John’s Journal: The Battle For The Paddle In Detroit Lakes

DETROIT LAKES -- It’s a good thing the traveling trophy that’s on the line when Detroit Lakes and Perham meet on the football field isn’t a Faberge egg or a collection of fine china.

The trophy is a wooden canoe paddle, and the matchup is aptly called the Battle for the Paddle. There are a number of terrific traveling football trophies in our state, and I have seen many postgame celebrations as players from the winning team raise the artifact high and holler their lungs out. Among my favorites, in no particular order, are the Battle Axe (Luverne and Pipestone), Babe’s Bell (Bemidji and Brainerd), Bay Bell (Minnetonka and Wayzata), Tractor Trophy (Northfield and Farmington), Little Brown Jug (Fairmont and Blue Earth) and Armistice Day Trophy (St. Charles and Chatfield).

The scene Friday night was routine … until it wasn’t. Since Perham had defeated the Lakers 30-27 last season (scoring the winning points on a 52-yard hook and ladder play with 13 seconds to play), the Paddle was in the hands of Perham activities director Erin Anderson as this year’s game wound down. There was no drama, with Detroit Lakes scoring on its first play from scrimmage – a 79-yard run by Ethan Carrier -- and winning 49-6.

As the players went through the traditional postgame handshake line, Anderson stood on the field with the Paddle, which bears logos of the two schools and scores from previous games. He handed the Paddle to the celebrating Lakers and offered one of them a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. That’s when things got beyond wild, because in the midst of their wild stompin’ hootin’ and hollerin’ and grabbin’ at the Paddle, the Lakers broke the thing into two pieces. No problem, because now they had TWO trophies to raise into the night sky.

“A lot of history goes into that paddle,” said Lakers junior Mason Carrier, who along with his senior brother Ethan will continue his football career at the University of Minnesota. “They got us last year and that did not feel good at all.”

The statistics were staggering. Ethan Carrier ran the ball nine times for 313 yards and three touchdowns, while Mason Carrier caught three passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. The brothers touched the ball a combined 16 times, resulting in 463 yards and five touchdowns.

The postgame celebration was a wonderful scene for the home folks, as was the entire day for me. It was my first time at a sporting event in Detroit Lakes, and there were many glorious moments and scenes …  

--I was given a tour of Detroit Lakes High School on Friday afternoon, guided by principal Josh Omang and activities director Rob Nielsen. I have known Rob for a long time and it was nice to meet Josh.

In 2018, voters in Detroit Lakes approved spending nearly $50 million on improvements to the school district, including a new fieldhouse at the high school. Lakeshirts is a local apparel company that donated $1 million toward school improvement projects that weren't covered by the bond referendum, and they received naming rights to what is now proudly known as Lakeshirts Fieldhouse. It’s as terrific space for events of all kinds, and rest of the school is equally great.

The new construction and remodeled original spaces have allowed the high school to employ an Academies model, which helps students who may not be headed for the college path to be prepared for employment after high school.  The Academies at Detroit Lakes focus on Business and Entrepreneurship, Health Sciences, Human Services, Information Technology and Production. Many local businesses are involved with the Academies as they seek to prepare future employees.

--Arriving at Mollberg Field, I was greeted by my friend Kim Bettcher. She’s a big booster of everything Detroit Lakes, she’s the marketing director at a local health and wellness center, a writer, podcaster and parent of athletes. I have known Kim for many years and I was not surprised one bit when she told me she had already paid for my pregame dinner (served by the D.L. booster club) of sloppy joe, chips, cookie and drink. We sat at a picnic table and got caught up.

--As the teams were warming up, Perham head coach Aron Velde told his players: “I love you.”

-- I enjoyed a pregame sideline chat with Jared Rubado. We first met when he was a senior at Brainerd High School, from which he graduated in 2014. He was interested in journalism back then and he’s a testament to quality journalism now. As sports editor of the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal, he provides wonderful coverage of all the teams and kids in the area. As someone who’s been in this game for 40 years, I absolutely love to see talented young reporters doing great things.

--Right before kickoff, the pre-recorded voice of Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen was heard on the stadium sound system. The 2008 Lakers grad welcomed everyone to Mollberg Field and wished them well. The pride the community has in Adam is displayed on a giant color photograph of him, wearing Vikings purple, that hangs on the back of the home bleachers.

--Entering the press box, I saw a who’s-who of old friends. Two of my favorite Perham people, Fred Sailer and Mike Peterson, were broadcasting the game on Perham station The Lakes 99.5. On Detroit Lakes’ KDLM radio, Zeke Fuhrman and Charlie Newland were calling the game. I had heard Zeke’s voice countless times in telephone interviews, and it was nice to finally meet him in person. After he had invited me for a radio interview months ago, we had finished recording and were chatting. He suggested I put the D.L.-Perham football game on my calendar and I’m mighty glad I did. The media people who do so much to cover and celebrate high school sports are selfless and special.

--The band. Oh, the band. Under the direction of Tim Siewert, the Lakers band played from a few steps beyond one end zone and did so throughout the game. Some of them were happy to join the postgame celebration … and no instruments were snapped into two pieces.

--The Detroit Lakes cheerleaders were in fine form, and just as happy as everyone else when the rain that had fallen before kickoff stayed away the rest of the evening. They chanted with gusto, “Laker NAY-SHUN!”

