The Foundation
For more than two decades, Spearfish boys soccer was synonymous with one name: Jim Hill.
Hill took over the program in 2004 and compiled a 238-73-19 record during his tenure. The Spartans made 20 state tournament appearances under Hill, winning two state championships and finishing runner-up three times.
That isn’t a footnote.
That’s an era.
Hill helped establish the expectations surrounding Spearfish soccer, and his impact stretches beyond trophies and wins. His fingerprints remain throughout a program he led for more than 20 years.
Even the man who eventually succeeded him is part of that story.
Anthony Bradley coached against Hill. He later worked alongside him as an assistant at Spearfish. And over time, Hill became someone Bradley could turn to as a mentor.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” Bradley said. “I respected what he’s done for soccer here.”
But every era eventually gives way to another.
Hill retired following the 2025 season.
In came Bradley.
And with him came a different approach.
A New Voice
Bradley wasn’t walking into Spearfish as a stranger.
He spent the previous season as head coach of the Spearfish girls soccer team and had previously served as an assistant with the boys program. Before coming to Spearfish, Bradley had two separate tenures leading the Belle Fourche boys soccer program, including a state championship in 2006.
More importantly, Bradley already knew this group.
He had watched many of these players develop since they were young. He knew their strengths. He knew their personalities. He knew what they had gone through.
And he believed the talent was already there.
“The biggest difference is having fun,” Bradley said. “It’s the work you do in the offseason and building those relationships and being intentional.”
Bradley’s philosophy isn’t complicated.
Build trust.
Compete.
Let players play.
And remember why they fell in love with soccer in the first place.
“We’re here to have fun, and we’re here to develop as people through soccer,” Bradley said. “Soccer’s the medium.”
Practices changed.
Bradley emphasizes 90-minute sessions designed to get the work done without unnecessarily grinding down his players. Competition is everywhere, but so is an effort to keep players fresh.
The tactical philosophy changed, too.
Instead of trying to force players into a predetermined mold, Bradley wanted to build around what his roster already did well.
“Soccer’s a beautiful game,” Bradley said. “It’s free-flowing when it’s played correctly.”
His job, as he sees it, is to provide the framework.
Then?
“Just let them cook.”
Three Seniors and One Opportunity
Before Spearfish could go anywhere, however, Bradley knew he needed three players to believe this season could be different.
Ethan Croff. Evan Duncan. Caleb Verhulst.
They are the only three seniors on the roster. And Bradley believed they had spent too much of their careers hearing about everybody else.
Last year’s senior class was bigger. Next year’s class has received plenty of attention because of its talent.
Croff, Duncan and Verhulst were caught in the middle.
“They’ve been overlooked for a long time,” Bradley said. “They’ve kind of got lost in the shuffle.”
Bradley wanted to change that immediately.
His message was simple. This is their team. This is their year.
“No, we’re good now,” Bradley said. “They need to believe it.”
They did.
Bradley has given his seniors ownership, sometimes in ways that seem small.
Where should the team eat What warmups should they wear? What does the locker room need?
But those decisions send a larger message.
“It’s not my team. It’s our team,” Bradley said.
And the three seniors have taken ownership of it.
“How they go is how we go,” Bradley said. “They didn’t realize how much sway and control they had on this team.”
That newfound confidence is showing on the field.
Bradley has watched his seniors become willing to make plays rather than play scared of making mistakes.
“Players make plays,” Bradley said. “If the players see that you believe in your leaders, like really let them lead, they’re going to follow.”
Trust Changes Everything
Ask the seniors what has changed and you’ll hear one word over and over again.
Chemistry.
Team dinners and bonding have become part of the program.
That might sound secondary to formations, conditioning and technical ability.
The Spartans don’t see it that way.
“I think the team bonding helps a lot,” Croff said. “It helps chemistry out on the field. You trust your players a lot more.”
That trust changes how Spearfish plays.
Instead of feeling like an individual player has to make everything happen himself, Croff said players can trust the teammate beside them to do his job.
Verhulst sees the same thing.
“We’re doing team bonding and team dinners and stuff this year, and we’ve never done it before,” Verhulst said. “Just bringing us together, working together.”
For Duncan, the difference is even more pronounced.
“This year, definitely the best chemistry we’ve had in at least the last two years, just by a long shot,” Duncan said.
Some of that chemistry was built before the high school season ever started.
