Aug. 25—NAPOLEON, N.D. — It wasn’t that long ago that Jamison Fettig was in a Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter football uniform.

Now he’s wearing the whistle.

“Football is in my blood,” Fettig said. “I’ve always loved playing it and when the opportunity came to start coaching again after college, I took it and it’s been great.”

Fettig played for Kelly McCleary from 2015 to 2018. After graduating from college, Fettig served as McCleary’s assistant coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He took over for McCleary earlier this year.

“I haven’t been out of football for that long,” Fettig said. “I know where (the kids) are at. I was there not that long ago. It’s easier to communicate some things when you are closer in age because kids don’t always like talking to somebody who is older. They can relate to me as a friend who is also their coach.

“It’s going to be an interesting season,” he said. “There will be a lot of new faces and obviously a whole new coaching staff. A lot of things will be done similarly but to some extent it will be a new, fresh start.”

Napoleon/GS will open the season with a tilt against Beach on Aug. 23 in Mandan — a matchup that was a win for the Imperials last season. NGS is coming off a 5-3 season.

“A lot of the kids that we have back this year were a big part of our team last year,” Fettig said.

Bill Schmidt, one of the team’s two seniors, is one of those kids.

“I see myself as a leader on the team because I am the oldest, but I also see myself as a person that can show the younger classmen what to do and what not to do,” Schmidt said. “Being in a smaller school for football isn’t always the greatest thing, but it gives you a bigger opportunity to play more and not be sitting bench until your senior year.

“NGS is capable of great things this year,” he said. “I think we are a very special and young team with a lot of speed and options. I think we could make a run this year.”

Schmidt has been playing football since he was a fourth grader.

“When I was younger I would always watch football with my dad and I fell in love with the sport and I knew I would love to play it ever since I started watching it,” Schmidt said.

That doesn’t mean it has always been easy.

“My first memory playing football was actually a very bad one,” Schmidt said. “In fourth grade I was playing on the sixth grade team and I broke a big run and ended up getting tackled at the 1 and fumbling — it’s the worst memory I have.”

He also had some injuries to overcome.

Schmidt tore his meniscus in 2023 during the fourth game of the season. He had to sit out the rest of the year.

“It’s obviously not the worst thing to tear but it was still a lot to recover my knee and come back 100% and better then ever,” Schmidt said.

“The training for me this year has been a lot,” he said. “I have been lifting five times a week at least with a very strict diet. I have been working on my footwork and vision skills. I usually just use the ladder to work on my footwork and it has worked really well. I worked on gaining speed while gaining muscle, it wasn’t easy but I did it. I put on 15 pounds from last year and I am quicker then last year so I’m excited.”