klaphake to identify his top players and returnees but he declined to single out players, per his policy.  He does believe this year's team has more physical size than last year's team.

2026 Schedule  (All 7pm starts)
September 4 at Monticello
September 11 vs. Elk River
September 18 vs. Brainerd
September 25 at Bemidji
October 2 at Alexandria
October 9 vs. Sartell-St. Stephen
October 14 at Cambridge-Isanti
October 21 vs, Waconia

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Phil Klaphake, click below.