Bronco Football Chosen 7th in GPAC Preseason Poll
(Hastings, NE) – Entering the 2025 fall season and year five of the Matt Franzen coaching tenure, the Hastings Broncos were picked to finish seventh in the preseason GPAC poll. They received 43 votes, eight more than eighth-place Doane. Morningside was picked to win the conference, with nine of the 11 first-place votes. Northwestern was second and received the other two first-place votes.
(Hastings, NE) – Entering the 2025 fall season and year five of the Matt Franzen coaching tenure, the Hastings Broncos were picked to finish seventh in the preseason GPAC poll. They received 43 points, eight more than eighth-place Doane. Morningside was picked to win the conference, with nine of the 11 first-place votes. Northwestern was second and received the other two first-place votes.
Last season, the Broncos dropped their first two games, then picked up a 44-35 home win over Briar Cliff and later a 43-10 win at Waldorf, before falling in their final six games of the very competitive GPAC to finish 2-8 in the GPAC and 2-9 overall.
Hastings made changes to their coaching staff, most notably adding James Bauer from Kansas Wesleyan as their offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Bauer spent the last three years as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator with the Coyotes, going 7-5 overall and 5-0 in their conference division with an offense that averaged 26.8 points per game last season.
Quarterback Carson Kudlacek returns for his junior year after being the starter for last year, completing 55.6 percent of his passes and averaging 211.9 yards per game through the air to go along with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Kudlacek will be joined in the quarterback room with a couple of other local standouts in Jarrett Synek and Tucker Synek joining the team this fall. Tucker recently completed his high school career at Hastings High, while Jarrett comes to the Broncos as a redshirt-junior after spending time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of South Dakota following his graduation at Hastings High.
Other notable offensive returners include junior running back Josh Ray, who led the team a year ago with 147 carries for 593 yards and six touchdowns. Redshirt-senior wide receiver Eli Nappe had a team-leading 37 receptions last year, totaling 364 yards and two touchdown receptions. At tight end, senior Jake Bargen had 16 catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns, which all came in their win at Waldorf.
Hastings brings back four of its five starters on the offensive line from the opener last year, with juniors Sal Nacarelli and Jayden Lagunas at guard and seniors Brock Buresh and Jayden Lawrence at center and tackle, respectively.
Defensively, Hastings will have a new leading tackler with the departure of All-Conference First Team defender, linebacker Jayden Roberts. Fellow linebacker Jake Lambert returns for his senior season after being named to the all-conference second team last year, finishing with 93 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and a team-high four interceptions.
Also returning on defense include linebacker Dawson Kissinger, defensive backs Colton Marsh, Marcus Dustin, Gio Mendoza, and Sam Ahl. EJ Hernandez will look to anchor the defensive line, alongside David Lopez, Brendyn Nelson, and Chase Pawloski.
In special teams, punter Travon Shaw looks to build upon a promising freshman season that saw him become all-conference second team, averaging 39.8 yards per punt and pinning the opponents 21 times inside the 20 yard line. They will be looking to find a replacement in the preseason at kicker following the graduation of Xander Salyers, who was all-conference honorable mention last year.
The Broncos will begin their season at 6pm on Saturday, August 30 at Doane. They will make their home debut the following weekend at 1pm on Saturday, September 6 against Midland.
|
2025 GPAC Football Preseason Poll |
|||
|
Place |
Team |
Total |
1st Place Votes |
|
1 |
Morningside |
99 |
9 |
|
2 |
Northwestern |
89 |
2 |
|
3 |
Dordt |
84 |
0 |
|
4 |
Concordia |
68 |
0 |
|
5 |
Midland |
64 |
0 |
|
6 |
Mount Marty |
58 |
0 |
|
7 |
Hastings |
43 |
0 |
|
8 |
Doane |
35 |
0 |
|
9 |
Dakota Wesleyan |
32 |
0 |
|
10 |
Briar Cliff |
23 |
0 |
|
11 |
Waldorf |
10 |
0 |