Several Spartans have played together with the Northern Hills Shadows Soccer program, giving them additional time together against different competition.
Croff credited that experience with keeping players conditioned and exposing them to teams they wouldn’t normally see.
Duncan believes the biggest benefit was simpler.
They learned how to play together.
“Just being together and playing together and winning together,” Duncan said. “It’s really good.”
Now that chemistry is carrying into the fall.
“Next Ball”
The biggest change might show itself when things go wrong.
Because they still do.
Spearfish has lost twice. It has conceded goals. Players have made mistakes.
But mistakes aren’t becoming avalanches anymore.
Bradley has drilled two words into his team:
Next ball.
Make a mistake?
Next ball.
Give up a goal?
Next ball.
Miss an opportunity?
Next ball.
“You acknowledge that there was a mistake, but you’re not holding onto it,” Bradley said.
That mentality has created a team that no longer seems to unravel when momentum swings the other direction.
Verhulst remembers what that felt like a year ago.
“When we’d go down a goal last year, we kind of just shut down,” Verhulst said. “This year, if we go down, we fight to the end.”
That sentence might explain Spearfish’s turnaround better than anything else.
Bradley sees it, too.
When asked what traits he remembers from championship teams he’s coached, he pointed toward intensity, competition and trust.
And then there is something else developing in Spearfish.
That refusal to die when a match doesn’t go according to plan.
“Who cares if we’re down 2-0?” Bradley said. “Let’s go get it.”
One goal at a time.
One touch at a time.
No More Waiting
This isn’t a roster built solely around three seniors.
That’s part of what makes Spearfish intriguing.
Brooks Meyer has emerged as a scoring threat. Callan Reede has delivered. Elijah Ruml has contributed. Younger players have been asked to play meaningful minutes.
Bradley doesn’t care what grade is listed next to a player’s name.
If you’re good enough, you’ll play.
That has made practices competitive because varsity minutes aren’t guaranteed simply because somebody is older.
The result is a roster with seniors setting the tone and younger players pushing them every day.
Verhulst has noticed those younger Spartans watching.
“They really follow our lead,” Verhulst said. “They really just kind of want to be like us and be the leader of the team.”
For the seniors, that’s part of the responsibility.
Because this season isn’t only about how far the 2026 Spartans can go.
It’s about what they leave behind.
Bradley has challenged Croff, Duncan and Verhulst to leave Spearfish soccer better than they found it.
They’ve embraced that.
And Duncan believes the entire roster has arrived this season with something it didn’t always have before.
A common purpose.
“This year, everybody is here for the same idea,” Duncan said.
What idea?
“To win. To show what we can do.”
How Far Can They Go?
Nobody inside the program is pretending the job is finished.
Seven wins don’t win a championship.
A top-eight power ranking doesn’t guarantee a home playoff game.
And a remarkable turnaround doesn’t mean much once the postseason begins and everybody’s record goes back to 0-0.
The Spartans know that.
But there’s a confidence around this team that wasn’t there before.
Verhulst doesn’t look at the bigger programs on Spearfish’s schedule as something to fear anymore.
“It’s just another team,” he said. “Just another beatable team.”
That’s the mentality Bradley wanted.
Not arrogance.
Belief.
Duncan wants the Spartans to finish the regular season strong, put themselves in position to host in the postseason and see what happens from there.
Maybe a ball bounces their way.
Maybe somebody makes a play.
Maybe the team nobody expected much from in August suddenly finds itself playing deep into October.
That’s soccer.
And that’s what makes this Spearfish team interesting.
A year ago, the Spartans finished 3-10-1.
Now they’re 7-2-2.
Hill’s two decades helped establish what Spearfish soccer could be. Bradley isn’t trying to erase that history. He’s trying to write the next chapter of it, with a different voice, a different approach and a group of players who have rediscovered what it feels like to believe.
The turnaround belongs to more than one person.
It belongs to three seniors who decided this year wasn’t going to be about next year.
It belongs to younger players who have embraced their roles.
It belongs to a coaching staff that has asked them to compete without being afraid to make mistakes.
And it belongs to a group that was tired of losing.
Croff might have summed up the entire season best.
“Everyone was just tired of last year,” he said. “Everyone realized we’ve got to come into this year strong and play as a team.”
Seven wins later, the Spartans aren’t waiting for the future anymore.
They’re finding out just how far they can take the present.