Bison dedicates football field in honor of Lane Kopren during memorable homecoming victory

BISON — Harding County/Bison’s lone home game in Bison was a memorable one.

The Harding County/Bison Ranchers celebrated Bison’s homecoming with a 42-32 win over Hill City on Oct. 2. The Ranchers outscored the Rangers 20-8 in the second half and evened their record at 3-3.

The outcome also put an exclamation point on a night dedicated to Lane Kopren. 

Bison renamed its football field in honor of Kopren, a former Bison football player that died in 2025 due to a heart condition. He was 29.

Bison renamed its field “Lane Kopren Memorial Field”, Kopren’s No. 51 is painted at midfield, and a No. 51 helmet decal is on the crow’s nest. 

“He was a very humble guy who never really cared about accolades,” said Ross Collins, who was Kopren’s friend. “He’d probably be pretty uncomfortable with having it named after him. But I think it’s something that his kids and his family will look back on and enjoy a lot.”

The crow's nest in Bison dedicated to Lane Kopren. (Courtesy photo)

Collins, who was Kopren’s neighbor, spearheaded the project and said Bison will also retire Kopren’s No. 51. Bison and Harding County were not co-oped during Kopren’s playing days.

“That’s kind of the plan — it’s going to be an informal retiring of the No. 51,” Collins said. “We’re going to have the guys who wore it before him come out, and we’ll try to get it retired of sorts. If we ever were to come back to having just the Bison Cardinals, that jersey would be kind of off limits.”

Kopren, a 2013 Bison High School graduate, was a Class 9B all-state football player in his senior season. A 6-foot, 220-pounder, Kopren was a defensive menace for the Cardinals, posting 215 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles as a senior. 

He registered 436 career tackles, a reflection of his defensive prowess.

“He was very driven — extremely driven,” Collins said. “It didn’t matter if it was a pass play, run play or special teams; you knew Lane Kopren, No. 51, was going to be involved in it.”

In addition to being a tackling machine, Kopren was also a rancher and family man. Kopren was married to Shauna McNaughton, and was a father to Blaire, Malcolm and Petra.

“He was a big part of the community,” Collins said. “He raised sheep and raised cattle. He was a great family man and did a lot of work for his family. There are some different things there that he really put his heart and soul into.”

Friday’s dedication ceremony took place during Bison’s homecoming, and Collins said more donations are being accepted to assist with more projects on the field. Bison hopes to further upgrade its crow’s nest, goal posts and scoreboard.

The crow's nest in Bison dedicated to Lane Kopren. (Courtesy photo)