--To say the football game was a track meet would not be a stretch. Along with Ethan Carrier’s 79-yard game-opening run, the Lakers also scored on an 88-yard run by Mason Carrier and a 78-yard pass from Caden Strand to Mason, while Perham’s points came on an 85-yard run by Braylon Rach in the second quarter.

Speaking of track, the Carrier brothers were members, along with Cameron Marxen and Hunter Zempel, of the Lakers’ 4x100-meter relay team that placed eighth at last spring’s Class 2A state meet.

Offense is nothing without an offensive line, and the Lakers’ group of Henry Lee, Brayden Sjoblom, Ryan Brinkman, Brock Okeson, Connor Zamzo and Isaac Cariveau cleared a path all night.

--Steve Zamzo (Connor’s dad) is one of the assistant football coaches for the Lakers and has a strong background in the game, having played on state championship teams at Cambridge in 1986 and 1987. But statewide, he’s better-known as a gymnastics coach. Now retired from coaching the Lakers in that sport, he led them to multiple team and individual state titles and was the 2018 National Gymnastics Coach of the Year. It was fun chatting with Steve after the football game.

--The night’s result gave Detroit Lakes a 4-0 record while the Perham Yellowjackets fell to 2-2. The postgame speech to his team by Lakers head coach Reed Hefta included these words: “You guys worked so hard. You believed in your team. Let’s keep this going. Love each other.”

Hefta’s origin story is made clear by the first three digits in his cell phone number. It starts with 701, a North Dakota area code. His hometown of Falkirk is in the center of the state, but he grew up spending summer days at a family cabin outside of Detroit Lakes. “I’ve known Laker football since I was a little kid,” he said.

Reed’s mother, Mary Hefta, told me that Falkirk is a coal-mining town with a population of 18. Google told me that Falkirk is an unincorporated community and it could neither confirm nor deny the number of souls in town. The North Dakota tourism website says, “With an annual production of approximately 8 million tons of lignite coal, Falkirk provides fuel to generate low-cost electricity for 2/3 of rural Minnesota.”

--In Rubado’s well-written game preview, both second-year head coaches talked about the rivalry between the teams that are only 21 miles apart on U.S. Highway 10. They are young coaches who know that these experiences go beyond winning and losing. The kids who play for them are fortunate.

“Reed and I have a really healthy thing between us,” Velde said. “We were just texting (earlier in the week), and I love that we can be competitors for 48 minutes a year, but we can be 21 miles apart from each other and willing to help each other out. There are 364 days and 21 hours our teams aren’t playing each other. It’s nice to have a guy go through the same stuff you are, and it makes the rivalry game healthier too. We aren’t bad-mouthing (Detroit Lakes) all week. We want to show up and play our best because we respect them.”

Hefta said, “That team was better than us for a play last year. It was a time of adversity for our players. Adversity is something we welcome because we can learn from it. The ending to that game last year challenged our kids with adversity. It’s something that kids can’t have enough of sometimes. People can get uncomfortable when they have to fight through things like adversity and doubt. It’s fun to be able to use it as a learning tool. Only seven teams finish the season happy with a state championship, but the lessons learned in sports carry on through life.”

As the fans headed home and Mollberg Field grew silent, a few Detroit Lakes players, along with family and friends, remained on the field, savoring the moment and not wanting it to end.

The Paddle, now in two parts, would soon be repaired. It will be displayed at the high school for the next 12 months, a source of pride in a town filled with pride.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

John’s Journal: Sibling Soccer Coaches Honor Their Dad

 

—Siblings Nate Steele and Breanna (Steele) Landsteiner.

Saturday morning will be special when the girls and boys soccer teams from St. Peter and Jordan meet for a doubleheader in Jordan. The boys will play at 9 a.m., followed by the girls game at 11. The focus is on raising funds and awareness in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

The girls game is being lovingly called the Steele Bowl, since the two head coaches are siblings: Nate Steele coaches the Jordan girls and Breanna (Steele) Landsteiner is the St. Peter coach. Their dad, David, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 4 years old and was 43 when he died in 2007.

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 40,000 American children and adults are living with the disease. Cystic fibrosis can cause mucus in the lungs, clogging the airway and trapping bacteria, which can lead to infections, inflammation, respiratory failure and other complications. There is no cure.

Nate and Breaanna will be thinking of their dad on Saturday.

“To represent his legacy and his lasting impact on my brother and I, we wanted to make this more than a rivalry, but a coming together of two programs to do our part in fighting Cystic Fibrosis and honor someone who would love nothing more than seeing us coach against each other,” Breanna wrote in a social media post about the game.

Breanna, 29, is a third-grade teacher who’s in her seventh year as the head coach at St. Peter. Nate, 27, who teaches middle school math, moved from assistant to head coach midway through the season a year ago when the previous head coach resigned. Breanna played soccer at Eagan High School and Minnesota State Mankato; Nate was a high school athlete but didn’t play soccer.

“She has an X’s and O’s advantage, that’s for sure,” Nate said with a laugh. “My advantage is I think I can rally the team.”

When Nate was hired as a teacher in Jordan in 2019, he accepted an offer to coach the boys soccer C team.

“I knew enough about the game to manage at that level,” he said. “I love learning the game. I’ve been around Bre forever and watched her play high school and college soccer.”

