Earlier this month, the Dakota Lancers won their first-ever ANAVETS Bowl, defeating the St. Paul’s Crusaders in a rematch from the 2022 title game. 

It was a special moment for a program that’s been in existence for just over ten years, the ultimate statement that the Lancers had arrived. No longer were they just a playoff team. Now, the St. Vital program was a force. 

The Lancers were built on the backs of many dedicated staff and support members. From Dale  Driedger and Ray Jarvis (undefeated for just under two years beginning in 2010), to Glen Scrivener and everyone in between, Dakota truly is a team that’s supported by its community members. 

Amongst that group is head coach Mitch Harrison. 

The former Hardy Cup champ as a linebacker with the Manitoba Bisons in 2014 took over head coaching duties in 2019, and just four years later, he reached the pinnacle with a staff that featured many household names at the U SPORTS and pro levels. 

And while many will remember 2023 as the year the Lancers made history, it was the previous season, and that group’s seniors who set helped set the standard of what DCI football is today. 

The ’22 crop of grade 12s were Harrison’s first four-year athletes. They came in with him as freshman in 2019, enduring a global pandemic and made it to the ANAVETS Bowl last year. 

The following season, players like quarterback Blake Penner and linebacker Asun Ducharme mentioned how pivotal the prior year’s leadership group was to their success. It was a physical squad who led by example, establishing a culture of hard work, passion and relentlessness in the pursuit of greatness. 

The leader of that team on the defensive side of the ball was middle linebacker Nevan Brown. 

In 2022, he did something many thought to be impossible. He broke the WHSFL Division 1 record for tackles in the regular season. 

Heading into the year, that total was 96, set by River East’s Donovan Hillary in 2013. Brown not only broke it, he crushed it by one extra, finishing the campaign with 98 in eight games. 

“He was such a phenomenal athlete who really helped me progress in my own understanding of how to structure a defence around a generational talent,” reflected Harrison.

“Rather than trying to force him to fit a spot, we fit the defence to match the athleticism he brought to the table.”

‘The best defence in the province’

Being called generational is high praise, but it’s deserving for a guy like Brown, who worked his butt off to get to where he was. 

In grade nine, he was 5’10”, maybe 155 when the Lancers made it to the JV championship. Brown started that year at MAC. Then, the pandemic halted everything. 

The professional that he is, Brown took the opportunity to get better. When he had to stay home, he was putting work in six days a week. He did indoor weight training, cardio and anything else he could get his hands on to stay fit, including carrying superstore jugs of water up and down his back yards until he couldn’t carry them anymore. 

“That offseason between grade nine and ten is when I put on the most muscle. That whole summer there was nothing to do. I was just in my basement and in my back yard grinding every day. Six times a week, I’d have one rest day and be right back at it. I came back to school and my teammates thought I was on steroids, because of the size I had put on. I guess that it paid off.”

Brown also trained with Recruit Ready, joining up around the time of COVID. The mentorship he received worked wonders for his football IQ, and by the time his grade 11 season rolled around, he was a force. 

“I got to work with a lot of big names [at Recruit Ready]. Dave Donaldson was a great coach, and Adam Bighill was added my second year with them. The things I’ve learned from him and working with him directly have been really key in my development. That’s also including his strength program and the speed code. That program brought my 40 down from a five flat to a 4.8.”

After a year of growing pains, Brown enter his senior season ready and prepared to lead. He already had two offers heading into the 2022 campaign, and was tipping the scales at 6’1” and over 200 pounds. 

On the strength of Brown’s sideline-to-sideline skill, a linebacking corps that also featured the physical Ducharme and Carlos Teklu (plus safety Cohen Mcclusky), and that earned the nickname “the wolves,” (because they were always hunting the ball), Dakota finished 7-1 in the regular season, allowing just 83 points. 

“If you watch our games, one thing you’ll notice, when you see a ballcarrier, you’ll see 12 hats around him. We all want to get to the ball and be the one making the stop. It was the collective effort. Everyone on defence wanted to play. They all worked their tails off,” he reflected at the time. 

“I feel like it was hands down the best defence in the province. This was probably the best defence I’ve ever played with. I truly believe the linebacking corps was the heart and soul of the team. Me, Asun and Carlos all side by side, the energy and physicality we brought, I think the team fed off that. Our style of play and the way we brought things, it was really symbolic of what we wanted Dakota football to be.”

Dak outscored their opponents 67-28 over the first two weeks and were feeling confident. Week three however, ended in heartbreak against perennial powerhouse St. Paul’s. 

Carrying a late lead, the Lancers lost on a special teams miscue that was returned to the house, resulting in a 23-20 loss. 

And while it was an L in the standings, the game served as motivation for the remainder of the year. 

“After that game I think we realized we’re not going to have anything given to us this year, but we know what we need to do and we’re capable of everything. It lit a fire under us. We’re top dawgs, we need to go out and prove it.”

Dakota didn’t lose another game until the ANAVETS Bowl, giving up six points or less in three different regular season games along the way. 

“We had a lot of unique athletes in our defence that year that allowed us to do a lot structurally,” noted Harrison on the team’s dominant showing. 

“From there the kids just really loved getting after the ball. Nevan really drove the pace with which the defence played and the guys would just feed off of each other’s plays. 

Along the way, Brown shattered the tackles record. 

In week five, he was sitting at 62 tackles. While he wasn’t focusing solely on breaking the mark of 96, he did know how close he was entering the final game of the season, a rematch against St. Paul’s. 

“I think I remember looking at it in week five. Getting tackles, it’s something I’ve always been able to do. I don’t give up on plays and I usually get in on the ball and make a play. I took a look and it was 96. At that point I was averaging 16 tackles a game,” he said. 

“And then we go to Grant Park in week six and I get 18 tackles. I can’t lie, it was hard not to think about it. I just had to lock in and play the game. I played Steinbach and got nine. I needed eight to break it.”

In a revenge game for top spot, Dak out-lasted the Cru, with Brown recording ten tackles. The contest was a defensive slugfest at times, which fit the Lancers’ style of play perfectly. 

“In that game, breaking the tackle record, I knew the exact tackle I got it. I made it and came off the field. I go to my linebacker coach, I’m like that’s the one. I took a picture with the whole team on the bench. It was great. It was a really awesome feeling.”

While Dakota didn’t end up with the result they wanted in the final – a third and deciding game against St. Paul’s – their legacy will not be forgotten, nor will Brown’s, whose name is permanently marked in the history books. 

Now an important piece to the Manitoba Bisons linebacking corps, he can look back fondly on what he was able to accomplish with Dakota. 

“It feels great knowing that my name is in the history books for the league. I’m going to be someone people remember in the league. That holds weight. It was very important to me.”