ROCK VALLEY, Iowa (KTIV) -
Welcome to the fair.
But this isn't your ordinary ride.
"It's about team building," head coach Cory Brandt said. "It's about lifting others up when it's tough and so these last few kids we have coming in, those kids are working extremely hard, trying to get there just like the other ones were and everyone has to lift each other up, it's about team and family.
Encouraging words from coach, while running through obstacles and cheering on one another all make up the "Nighthawk Fair." And you don't finish until the last player is done.
"Every single day we do it at the end of practice until school starts," senior Brandt VanRoekel said. "So, we're all ready for school to start actually."
Highly ranked going into the season, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley is back in their old stomping grounds, shifting into another gear.
It's no question why the Nighthawks have some high expectations coming into the season. Coach Brandt's team plays at one pace, fast.
"It can get fast being a lineman and you get tired pretty fast," Tyler Doliesher said.
The Nighthawks enter their second year of the no huddle offense, using it as an advantage.
"We want to kind of wear the other team down, if that's possible," Brandt said. "Teams are preparing, they are adapting to it, but it does put pressure on the defense and that's one thing I do like about it."
And with some unique drills to knock out the conditioning, the Nighthawks are ready to tackle the season.
"We're all about the team," Dolieslher said. "when we're all encouraging and bringing that last guy in and that's what this team is all about."
Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley is ranked No. 2 in the Des Moines Register's preseason poll.
