RAPID CITY --- With two weeks of practice in the books, South Dakota School of Mines second-year head football coach Dan Kratzer has had a chance to gauge and evaluate his team and see just how much potential the Hardrockers have this season.

“We have a good idea of who can play and who can contribute this year. We are very pleased with some of our positions. We are going to be a heavily laced freshmen and sophomore football team,” Kratzer said.

The Hardrockers welcomed approximately 30 freshmen to the program to go along with about 16 sophomores. The upperclassmen consist of just eight juniors and five seniors.

But despite such a young squad to work with, Kratzer is already especially pleased with a couple groups.

“Our offensive line is doing a fine job this year and our quarterbacks have been competing very well,” he said. “On the defensive side of the ball, our outside backers have really been a plus for us.”

Kratzer added that the cornerback and safety positions are also looking strong as the first game steadily approaches.

After a tough 2005 campaign where South Dakota Mines posted a 1-9 overall record, the 2006 version hopes to steadily improve on that. But with a younger team, as well as a small roster it’s going to be a challenge (58 listed so far).

 “We are going to have to stay healthy,” Kratzer said. “We are extremely thin as far as depth goes. But we are certainly in a better position this year than we were last year.”

One of the reasons for that is the new hirings on the coaching staff. The Hardrockers made six new hires to help the cause. Lonnie Messick (defensive coordinator), Cartier Walker (defensive secondary coach), Willie Stephens (defensive line coach), Mitch Olson (quarterbacks coach), Quintrell Porter (running backs coach), Joe Zogg (defensive line coach), Morgan Malkowski (linebackers coach), Todd Gormley (linebackers coach).

“Anytime you can get experienced coaches like we have, like with coach Messick, coach Zogg and coach Walker (to name a few), it’s going to help establish some credibility with the team and with the program,” Kratzer added.

The Hardrockers lost six seniors last year with Olson (quarterback) Nate Denzin (DB), Todd Ghormley (LB) and Clark Nelson (LB) as the biggest contributors. Olson, who joined the coaching staff, looked to be a top QB prospect in 2005, but was injured early in the season. Denzin was quite a force for the Hardrockers defense, earning first team conference honors.

And despite having just 13 upperclassmen in this season’s lineup, the Hardrockers do show some talent both on offense and defense.

“We have very few upperclassmen on either side of the football,” Kratzer said. “Most of those guys have a year or two of playing experience under their belt and they are kind of the foundation that you build (the team) around.”

Kyle Krajowski (OshKosh, Neb.) should make an impact this season. A year ago he was off to a good start as a running back, but went down with an injury just two games into the schedule. Kratzer said the junior has worked his way back into the starting role. Lukas Munsell (Mills, Wyo..) is another player that has a promising year ahead of him. The 5-foot-9-inch junior was a running back as a freshman and then switched over to receiver during his sophomore year.

“We just weren’t able to get the ball to him enough last year,” Kratzer said. “That’s going to change this year.”

Other upperclassmen that should stabilize the team are tight end Galen Hoogestraat (Chancellor, S.D.) as well as senior linebacker Jake Hahn (Hay Springs, Neb.).

Along with the experienced veterans, Kratzer is pleased with a core of underclassmen that make up Hardrockers’ offensive line.

“One of our strongest groups is the offensive line, even though they are all freshmen. But that is where you have to put the emphasis,” Kratzer said.

Dan Salsbery (Milwaukee, Or.), Matt Deardorff (Brandon, S.D), Eric Thompson (Oceana, Calif..), Kayne Ree (Sheridan, Wyo.) and Matt Bult (Huron) make up the line.

“On the defensive side of the ball, our linebacking group is probably our strongest group,” Kratzer added.

Sophomore Chris Slaughter (Woodland Park, Colo.), Sophomore Tyrell Anderson (Green River, Wyo.) and Hahn have all stepped up to contribute in that area.

“We have two foundations there that we can identify and we can build around and become a better football program because of these positions right now,” Kratzer said of the offensive and defensive groups.

A couple of areas of concerns for the Hardrockers are the cornerback position and receiver position as well as the spot at kicker. Kratzer added that he and his staff are working to improve those areas and will make them a point of emphasis during the recruitment phase for the 2007 season.

Looking at the Dakota Athletic Conference, Kratzer feels things will go down similar to last season.

“It is going to be very similar to last year. I think Valley City (State) and Dickinson (State) and Black Hills (State) all have an opportunity to be very competitive,” the coach said. “I think the real sleeper could be Dakota State and Jamestown (College). Mayville changed coaching staffs and you can never count Minot State out.”

As far as where Mines measures up, Kratzer said it was hard to say, but did stress that he wants to improve on last year’s mark,

“We have a chance to win a few ball games. Odiously we want to do better than we did last year. That’s going to be the key thing for us,” he said.

Kratzer added that the Hardrockers are pointed in the right direction to building a solid team. The first step was recruiting and bringing the 30 freshmen to this year’s team.

 “They key is to recruit the right kind of players to win,” he said.

Kratzer also has a blue print for the short future as well.

“In our five-year plan we would like to win 40 percent of our ball games. That is something that you shoot for. We would love to be .500. If that is something that happens, it will be because of the emphasis on steadiness, practice and consistency,” the coach said.

Overall, Kratzer wants to be more productive offensively and establish a more solid defense for the 2006 campaign. It will be a challenge, but it is one the head coach, staff and players are all prepared for.

“Being another young football team, youth is very unpredictable,” Kratzer said. “The way our kids practice and the way they are playing --- we are going to be a better football team.”