Emily Leighton | Contributing Writer
Senior Ryan Anderson is in his fourth season of football here at Buena Vista University (BVU). Anderson is from Sioux City, Iowa and is double majoring in Biology and Pre-Vet. Anderson was named Special Teams Player of the Year his freshman year (2011), 2x Academic All-IIAC his sophomore and junior year (2012-2013), and IIAC Defensive Player of the Week and was named to the DIII Team of the Week according to USA football.
The team has some big goals they wish to fulfill before the end of this season.
“Just like every other team in the conference, our goal as a team has been to win a conference championship. But outside of that, our goal has been to continue improving and to become more consistent each week so that we can play to the best of our ability,” Anderson said.
With only a few games left in the regular season, Anderson feels the team is ready to go.
“The team is feeling very comfortable going into the end of the season. We are winning games, close ones as well, which is something that we have struggled with early on in years past. Despite being comfortable, we all know that we need to continue to improve if we are to win the next couple of games as anyone can beat anyone from here on out,” Anderson said.
In a home game against Luther College Anderson suffered a season ending injury and tore his ACL and lateral meniscus.
“It is just a crappy feeling as I was starting to feel comfortable at my position after starting every game the previous year and I was finally starting to get completely healthy for the first time all year, so the timing was crappy,” Anderson said.
Anderson is still hopeful for this Beaver team and he knows that the upcoming players will need his help to fulfill his footsteps.
“I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had over the last four years as well as all of the memories I’ve made playing here. This is obviously not the way I pictured my career coming to an end, but I can still contribute to the team by helping out the younger players who play my position and help them as much as I can,” Anderson said.
Head coach Jay Anderson had a few things to say about Anderson and his season this year and his ending injury.
“Anderson had shown a lot of improvement from last year to this year. I think he was more confident this year and understood that he needed to be a leader for us in the secondary. He played a huge role in helping get our offense great field position,” coach Anderson said.
Anderson’s absence on the field will not go unnoticed.
“You always feel bad when guys get hurt and are out for the year. It’s even more challenging when that player is a senior that has played so many games for us. Anderson was having a very solid season before the injury. Since the injury, he has been helping the younger guys and doing what he can to help the team,” coach Anderson said.
Beavers are 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference. They take on Wartburg College, who they are tied with for first in the conference, this Saturday Nov. 1st at home starting at 1 p.m.
