Lenhart has Bennington buzzing with excitement

BENNINGTON – The start to Kam Lenhart’s coaching career has been more than a dream come true. In just three seasons, Lenhart has turned the Bennington football team into a Class B powerhouse on the gridiron. Through nearly three seasons, Lenhart has accumulated a 34-2 record. In 2021, Lenhart guided the Badgers to a perfect 13-0 season, capped with the program’s first Class B State Championship and second state title in program history. “Bennington is truly a special place,” Lenhart remarked. “The amount of buy-in the kids and coaches have makes it very easy on my part. The success we have is not because of one person, it really takes everyone working together to achieve what we have done. I give kudos to our coaching staff, who work tirelessly and are the best coaching staff I have ever worked with in any sport. Our kids sacrifice a lot of time doing football stuff and it pays off. Bennington is a special place.”

Fast-forward to 2022 and Lenhart has the Badgers on the verge of back-to-back state titles and heads into the state title game on an impressive 25-game winning streak. Lenhart, a Central City graduate, joined the Bennington staff in 2019 after serving as the head coach for Fairbury. Lenhart, who is an assistant coach for the Badger wrestling team in the winter as well, was quickly embraced by two of the longest tenured head coaches at Bennington, head football coach Greg Bohn and head wrestling mentor Alan Pokorny. “He was involved right away,” Bohn stated. “He had three years of head coaching experience already (at Fairbury) and he is one of the more inquisitive people I have ever met. He asks really good questions and he wants to get to the heart of the answer. The coaches and players bought into his message and he has been very positive.”

The two longtime Badger skippers played a huge role in Lenhart’s growth as a coach. “This was the best thing for me,” Lenhart commented. “Being able to work under coach Bohn and coach Pokorny was the best thing for my coaching career. I saw things from a different perspective and learned so much from those two guys. I continue to learn from those two and I can’t give them enough thanks for allowing me to be on their staffs. Bohn retired as head coach following the 2019 campaign and Lenhart ws handed the reins of the Badger football program. In his first season at the helm, Lenhart guided Bennington to an 8-1 record and a No. 1 seed in the Class B State Tournament. Following a 52-26 win over Seward in the opening round, the Badgers were upset by Plattsmouth in the quarterfinals 34-27. Since that quarterfinal loss on Nov. 6 2020, Bennington has not dropped a game since. “That game affected us tremendously,” Lenhart noted. “The guys that we have leading the team right now, were on that team as well. They experienced that and that is really what has set the tone last year and this year. They have that taste and they never want to experience that again. It was a big turning point for our program. We didn’t want it to happen, but it made us better.”

Bennington rolled through the competition during the regular season on its way to a 9-0 record and its second-straight No. 1 seed in the Class B State Tournament. The Badgers marched their way to Lincoln and outscored their first three playoff opponents 120-20. In the state title contest, Bennington cruised to a 42-14 triumph over Aurora to complete the perfect season and bring home Bennington’s first state football title since 1989 and second in program history. “Bennington has done a tremendous job and it has been a great three-year stretch,” Bohn said. “They have continued to live up to the standard and traditions Bennington has. They have really good players, really good coaches and continue to move forward every year.” Despite the target being placed firmly on Bennington’s back in Class B, Lenhart has the Badgers right back in the thick of things in the state title race. Bennington continued its winning ways from 2021 and currently sits at 12-0 entering its second-straight Class B State title game on a 25-game winning streak. Lenhart, who credits the Badgers’ success on the gridiron to their selfless nature, demonstrates that same selfless mindset as well when it comes to talking about his early success. “It was a huge thing to have the assistant coaches come back,” Lenhart added. “Kids want that familiarity and we talk in football that routine is important. When the coaching staff came back, it was tremendous. We had a few adjustments here and there, but for the most part everything is similar. A subtle change was what we needed. We didn’t want to drastically change the whole thing because coach Bohn was doing really good things with that team.”

The excitement for the Bennington football team will take centerstage for the town Tuesday, when the undefeated Badgers face Gross Catholic (12-0) in the Class B State Championship game at Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. “It is really exciting and a thrill to see,” Bohn commented. “This year’s senior class were freshmen during my last season (in 2020). I didn’t have a lot of direct contact with them because we had a separate freshmen team, but to see their development over the course of their high school careers has been great. It is an exciting time for Bennington.” Lenhart hopes his early success will help continue to carry Bennington into the future as the school district continues to grow and takes on new adventures as a future Class A program in the near future. “The foundation was already laid when I took over,” Lenhart concluded. “The buy-in was already there and I was fortunate enough to come here. I feel blessed for the opportunity.”

Tyson Agler

Date

November 20, 2022

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