Saturday’s girls game will involve much more than soccer, of course. The sibling coaches have been working to educate their players and others about cystic fibrosis.

“With the kids, I would say the awareness level is very low,” Breanna said. “I had to kind of tell them why we were doing this and share the story with our teams.”

The idea to use the Steele Bowl as a fundraiser came from the coaches’ mom, Tamie. She and David both grew up in the northeast corner of Iowa, and David played baseball for one of that state’s premier programs at Kee High School in Lansing.

The girls soccer teams from St. Peter (6-1) and Jordan (3-4-1) are both in Class 2A Section 2 so Saturday’s outcome could have implications on postseason seeding.

“St. Peter has a few more wins than us,” Nate said. “I think this will show us if we’re at their level, if we’re above it or if there’s work to do.”

As part of the fundraising efforts, t-shirts marking the event are being sold. Anyone wearing a shirt or buying a shirt at the gate will receive free admission and players will wear the shirts during warm-ups. Proceeds from the shirt sales will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Anyone not interested in purchasing a shirt but willing to donate can write a check to Saint Peter or Jordan High School.

There also will be an auction of sports memorabilia and other items, including a signed jersey from former NFL quarterback and current TV personality Boomer Esiason, whose son Gunnar lives with cystic fibrosis. Auction items have also been received from the Minnesota Wild, Minnesota United and others.

“Growing up, I guess I didn’t think we were very different,” Breanna said when asked about how her dad’s condition affected her. “All I thought was different was he had a huge machine, a vibrating machine on his vest. He had to do that three times a day if I remember correctly.”

David received a double lung transplant in 2004. After that, “he started doing everything he wanted to do,” Breanna said. “He took long bike rides, lifted weights, everything he wanted to do.”

As she wrote in the social media post, “Unfortunately, this surgery was not 100% successful, and two years later he would spend the better part of a year in and out of the hospital. On July 14th, 2007, David Howard Steele Jr. passed away.

“From witnessing years of fighting, countless treatments and hardships, our dad’s strength and resolve never wavered. In a note to my brother and I before a high-stakes surgery, he wrote, ‘I’m not leaving them yet.’ ”

He’s still with them. 

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Bloomington Kennedy Celebrates Title IX

 Friday night’s football game between Minneapolis Washburn and Bloomington Kennedy at Bloomington Stadium was a lot of fun. The athletes from both teams played hard, the coaches worked hard and fans from both teams gave their full support as Washburn came away with a 23-20 win.

As is always the case with high school football, there was more to the event than what happened on the field of competition. At halftime, in particular.

The Kennedy Kolleens dance team, coached by AnnMarie Engebretson, Johanna Engebretson and Jessica Toensing, performed at a high level. The Kennedy cheerleaders, coached by Carolyn Tate and Zamarca Stanely, also displayed great talent and skill. And throughout the evening the Kennedy pep band, led by John Engebretson, provided solid sounds.

The key halftime event came when four female former Eagles were inducted into the Kennedy Athletic Hall of Fame. During this 50^th anniversary of Title IX leveling the playing field for female athletes, the halftime ceremony was a splendid celebration.

The four are absolute legends…

--Debbie Driscoll, Class of 1973, was a state champion gymnast who became one of the top high school gymnastics coaches in the state. She has been the coach at Mahtomedi since 1977, where her teams have won 10 team state championships and 44 individual state titles. She was inducted into the MSHSL Hall of Fame earlier this year.

--Robin (Smith) Hanson, Class of 1998, won 14 letters at Kennedy in tennis, basketball and softball. She was also a member of the National Honor Society and Student Government and graduated with honors.

--Kristine (Kruger) Kading, Class of 2000, was an All-State soccer player and a 1999 All-American Honorable Mention selection. She was a top 25 player in the state in scoring for four years at Kennedy and ended her career as the school’s all-time scoring leader.

--Jenna Smith, Class of 2006, led the Eagles to a state basketball championship and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Basketball. She was a three-time team MVP at the University of Illinois, where she set several school records, including scoring and rebounding. She was a four-time All-Big Ten pick.

Also invited to the induction was Vanessa Clarida, a 2004 graduate who set state track and field records in the sprints while winning multiple state championships. She was not able to attend and is expected to be inducted next year.

The Kennedy Athletic Hall of Fame is star-studded, with a lengthy list of inductees that includes Kent Hrbek, author Steve Rushin and wrestling legends Marty and Gordy Morgan.

From 1973 to 2006, the new Hall of Fame class exemplifies what female athletes can do, but also how they are role models for current and future athletes. The four Kennedy Hall of Fame inductees treasure their time in high school, savor their memories and appreciate how those days at Kennedy shaped their futures.

“Athletics gave me confidence in myself and the motivation that I could succeed in college,” said Driscoll, who was part of a national championship gymnastics team at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Kading said being a high school athlete prepared her for life beyond high school in many ways.

“I quickly realized that the foundation of hard work I learned at Kennedy was critical in becoming a successful college student-athlete. Most importantly, it taught me that hard work will help you excel in every facet of life.”

Kading, who was a varsity soccer player as an eighth-grader, added, “My time as a high school athlete started when I was young. It was a real challenge to play with such bigger players, but that helped me grow so much as a player.  

