DeForest football prepares for 2026 opener

DeForest coach Todd Grundahl and his players prepared for their Aug. 21 season opener during an August practice at DMB Community Bank Stadium.

After all, he was in charge of running the clock during the early portion of the practice.

Grundahl, who is entering his second season leading the DeForest football team, likes the sense of urgency his team has shown one week into practices. He believes this can serve as a strong foundation for DeForest to build on.

“I’ve loved the energy the first week,” Grundahl said. “These guys have always been hard workers, and now it’s how do we put them in the right places to be successful?”

DeForest enters the 2026 season with a healthy mix of new and familiar faces. The previous season, DeForest finished 2-7 overall, including a 2-5 record in the Badger-Large Conference. They finished in a three-way tie for fifth place. DeForest missed the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) postseason.

Players and preparations

This fall, DeForest will try to take a significant step forward. To do just that, they will rely on depth and natural athleticism at their skill positions.

And with that comes competition. Naturally.

“There’s a ton of competition at positions, something we didn’t have last year, and it’s really pushing everybody to find that competitive edge,” Coach Grundahl said. “That’s been a lot of fun to see.”

That competition starts under center. DeForest graduated its starting quarterback, Isaac Ziegler, who is currently playing at NCAA Division I FCS St. Thomas. They have two student-athletes who are in the mix for the starting QB spot: junior Macrae Midlikowski and senior Tru Killerlain.

“Those two have done a ton of things together, making each other better, helping each other out,” Grundahl said, confirming that the team doesn’t yet know who will be the starting quarterback. Entering week two of practices, he called it “1A and 1B”.

“You can plug and play either one of them in, and you’re not going to lose anything,” he said.

While the starting quarterback position is still in flux, DeForest do know who will demand significant carries this year.

They return their top two rushers in two seniors Dalton Lee and Carsten Schaus. According to Bound Wisconsin, Lee rushed for 245 yards on 64 carries and one touchdown, while Schaus rushed for 217 yards on 38 carries and three touchdowns.

On the receiving end, DeForest lost the previous season’s top two receivers, Collin Paskey and Emmitt Stegmann, but welcome back senior wide receiver Cooper Brown — one who radiates with upside.

The previous season, Brown had 14 receptions for 217 yards and one touchdown. That touchdown was for 75 yards. Coach Grundahl described Brown as one of the more physical wide receivers he’s seen.

“He’s definitely the most physical guy out there,” Grundahl said.

Defensively, Grundahl believes DeForest's defense will be among the biggest strengths of this year’s team.

That’s because DeForest return a “solid core” of defenders, including, but not limited to, senior linebackers Gabe Lavold, Bryar Herring, Dane Faas and Cooper Feiner, junior Baylor Skolaski and senior defensive lineman Brody Schmidt.

Lavold, Herring and Schmidt received Honorable Mention All-Conference recognition on defense the previous season.

Additional details

Lavold and Herring led DeForest in tackles the previous season with 55. Combined, the duo had 11 tackles for loss, while Brody Schmidt registered a team-high five sacks on 28 total tackles.

In addition, Dane Faas corralled 37 tackles — 24 solo — while Baylor Skolaski had 20 tackles and Cooper Feiner had 17.

That’s returning production that Grundahl sees as invaluable.

“It provides the leadership that we need,” Grundahl said. “These guys have learned that you know what it takes to be that top-notch defensive player.”

As DeForest continues its preparations toward its season opener at Slinger, one couldn’t help but notice the schedule. DeForest play their first three games on the road: at Slinger (Aug. 21), at Reedsburg (Aug. 28) and at Oregon (Sept. 4). Their first home game won’t be until Week 4 of the season on Thursday, Sept.

10 against Sun Prairie East.

While opening the season with three consecutive road games is far from an easy feat and provides many challenges, Grundahl likes to see it as a positive.

“I think one of the advantages is less distraction,” Grundahl said, who believes this can serve as a chance for his team to gel even tighter.

“It’s just us and our fans against our opponent.”

DeForest officially kicks off the season on Friday, Aug. 14, hosting a scrimmage with Mount Horeb and Madison Memorial at DMB Community Bank Stadium. Per Bound Wisconsin, the scrimmage starts at 6 p.m.