HBC Football 2016 Season This season the HBC Patriots had one goal to make it to the section championship in Marshall, MN. The Patriots worked very hard in the offseason to try to achieve this goal. They achieved their goal and made it to Marshall for the first time since 2003 breaking the second round curse. According to senior linebacker and left guard Logan Leuthold, they achieved their goal by lifting in the offseason with a few practices as well. The Patriots finished their season with an 8-3 record losing to Edgerton in the section championship 30-12. Leuthold felt that if the team had come out a little more physical that they could have won the game to move on to play Grand Meadow in the state quarter finals. Even though they did not make it the the state quarter finals Leuthold felt it was still a very successful season because all the work in the offseason payed off when they met their goal of reaching Marshall. Leuthold has been approached by Dakota State University and Dakota Wesleyan on playing linebacker for their schools football programs. He has yet to decide whether or not he will be playing college football, he says there is about a fifty-fifty chance of himself moving on to play college football. Overall this was a very good year for HBC football, next year's players are hoping for an even better season next year and hope to make a back-to-back appearance at the section championship in Marshall and hope to go even farther to the state quarter finals.
Showing cows in 4-H Dawson Leenderts has been showing cattle for around 6 years, starting when he was in 5th grade. Leenderts has done many shows including the Rock County Fair and the Minnesota State Fair, and is hoping to do a few more open shows this year with his new cows. Leenderts favorite show is the Minnesota State Fair, he really enjoys this show because you can learn so much from other competitors and that it is a really fun show to be in. Leenderts says that the prices are the lowest he has seen for show cows since he has started showing and says that prices are close to market price, so this year would be a great year to get started in show cows to make a profit. The average show cow is selling for around $1,000, and last year the cows were selling for around $1,300. Leenderts also said that the grand champion cow owner made $26,000 for his ribbon then sold the cow for well over market price so there is still a chance to make a lot of money showing. Leenderts says that if you are looking to buy a show cow that he personally looks for a heavier muscled cow, he also looks to make sure the cow is structurly sound and correct, meaning that all the cows feet are pointed straight forward and that the joints are straight, he also pays a lot of attention to how the cow walks, when the cow is walking he looks for long smooth strides. Showing cows can also be very difficult, Leenderts says that one of the harder challenges is to break your cow every year, this takes a lot of effort and usually about 4 months to do. Another challenge while showing is that sometimes the cows don't like the heat of summer, this causes the cows to be stubborn and hard to control. Overall Leenderts says he shows cows because it is a very fun experience, where you can learn a lot. There is also a chance to make a lot of money from your cows. These are just a few reasons why you should show cows.