“My favorite memories as a high school athlete are all the friendships that I made. Many of those friendships have lasted throughout the years and I still enjoy them today.”

Smith said her top memories from high school sports involve sleepovers, team parties, team dinners and team bonding.

“I try to remind my own girls that you don’t remember the wins and losses; it’s the memories with your teammates that will stick with them,” she said. “I also remember how nice the older girls always were to me when I was the young one on the team.”

Smith also treasures memories of her team winning the first girls basketball state championship in school history.

“I grew up playing with most of them,” she said. “It’s a time that I will never forget. All the blood, sweat and tears we put in. I still talk to them now. We pushed each other. We made each other better on and off the court. We all worked so hard. I wouldn’t be where I am without them.

“My time as an athlete in high school taught me discipline. It taught me how much teamwork really means. You can’t do anything alone. It started the drive and discipline in me that I carry in every aspect in my life.”

After each of the four inductees was presented with a Hall of Fame plaque, current and former Kennedy female athletes stood behind them on the football field. As the ceremony ended, all those girls crowded in tight with the new Hall of Famers. The scene was spectacular, embodying Title IX and the importance of opportunities for all athletes.

Congratulations to all.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Volleyball Is Back With A Bang

 

On the first night of the rest of their season, the volleyball teams from Prior Lake and Rosemount went at it hammer and tong inside the Rosemount gym Monday evening. With the preliminary, non-conference portion of their schedules behind them, Monday was opening night for South Suburban Conference competition.

Rosemount came out with a 3-1 win over the Lakers, holding off Prior Lake rallies time after time in the battle between two talented, well-coached teams.

“When you play in the South Suburban every night's a battle, it doesn't matter who's on the other side of the net,” said Lakers coach Mike Dean. “We all know the high level of competition and this is a great atmosphere.”

Prior Lake jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first set before the Irish came back to win 25-20. The second set was similar, with the Lakers leading 7-4 and 15-11 before Rosemount again rallied for another 25-20 win. Prior Lake’s strongest play came in the third set; the Lakers led 8-2 and 13-4 but this time they held off the Irish. Rosemount charged back from a 16-10 deficit to make it 16-15, tied it 18-18, and Prior Lake won the set 26-24. The fourth set was equally close, with the Irish clinching the match with a 25-23 win.

“I thought Rosemont played a fantastic game,” Dean said. “They really challenged us. I was really proud of the way our girls stepped up and answered the call and kept battling back. It was a lot of fun.”

With day one of the South Suburban now in the rearview mirror, the hard slogging has begun. In what could be a sign that the conference might have more balance than usual this year, only (only!) three teams among this week’s Class 4A top 10 rankings from the coaches association are from the South Suburban: Lakeville North is No. 3, Rosemount is No. 8 and Lakeville South is No. 10, with Eagan and Burnsville among teams receiving votes.

Eagan has been traditionally atop the South Suburban, as well as big-school volleyball statewide. The Wildcats won state titles in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2015 and 2016, while finishing second five times, including 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Prior Lake was the state runner-up in 2015 and went back to state in 2016 and 2017. Rosemount would love to return to the state tournament for the first time since its only appearance in 1988.

Irish coach Smoak Vitek has steadily built the program in her dozen years at the helm. Rosemount finished 20-10 last season and hopes for even better in 2022.

“A lot of that is confidence and just kind of believing that you can win,” Vitek said. “We probably started three or four years ago, after I had a really good group of girls graduating. I think we really started to kind of try and change our mentality, knowing that we had to approach every single one of our opponents the same way, and we struggled to do that even last year. But we made good gains last year, beating Lakeville North and Lakeville South.”

Rosemount is 6-0 against Minnesota competition in 2022, including a season-opening win over Stewartville, which is No. 4 in this week’s Class 3A rankings. They also defeated East Ridge, which is No. 4 in the latest 4A rankings. East Ridge knocked off Eagan in the Section 4 championship match last year and was the state runner-up to Wayzata, which owns the last two 4A titles. Wayzata saw its 65-match winning streak ended by Northfield in last weekend’s Southwest Minnesota Challenge tournament in Marshall. Northfield moved into the No. 1 spot in this week’s 4A poll.

While unbeaten against in-state teams, Rosemount went 2-2 at a tournament last weekend in Marion, Iowa, facing some of the top teams from that state.

“We kind of got our confidence shaken a little bit (in Iowa),” Vitek said after the Prior Lake match. “But some of those Iowa kids are big kids and there were some good teams there.

“I think confidence-wise we’re a really competent team. I wish they'd play with a little bit more intensity all the time; you could see today that our intensity kind of went up and down. But you’ve got to give Prior Like some of the credit for that. They played pretty scrappy.”

