By: Brett O’Daniell
Five years ago, when Chris Lindhoff took over as head coach, the Eagles had 38 players in the program. Today, that number has grown to 77. Winning has followed, and so have expectations. After reaching the district championship in each of the past two seasons, Orchard Farm enters 2026 not trying to prove it can compete, but looking to take the next step.
That transformation has happened alongside another that is impossible to miss across North St. Charles. The Orchard Farm School District continues to grow, bringing more families, students, athletes, facilities and resources. With that opportunity comes a challenge familiar to any growing community: embracing what is new without losing the relationships, history and culture that made the place distinctive to begin with.
Lindhoff understands both sides of that story. He grew up in the Orchard Farm School District and has watched the community change while his own coaching career has developed. Now entering his fifth season as head coach, he has a football program growing right along with it.
“The expectation is to get back to the district championship and win,” Orchard Farm Athletic Director Blake Arnette said.
A Program Built for What Comes Next
Orchard Farm finished 10-2 in 2024 and followed with another 10-win season in 2025, capturing the GAC North outright before advancing to the Class 4 District 4 championship. Both seasons ended against Parkway North, leaving the Eagles close enough to understand the difference between having a successful season and accomplishing everything they believe the program is capable of.
This year's team will pursue that goal with a different cast, including a new Sinclair behind center. Liam Sinclair takes over for his brother Collin (who graduated) at quarterback, but he will have experienced players around him as he settles into the position.
The Eagles return All-Conference receivers Patrick Ayers and Brendan Hudzik, providing proven targets on the outside. Orchard Farm also expects one of its strengths to be a big, senior-heavy offensive line, an important asset for a team replacing production at several skill positions. That gives offensive coordinator Kollin Groves an experienced foundation to build around. Rather than trying to reproduce last year's offense, the Eagles can develop this one around the strengths of the players now occupying those roles.
Defensive coordinator Rich Sloan also built a unit that became a major part of Orchard Farm's success last season. The defense showed what it could do in the district semifinal against University City. Orchard Farm intercepted three passes, consistently pressured the quarterback and allowed only six offensive points in a 43-12 victory. Patrick Stifel intercepted two passes, including a 69-yard return that helped change the game early in the second half.
Stifel returns alongside Terrence Curry Jr., Adrian Cruz and Eli Krill while Liam Sirko-Carney and Leo Betts also gained varsity experience last season. The names and roles change from year to year. Increasingly, the standard does not.
What Happens Before Friday Night
The growth in participation has changed what is possible for Lindhoff and his staff. A larger roster creates competition and depth while allowing coaches to develop younger athletes rather than immediately asking them to carry varsity workloads.
But Lindhoff makes it clear that additional players alone don't build a successful football program. He is quick to give credit to his coordinators and assistant coaches for the program's development.
One of the big changes he has seen is the seriousness with which his players approach the offseason. Orchard Farm begins its offseason workout program after spring break, and the expectation is understood: what happens months before the first kickoff can make all the difference once the season arrives. The weight room and offseason conditioning have become part of the culture rather than simply preparation for it.
That commitment helps explain why the Eagles believe their recent success can continue after the graduation of a talented senior class. Sustained programs require the next group to be preparing long before its opportunity arrives.
That development begins even earlier through the Junior Eagles program, which introduces younger athletes to Orchard Farm football and creates a connection with the program they may eventually represent on Friday nights. In a rapidly growing district, that pipeline becomes increasingly important.
The program’s growth has been supported off the field as well. Social media and content creator Chris Stanfield has been with Lindhoff and the program from the beginning, helping document Orchard Farm football and build interest throughout the community. His involvement goes beyond social media, too, as Stanfield helps coach at multiple levels of the program.
For Lindhoff, that growth is personal. He remembers a smaller Orchard Farm, giving him an appreciation for both the opportunities coming with the district’s expansion and the importance of maintaining the relationships and identity that have long defined the school.
More Than the Game
That larger picture is part of what excites Arnette about the season.
“I am excited about the overall Friday Night Experience which includes the band, cheer and dance performances which add to the character of the fall evenings,” he said.
Those fall evenings can become especially meaningful in a growing community. A high school football game is one of the few places where longtime Orchard Farm families, newer residents, students, parents and alumni can regularly gather around the same thing. The football team may occupy the field, but the experience includes hundreds of students and families participating in different ways.
Arnette is also enthusiastic about an increasingly local schedule. Nearby opponents create familiarity, visiting crowds and opportunities for rivalries to develop. They also make Friday nights accessible to more families and strengthen connections between schools throughout North St. Charles and the surrounding communities.
Orchard Farm football reaches beyond the stadium as well. Eagles games return to 101.7 FM this season under the station's new ownership, Viper Broadcasting Group, LLC, and its Q101 identity. Paul Brown returns as lead sportscaster with Aaron Trudo providing color commentary, continuing a broadcast tradition that has helped make Orchard Farm football unusual among public-school programs in the St. Louis area.
Trudo's involvement also reaches beyond the broadcast booth, another example of the connections between youth football, the high school program and the community surrounding it.
Brown has a front-row seat for Orchard Farm's rise and sees the Eagles reaching a point where the question is no longer whether one particular group can win. “They’re building a tradition right now,” Brown said.
There is an important distinction in those words. A good team can be built around a talented class. A program proves itself when those players graduate and the next group is prepared to carry the expectations forward.
Growing Without Losing What Matters
The Orchard Farm School District and North St. Charles are navigating similar transitions. Growth creates new opportunities, but maintaining the relationships and traditions that shaped the community requires intentional effort.
Football offers a small window into how Orchard Farm is navigating that change.
A larger program still has to become one team. Younger athletes must learn from veterans, coaches have to preserve expectations while adjusting to new personnel, and returning players have to grow into larger roles. That process gives Orchard Farm an opportunity to turn increased participation into lasting depth.
The Next Step
The record improvement under Lindhoff speaks for itself, but sustaining it requires more than what happens on Friday nights. The offseason work, growing participation, Junior Eagles pipeline, returning players and continuity of the coaching staff all point toward a program trying to build something that lasts beyond any single class.
There will continue to be a growing community watching it happen. On fall evenings, the stands will include families who have been part of Orchard Farm for generations and others who arrived much more recently. Some will have children coming through the Junior Eagles. Others will come for the band, cheer and dance performances, listen to Brown and Trudo on Q101, or simply show up because Orchard Farm football has become part of what fall feels like in North St. Charles.
In that way, the football program and the community surrounding it are facing much the same opportunity: growth brings more people, more resources and more possibilities, but what ultimately matters is what gets built with them.
For Orchard Farm, the goal on the field is clear. After two consecutive trips to the district championship, there is still another step the Eagles would like to take. Lindhoff summed up just how deep into November they hope this season lasts.
“We want to practice on Thanksgiving,” Lindhoff said.
Offensive line photo (left to right): #52 Eli Krill, #11 Collin Sarino, #65 Blake Hollrah, #15 Liam Sinclair, #64 Brady Menke, #2 Tyler Bronson Football under leg Photo: #7 Liam Sinclair
Seniors/Smoke photo: (left to right back) #72 Jesse Omohundro, #68 Chris Boschert, #52 Eli Krill, #54 Blake Hollrah, #51 John Boehmer, #4 Patrick Stifel (left to right front) #66 Mikey Lewis, #0 Brendan Hudzik Catch photo: #1 Patrick Ayers