Madison, WI - On a cold, blistery November morning the crowds began to gather in the various parking lots scattered throughout the UW-Madison campus and downtown area. The stale beer and hot dog aroma saturated the air from the day before at the Wisconsin state high school football championships. While day one saw amazing games from the small schools, day two would focus on the large schools that featured plenty of college level prospects. At the center of the talk would be none other than runningback, Lance Swift VI.
Swift, a third generation ECFA player, will be looking to continue to build on the family resume as he heads to Athens, GA, next season. The first to veer away from the USC/HCP pipeline, it wasn't a surprise to see him commit to a university with an underlying HCP connection however in Nathan Lee and Jimmy Numbers. Before the focus can be turned that way, however, Lance will be focusing on closing out a high school career that no one else in the family had the ability to do. Both his father and grandfather were the signal callers for local high school teams, but as this chapter opened everyone could see they will be witnessing something different as a premier runningback began to emerge.
From the beginning of high school, Lance wanted the ball in his hands every play. As a freshman, where he lacked power he had elusiveness. Finding the creases and depending on his IQ, he carved up defenses averaging 195.6 yards per game and leading Middleton to a Runner-Up finish. As his sophomore season arrived, a more all-around player would land at two-a-days to start the year. Putting on nearly thirty pounds, he found himself in the middle of every "Players to Watch" conversation from Superior to Beloit. He took the state by storm, leading in yards per game and eclipsing 30 touchdowns for the first time in his high school career. All of it being topped by his first high school championship over Appleton.
His Junior year essentially seemed like a season of cementing his status among Wisconsin elite runningbacks, while knowing full well that he had one more season yet to go. It would be met with a bit of a shock as when he would break his hand in week two, but then turn around and rumble for 268 yards just two weeks later. Wrapping up once again with another state title in what was perhaps his best game in the statewide spotlight by running for 305 yards and six touchdowns... coincidentally then giving all new meaning to the crowd chanting "6 for 6". The final season of his high school career would see no change. Becoming notorious for consistency and grit, Lance continued to be determined to establish himself amongst the state's greatest. This mentality would carry Middleton to a final state championship, which would mark three in three seasons. While the state hasn't elected him yet, there is no doubt it is only a matter of time until he joins both his family members in the state football hall of fame.