Volleyball Rankings from the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association

CLASS 4A

1. Northfield (13) - 237

2. Wayzata (3) - 225

3. Lakeville North - 204

4. East Ridge - 181

5. Champlin Park - 178

6. Rogers - 149

7. Chaska - 148

8. Rosemount - 101

9. Forest Lake - 78

10. Lakeville South - 72

Others Receiving Votes: Rochester Mayo - 46, STMA - 33, Eagan - 22

Teams only appearing on one ballot: Burnsville

CLASS 3A

1. Marshall (13) - 209

2. Kasson-Mantorville (1) - 191

3. Willmar - 174

T-4. Byron - 156

T-4. Stewartville - 156

6. Holy Angels - 135

7. Alexandria - 126

8. Benilde-St. Margaret’s - 105

9. Grand Rapids - 99

10. New Prague - 42

Others Receiving Votes: Delano - 31, Mahtomedi - 28

Teams only appearing on one ballot: Detroit Lakes, Hermantown, Rocori

CLASS 2A

1. Pequot Lakes (9) - 183

2. Nova Classical (1) - 155

3. Sauk Centre (1) - 148

4. Zumbrota-Mazeppa (2) - 146

5. Jackson County Central - 144

6. SW Christian - 134

7. Watertown-Mayer - 113

8. Cannon Falls - 99

9. Caledonia - 85

10. Annandale - 80

Others Receiving Votes: Albany - 18, Belle, Plaine - 16, New London-Spicer - 15

Teams only appearing on one ballot: Chatfield, Paynesville, Windom Area

CLASS 1A

1. Mayer-Lutheran (15) - 225

2. Minneota - 209

3. Bethlehem Academy - 176

4. Russel-Tyler-Ruthton - 169

5. Mabel-Canton - 168

6. MACCRAY - 150

7. Kenyon-Wanamingo - 143

8. Badger-Greenbush-Middle River - 120

9. Spring Grove - 70

10. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa - 55

Others Receiving Votes: Henning - 46, Pine River-Backus - 22, Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda - 16

Teams only appearing on one ballot: Ely

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Coach’s Heart Is Back On The Sideline

 

Almost exactly one year ago I chatted on the phone with Waseca head football coach Brad Wendland. The story that I posted here on Sept. 15, 2021, detailed the night, two weeks earlier, when Brad’s heart stopped beating on the home sideline during the season opener against St. Peter. (Read that story here: https://tinyurl.com/4ntetevu )

We had another phone conversation last week, a couple days before the Bluejays hosted Marshall in Wendland’s first game back on the home sideline. Last fall, once he was released from a hospital in Mankato, he stayed home during the second and third games of the season. After that he watched games from the press box, calling offensive plays into his headset.

Watching from the press box was strange, he said, “but who am I to complain?”

Indeed. Wendland knows how fortunate he is. When he collapsed on the sideline, the cause was ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm issue caused by irregular electrical signals. Athletic trainers from Waseca and St. Peter, along with an emergency-room nurse who came down from the stands, saved his life, performing chest compressions and using an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Surgeons surgically implanted a small AED next to his heart, and that’s what saved his life the second time he collapsed, months later. Wendland, 49, who teaches U.S. history and psychology, was in his classroom on Jan. 31.

“It was fourth hour, I was having a great day teaching, I had worked out that morning. I was getting ready to stand up and it happened in front of the kids. I hated that they had to see that.”

In both episodes, his resting heart rate immediately jumped to about 300 beats per minute. The blood in his body raced to his heart, his brain didn’t receive any blood, he passed out and his heart stopped.

The second time he collapsed, the internal AED kicked in, his heart returned to a proper rhythm and he was taken to the hospital. Another surgical procedure was performed in March, his medication was adjusted, and Wendland and his doctors are confident that he is in the clear.

Between a 45-13 Week 1 victory at St. Peter and Friday’s game with Marshall, Wendland met with his cardiologist.

“He’s normally very stoic, very subdued, but this time he was very upbeat, very positive about my situation. He said, ‘You can’t just sit around and wait for bad things to happen. If you’re a coach, go coach. If you’re a teacher, go teach.’ ”

Another small device implanted near Brad’s heart monitors his heartbeat and sends the information directly to his doctors in Mankato.

“The surgery worked,” he said.

Friday’s game, much of it played in a steady rain, didn’t go the Bluejays’ way. They took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 24-yard touchdown run by Christian Rodriguez, and during a game thick with turnovers, Marshall scored early in the fourth quarter when Mason Eickhoff ran into the end zone from four yards and Tyler Maeyaert threw to Gavin Schaefer for the go-ahead two-point conversion.

Waseca finished 9-2 last season, losing to Fairmont in the regular season as well as in the Class 3A Section 3 championship game. The Bluejays, who have eight underclassmen starting on defense, will play at Tri-City United in Montgomery on Friday.

Wendland was frustrated after the loss to Marshall while realizing the season is still young.

“It's an early-season loss to a 4A team and how we react to it is a big deal,” he said. “I believe in these kids and I know they're going to react well.”

The coach, in his 17^th season in charge of the Bluejays, has seen countless players come through the football program.

“You coach these guys since they’re in flag football,” he said. “It’s community, it’s small-town, rural Minnesota football. You see them around town, you see them at your varsity games when they’re little, and then before you know it they’re on your team.”

And they’re also on the sideline. Next to their coach.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

Thinking Back To 21 Years Ago This Week

 I’ll always remember where I was on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. I had an appointment to speak to a class at Bloomington Jefferson High School, and I turned on the radio at home as I was getting dressed for the day.

There was talk of something bad happening in New York City. I turned on the TV in the kitchen and saw a big black smoldering hole in the side of one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. A plane had apparently struck the building, but nobody knew anything more than that. Before long another aircraft blasted into the other twin tower.

