Lawrence has been a fixture on both sides of the ball since his freshman season. As a sophomore he was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Elwess said at one time he had Lawrence playing quarterback and that there aren’t many positions the senior hasn’t played.

This summer, the Braves attended the Black Hills State University football camp and coaches took notice of Lawrence, who received a scholarship offer on the spot.

“I’ve never seen a player be offered on the spot like that,” Elwess said. “As far as I know Easton was the only player offered at that camp and there were some awesome athletes that attended that camp.” 

In addition to the Black Hills State offer, Lawrence received a game day invite from FCS power South Dakota State University. Lawrence was excited about the offer but a little disappointed that more schools didn’t reach out to him and other players in the conference.

Elwess echoed those sentiments. 

“There are some really talented guys in this league,” Elwess said. “Ty Valandra, the running back at Todd County and Dominic Ghost Bear, the receiver at Pine Ridge, along with the lineman at Winnebago are terrific players and should be more heavily recruited.”

When the Braves, 2-1 on the season, are in a pinch, Elwess knows exactly where the football is going. 

“When we need a yard or two we know we can dial up a run behind him and he will open a hole,” Elwess said. “If we dump it off to him in the flat we know he’s going to catch it and that he’ll carry five guys with him before he gets tackled.”

In addition to football, Lawrence is also an all-conference center in basketball and throws shot put and discus in track and field. 

You don’t find many 6-foot-5, 300-pound tight ends at any level of football. It isn’t just a novelty that Lawrence lines up at tight end for the Braves and Lawrence himself said the adrenaline rush of catching a pass is pretty exhilarating. 

“Oh, it’s very fun, especially when the little cornerbacks are trying to tackle me,” he said. 

As has been the pattern in each of the last few seasons the Braves got off to a slow start, losing at home to Winnebago, Nebraska (44-0) in the first game of the season. Elwess said he isn’t sure why the Braves start slow every year.

“I don’t know if it’s not getting motivated or thinking we are farther along than we are,” Elwess said. “Once we correct our mistakes we start playing with a head of steam and I hope we can keep that going.” 

Motivation will not be a problem this week as the Braves travel to Pine Ridge with both teams sporting identical 2-1 records and having the exact same power-point totals (41.333). A year ago the Braves defeated Pine Ridge 30-22 in Eagle Butte.

Lawrence called Thursday’s matchup pivotal to both teams. 

“I think it’s going to be a dogfight,” Lawrence said. “They are going to come in hot because they want revenge from last year.”