KQ2 Pigskin Preview: Steve Juhl returns to lead St. Joseph Christian, Lions looking to build off of district title season

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) - Steve Juhl begins his second stint as the head coach for the St. Joseph Christian football team. His father, Mark Juhl, coached the Lions to a state title back in 2006. Now Steve will begin the journey to try and accomplish that as well.

"These guys have everything you need to be good. They're athletic, they're just great guys. So I think that's probably the thing that I'm most enjoying right now," said Juhl. "Because we're in a real tough conference. We'll see how the season progresses, but as far as like just hanging out some really good dudes that want to do their best, we've got that."

The Lions won a district championship last season for the first time since 2011 and made it all the way to the State Quarterfinals in 8-man. SJC has a smaller roster this time around, but some of last year's pieces are still there to reignite the fire, like senior quarterback Mason Stewart, junior receiver Noah Dudeck, and junior running back Brayden Hoffman.

"Going up against Rock Port then (in the State Quarterfinal), I know we lost pretty bad, but seeing that tougher competition, seeing those hard workers, it really pushes us to be better, to do better against them," said Stewart.

"It's a feeling I want to share with the younger guys. I want them to feel the same thing. To make them fall in love with the game and not just for football, just for life in general," said Hoffman. "Just to teach them to do hard things, teach them to be the best people they can be."

"I think we have the hardest conference in all of 8-man. But I think we can stick with those best teams up there. I think we've shown, especially last year, we've shown what we can do, and I'm just excited to see how we do this year," said Dudeck.

St. Joseph Christian will host a jamboree on Friday, August 21st and then opens the season on the road at Nodaway Valley on the 28th at 7 pm.