I drove to Bloomington Jefferson, arriving a few minutes early. I listened to the radio in the car for as long as I could and then walked into the school and was escorted to the room where the Sports Literature class was meeting. There were televisions in the classrooms, but because of construction work in the school none of the TVs were working. I told the class everything I had learned from listening to the radio, and then we were all in blackout mode.

After the class period ended, I drove to the Star Tribune building in downtown Minneapolis. Like everyone else in the newsroom, I watched the scenes on television. The Pentagon was on fire … a plane had apparently gone down in Pennsylvania.

Fast-forward a few years and I was back at Jefferson, writing about a memorial stone that had been installed at the school in honor of former Jaguars quarterback Tom Burnett, who died when Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania. I also wrote about former Blake linebacker Gordy Aamoth, who died in one of the twin towers on Sept. 11. The stadium at Blake now bears his name and a twisted beam from the World Trade Center is on display at the stadium.

In the Sept. 14, 2001, edition of the Star Tribune, I wrote a column under the headline “High school sports can help the healing.” I had spoken with people at Colorado’s Columbine High School as well as Osceola High School in Wisconsin, where a traffic accident had claimed twin brothers a few weeks before Sept. 11. That column seemed to resonate with readers at the time, and to this day people occasionally will mention it to me. I have heard from a few people who say they saved that column, and they read it every day as Sept. 11 comes around. That is equally touching and humbling.

Here is that column as it appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune 21 years ago, on Sept. 14, 2001…

High School Sports Can Help The Healing

In the horrible wake of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, all after-school activities were canceled Tuesday in the Jefferson County (Colo.) School District. This didn't surprise Ed Woytek, the athletic director at Columbine High School.

The day's events hit Columbine hard, especially the senior class. They were freshmen on April 20, 1999, when two students shot and killed 12 students and a teacher before taking their own lives.

"Our coaches and all of us are on kind of a fine line, especially with what happened here previously," Woytek said.

Columbine still is recovering from that day. Recovery also is an ongoing process in Osceola, Wis., where twin brothers Eric and Aaron Kipp, 18, died in a car accident on the way to football practice 30 days ago.

With thousands of innocent people presumed to have perished this week, what do you say? How do you heal? Maybe it's best to listen to the kids. That's among the lessons learned at Columbine and Osceola.

"Pretty much all of them are saying to us, 'We need to be a family,'" Woytek said. "Because that's what happened a few years ago; they got with family. And that's where we need to be, that's where our American people need to be, is with family."

After the Kipp brothers died, football practices were stopped for a short period. But soon, everyone wanted to return -- or try to return -- to some sense of normalcy.

"Very soon, the kids were ready to go back," said Osceola coach/principal Mike McMartin. "They said, 'Coach, I need to keep busy.' And they were right. When we jumped back into it, although they weren't the best practices in the world, there was almost a big sigh of relief that they could start moving forward and take with us all the good things that the boys had shared with us for so many years, instead of thinking about the bad."

Activities went on as scheduled Tuesday in Osceola, the day of the attacks.

"We just really felt during that time it was massively important that we show to the kids, 'Hey, we're going on. We're not going to let these people defeat us or take us off our feet here. We're going to move forward and be proud,'" McMartin said.

At Columbine and Osceola, tragedy struck a specific community of people. This week, tragedy struck us all.

The Columbine Rebels take a 1-1 record into tonight's game at Dakota Ridge. Osceola is 3-0 and the homecoming opponent for rival St. Croix Falls. The games go on, as do our lives.

"Everybody keeps saying we'll never get back to normal, just like our nation will never get back to normal," Woytek said. "But hopefully we're going to get as close to normal as we can."

So if sporting events are part of your normal routine, stick with it. If you haven't been to a high school game in years, tonight would be a wonderful time to go. Get away from the television, escape the headlines. Find a seat in the bleachers and take a break, however temporary, from all that's gone so wretchedly wrong in this world.

Watch the team captains shake hands before the coin flip. Hold your hand over your heart during the national anthem as the flag flutters at half-staff. Bow your head during the moment of silence to honor this week's victims. Get on your feet for the opening kickoff. Watch our young people -- players, cheerleaders, fans -- as they smile, holler and laugh together during this evening that is tradition both athletic and social. Buy popcorn, listen to the band, cheer first downs, simply celebrate.

Maybe administrators at every school can find a recording of God Bless America, and across our states -- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado and beyond -- we'll sing together when the game ends. Just like a family.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org

John’s Journal: A Game To Remember … And Forget

 

The night was dark, the mood was darker and Trevor Carrier’s head was down. He was sitting in the second row of seats on bus number 45 from the LeRoy-Ostrander School District when he made a phone call at 9:21 p.m. Friday. On the other end, a cell phone lit up inside a hospital in Rochester, 38 miles away.

“Hey buddy, how are you doing?,” the LeRoy-Ostrander head football coach said to Layne Bird, senior quarterback who had started the first game of his career that night.

Everyone on the bus and everyone who was at the 2022 season opener between the visiting Cardinals and the Southland Rebels in Adams knew how Layne was doing. Terrible.

This was Week 1 of a season in which the Cardinals are the defending Minnesota state champions of Nine-Man football. Their season opener was not finished on Friday, but Bird’s season was.

