(Seguin) — The Texas Lutheran football team has been on the practice field for nearly a week as they get ready for the 2023 season. Bulldogs head coach Neal LaHue starts year two leading the TLU program.
The Bulldogs finished 4-6 overall and 3-5 in the American Southwest Conference in LaHue’s first season. TLU started the 2022 season 0-3, but finished the year winning four out of their last seven games.
LaHue says they are much further along going into this year and he feels the defense is progressing well.
“We’re farther along on both sides of the ball. I’ve been very impressed with our defense, the way they’re running around,” LaHue said. “I think we’re very athletic there. We’ve got a good mixture of some experience in the back end with some very talented young guys and I just like the way we’re coaching them.”
On offense, quarterback Seth Cosme returns as a fifth-year senior after throwing for 2,377 yards and 20 touchdowns while finishing fourth in NCAA Division-III in completion percentage (.730). LaHue says the Angleton native leads by example.
“He looks real good. He’s solid, a great leader, a man of few words but he leads by his actions,” LaHue said. “He wanted to come back so, we’re excited to have him.”
Cosme’s backup is Caden Bosanko, a sophomore who went to high school right down the road from Seguin at San Antonio East Central. Bosanko was a First Team All-District and Second Team All-Area quarterback for the Hornets in 2021. Bosanko appeared in one game for the Bulldogs last season.
LaHue says Bosanko is a capable backup.
“Caden Bosanko is our number two right now. He’s a solid number two. (We) wouldn’t have a problem putting him in the game. He’s an athletic competitive kid with a good arm,” LaHue said. “And then, we’ve got about three guys vying for the third (quarterback) spot.”
LaHue and his coaching staff are working with approximately 165 players in camp in the weeks before the season starts on September 2nd. TLU will open the regular season on the road that day against Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Titans are ranked 21st in D3football.com’s preseason poll. Oshkosh finished the 2022 season with a 6-4 overall record. The meeting will be the first ever between the two programs.
The Bulldogs first game at home will take place on September 16th against Ave Maria University. That game will also be a first meeting for Texas Lutheran and the south Florida school.