By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Bishop LeBlond senior Lane Harshman helped put Golden Eagle football on a strong path forward in 2022 along with a class of eight other seniors.
Harshman's contributions were enough to earn him an offer from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. Harshman signed his NLI for DWU on Thursday.
"It's a big relief," Harshman said, "because for awhile there, I didn't know where I was going. It's crazy. Coming into high school, I had never played football before. I never considered it before until sophomore year and coach (Chuck) Davis talked to me after some basketball games and told me to come out and play football, and here I am."
Harshman was part of a LeBlond team that went 10-4 this past fall. It marked the best season possibly ever for the Golden Eagles, as they advanced to their first ever state championship game and won a district title for the first time since 1993.
"(That team) showed the younger kids coming up that we can compete," LeBlond head coach Chuck Davis said. "In the past, if you won a district game or two, that was an accomplishment. But, now the bar has been set a little higher and (Lane) is a big part of that, because he's a competitor."
Harshman primarily played corner for LeBlond on defense, accounting for 38 total tackles in his senior year. He had been hampered by injury early in the season, but Davis says Harshman came back stronger than ever.
"He got hurt week one," Davis said of Harshman. "Dislocated rib, which is a big one to come back from. To come back the way he did and re-earn his starting spot and help us make it to the state championship was pretty cool and he's a hard worker. I didn't have any doubt in my mind he'd be able to do this."
Harshman isn't the biggest player on the field at 5-7 and 140 pounds, but he felt an immediate connection with the coaching staff and facilities once he went on a visit to Mitchell.
"They reached out and I went there," Harshman said. "Everything felt right with the coaches and I really liked the staff they had on hand. I got to talk to some of the other players. It just felt comforting. Like I was welcomed there."
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