It was a crazy, strange, head-spinning day for the Cardinals. Friday’s game was delayed at halftime because of lightning, then delayed again and again as the strikes continued. Finally, a decision was made to resume the game on Saturday morning. The second half began at 11 a.m. – 16 hours after the first-half kickoff – with Southland leading 12-7. The Cardinals scored on their first drive of the second half and came away with a 14-12 win that will long be remembered for many reasons.

“I don’t know why these things happen,” Carrier said into his phone as rain fell on the dark bus. “I’m so proud of you; that’s from my heart. I wish I could take it for you. I wish it was my leg or foot. I love you so damn much.”

*****

The Cardinals had forced Southland to punt on the game’s first possession. From their own 29-yard line, the LeRoy-Ostrander offense lined up with the 5-foot-8, 165-pound Bird at quarterback.

As a receiver last year, Bird caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from then-senior quarterback Chase Johnson during a 58-8 win over Fertile-Beltrami in the Prep Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium. Hours before he was injured on Friday, while the team was at school waiting to board the bus for Adams, Layne and a teammate walked down a quiet hallway toward Carrier and a few others.

“That’s Layne, our quarterback,” Carrier said to a visitor. “He’s going to have a great year.”

On the first play at Southland, Bird fumbled the snap. On the second play he overthrew sophomore receiver Camden Hungerholt. On third-and-10, Bird ran around the right side on a keeper, took a hard but clean hit, and stayed down in front of the Cardinals bench.

Carrier and assistant coach Kyle Stern ran to him. Stern yelled, “trainer!” Southland’s athletic trainer quickly came across the field and kneeled next to Layne. As players from both teams also kneeled, a utility vehicle – normally used for carrying water jugs, yard markers and the like – was driven onto the field by Southland athletic director Randy Smith. It carried Layne to the trainer’s table behind the Rebels bench.

Layne’s lower left leg and ankle were stabilized with a splint. Smith tore the plastic wrap off a pair of new crutches. Bird’s parents, Kim and Brian, pulled their car up, Layne was loaded in and they got on the road to Rochester. His injuries were horrific: fractured tibia, fractured fibula, fractured ankle, tearing of ligaments that connect the leg to the ankle. Everything, wrecked.

When Bird was injured, all the joy and excitement of Week 1 seemed to evaporate. Up to that point, everything had been glorious.

*****

3 p.m.

The Cardinals hold a team meeting, gathering in a room near the school’s indoor swimming pool. They watch film of last year’s Week 1 home game vs. Southland, a 57-26 win. The coaches discuss offense, defense and special teams. Carrier writes on a white board, “Let’s Become Great!”

The meeting ends with these words from the head coach: “We're mentally ready. We're physically ready. There's nothing else but to play the game. I love you, I'm proud of you. Let’s be great.”

Carrier, in his third year as the head coach, is the school’s dean of students and athletic director. A 2003 graduate of Houston High School, he was hired as a kindergarten teacher out of Winona State University. During Friday’s team meeting, he talked to the boys about the strength of Nine-Man football in Section 1, which covers southeast Minnesota.

Seven of the past eight Nine-Man state championship teams have come from Section 1. Grand Meadow won four in a row from 2013 to 2016, Spring Grove took the title in 2017 and 2018, and the Cardinals continued the tradition in 2021.

LeRoy-Ostrander went 6-2 in the regular season last year, losing to Lanesboro and Grand Meadow. They avenged those losses in the section playoffs before three wins at state gave them a 12-2 record.

The 2021 season began with an eerily similar calamity. Then-junior Peyton Roe suffered a broken leg in the opener vs. Southland and missed the rest of the season. When this year’s opener resumed on Saturday morning, it was Roe who scored the winning touchdown on a 2-yard run. Poetic justice, right?

“Do we have to play Week 1 next year?,” Carrier said to the other coaches on the bus ride home Friday night. Gallows humor can be a coping mechanism.

*****

4 p.m.

As is tradition, the coaching staff gathers at Sweet’s Hotel, Restaurant and Lounge -- which has stood in downtown LeRoy since 1898 -- for a pregame meal. Sweet’s owner Lu Overocker greets them with hugs and treats them like royalty. The coaches order the same thing every time, unless the team is coming off a loss. Cheeseburgers, fries, baked potatos, chicken strips, wings, it’s all available.

“My chicken wings and salad bar are 10-0,” Carrier announces.

The six coaches are close friends and verbally jab each other. Carrier, looking at Aaron Hungerholt’s baked potato and chicken strips, says, “You better hope we lose so you can order something different next week.”

Hungerholt, also the school principal and former head football coach, watches the games from the press box and communicates with Carrier via headset. The other coaches are Stern, Nick Sweeney, Ryan Evans and Dave Farlinger.

As they eat, the discussion ranges from the Gophers’ victory over New Mexico State the previous evening to the Vikings and beyond. Six community-minded men enjoying the moment. Lu, wearing LeRoy-Ostrander red, hugs them as they leave. She tells Carrier, “Give ‘em hell.”

*****

4:45 p.m.

Nearly an hour before the bus will leave, the players wander in and out of the locker room as Metallica music booms. They pull on their football pants, wearing sneakers, slides or just socks. They wander around the school a bit, killing time and mentally preparing. In the gym, the volleyball team is practicing.

The volleyball athletes depart after practice – someone exclaims, “Oh my gosh, boys stink!” -- and the football players congregate in the gym. They throw footballs, they stretch, they banter. More Metallica.

One of the kids asks Carrier, “What time are we leaving?” About half an hour, he’s told. Stern collects the players’ cell phones in a box. They will be returned after the bus arrives back at school following the game. Focus is everything now.

*****

5:45 p.m.

Carrier makes the announcement. “OK boys, let’s load up! We’ve got business to take care of!”

Shoulder pads and jerseys are packed into the rear end of a school van. A small gang of younger kids, who are in charge of water bottles and other sideline necessities, load their gear into another van as the team boards bus No. 45. Their home field is across the street; above the entrance hangs a sign proclaiming their recent gridiron glory, including this: “2021 NINE-MAN FOOTBALL STATE CHAMPIONS.”

Horns honk as cars drive past. It’s a short trip to Adams, just 12 miles west on state highway 56. Between LeRoy and Adams is the tiny town of Taopi, where evidence of an April tornado remains.

The bus is driven by Rick Roe; Peyton is his grandson, as is ninth-grade team member Carson Roe.

As the bus pulls away, Carrier stands in the aisle and says, “Let’s go. Ten minutes to focus.” Music by Eminem pounds out of a Bluetooth speaker in the back of the bus.

Outside the windows, the scenery is familiar. Farms, trees, horses. The official capacity of the bus is 71; there are 25 football players on board. At the Adams city limits a sign proclaims it the “Pride of the Prairie.” The bus rolls through downtown Adams to the west end of town, where an immaculate football field awaits. In the back of the bus, there is rhythmic clapping as a teenage voice yells, “Let’s go baby!”

*****

6:45 p.m.

Meat is being cooked to perfection on two gas grills. The public-address system is pure old-school: Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi. The football field is surrounded by a crowd-control system consisting of metal posts and a single wire cable.

As veterans from American Legion Post 146 in Adams bring out the colors, the Cardinals demonstrate that no detail is too small. They line up on their sideline, evenly and widely spaced, in numerical order. Their names are on the backs of their jerseys and the family connections are clear as they stand at attention for the national anthem. Lewison, Lewison. Hungerholt, Hungerholt. Schaefer, Schaefer. Roe, Roe. Diemer, Diemer.  

Seconds from kickoff, Carrier tells the boys, “We don’t pay taxes here but this is our field! Dominate!”

*****

After Layne is injured and the mood crumbles, so does most everything else for the Cardinals. Camden Hungerholt – son of Aaron, as is eighth-grade player Reid Hungerholt -- moves from receiver to quarterback. His first pass is a great one, 85 yards to Carter Sweeney for a touchdown and 7-0 lead. That is the entirely of the good news for the night.

Talented Southland junior Jack Bruggeman corrals a bad punt snap and runs for a first down on fourth and 22. A Cardinals face-masking penalty helps keep the Rebels’ drive alive, and they score late in the first quarter to trail 7-6.

As the second quarter begins, Carrier says into his headset, “We haven’t shown up yet.” Camden Hungerholt runs 26 yards for a score, which is nullified by a holding penalty. During a timeout, the coach tells the kids, “Start playing football! Stop feeling sorry for yourselves!” The drive ends with an interception in the end zone. Uff da.

Shortly before halftime, Southland takes a 12-7 lead on a fourth-down, 13-yard pass from Noah Bauer to Bruggeman. As the second quarter ends, the Cardinals exit the field and gather behind bus No. 45. They drink water and Gatorade as one of the coaches hands out Rice Krispies treats. “We couldn’t have played a worse half,” Carrier says. “Defensively, we’ve got to stop 26 (Bruggeman). This is what champions are made of. It’s like last year when Peyton got hurt. Champions gotta fight.”

The fighting will have to wait. As the teams return to the field for the second half, a distant, silent bolt of lightning causes a mandatory 30-minute delay before the game can be resumed. The bolts keeps blasting as the storm moves closer. People check the radar on their phones. Referee Grant Klennert from the Rochester Area Officials Association meets with Carrier and Southland coach J.J. Galle, and the decision is made to suspend the game until the next morning.

As the team boards bus No. 45 again, Carrier tells them, “We could be 0-8 and I’ll still love you guys. Mentally we can regroup. It’s devastating, we all love Layne. We have to play for Layne Bird.”

As Rick Roe drives the Cardinals back home, everyone is broken-heartened and confused. In a soft voice, Carrier says to the other coaches, “I don’t get it. It’s not about the game, it’s about the kids.”

*****

8:30 a.m. Saturday

The Cardinals regathered in the meeting room and talked about Layne and how they felt about their friend. Carrier drew a large F on the white board and announced that this was the grade he gave himself for the previous evening.

“I was very emotional,” he said later. “I love Layne to death. I don’t think I did a very good job. It took me a bit to get back on track. It was a difficult situation.”

Shortly before the contest resumed Saturday morning, some of the elation and joy that had surrounded the field in Adams before Friday night’s game was rekindled. A teenage boy got out of a vehicle and moved slowly toward the field, still learning to navigate the world on crutches, his left leg in a cast. When the swelling goes down, Layne Bird will have surgery. But on this sunny morning he wanted to be back with his teammates. There were lots of hugs. And the defending state champions, finally, ultimately, began the season with an emotional and hard-earned win.

“The kids really responded,” Carrier said. “We’re playing for Layne.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org