MOUNTAIN IRON -- A new banner hangs in a prominent spot on the wall
inside the weight room at Mountain Iron-Buhl High School. Two team photos are prominent
reminders of what the Rangers football and girls basketball teams accomplished
last season: Minnesota State High School League state champions.
There is a strong family angle to this story. The football team was
led by senior quarterback Asher Zubich, now playing at St. Olaf College. The
star of the girls basketball team was his kid sister Jordan Zubich, who will soon
begin her senior year and has committed to the University of North Carolina.
Their dad, Dan Zubich, is the Rangers head football coach and
about as proud a parent as you will find.
Ask Dan about his favorite memories from 2022-23 and he thinks
back to the first weekend in December. That Saturday, the Rangers rallied to
defeat Spring Grove 28-25 in the Nine-Player state championship game at U.S.
Bank Stadium. The girls basketball players cheered from the stands, then rode a
bus to Hopkins High School, where they defeated Hayfield in a matchup of two of
the state’s best small-school teams.
“We were watching that game on the bus on the way home,”
Dan Zubich said. “And the next day, Jordan got her offer from North Carolina.”
A new year began at MIB on Monday evening when the
football team held its first practice of the season. If things go well for the
Rangers, they will make another lengthy postseason run. While last season’s
state title was their first appearance in the Prep Bowl, boys from MIB have
made regular trips to the state playoffs. Mountain Iron was the Class B state
champion in 1972 and returned to state in 1973 and 1982; Mountain Iron-Buhl went
to state in 1983 as well as 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
The
Rangers football team hasn’t lost a district game since 2019 and is unbeaten in
postseason section tournament action since 2017.
The obvious question as the 2023 season begins: What
are the expectations?
“As far as I know, there might be a dark horse out
there but I think we’re as good as anybody,” said Dan Zubich, the head coach
since 2012. “You know how kids are. I’ve been getting after them, saying ‘You
don’t have to do anything now, you won the state title, huh?’ ”
Zubich
likes to needle the players about working hard, while reminding them what last
year’s team did to make their dream come true.
“I think we
have confidence but it’s like smart confidence,” said junior Micaden Clines, who
will take over at quarterback this fall. “It’s like, ‘Don't think too highly of
yourself. You’ve still got to put in the work. You’ve still got to perform.’ ”
The
year’s first practice was workmanlike, with few whistles and not one raised
voice. The stadium at MIB is one of the finest in the state, with artificial turf
and comfortable seating set between the school and a wooded area. During Monday
evening’s practice, the sounds of football were bookmarked between vehicles on
nearby U.S. Highway 169 and crickets beginning their evening choir performance.
There
were 44 players on the field – from seventh grade to seniors – wearing helmets,
t-shirts, shorts and cleats. They stretched, they did 20-yard bear crawls,
they carried teammates on their backs for 20 yards, they were timed in the
40-yard dash, two players at a time. They did drills on blocking, tackling, footwork,
throwing and catching, they ran plays in a nine-on-nine format (aka 18 Wide).
The
Rangers attended a football camp for Nine-Player teams at the University of Minnesota
Morris in July, giving those who attended a head start on working together.
There
are holes to fill, beyond the spot vacated by Asher Zubich. Dan Zubich said five
starters are back on defense, along with two offensive linemen and running back
Damien Tapio.
“We’ve got a
lot of experience on defense,” Tapio said. “We'll see but I think our defense
might be better than last year. On offense it's going to be a different team.”
Tapio
carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns in the Prep Bowl win
over Spring Grove, and also caught four passes for 29 yards. After Spring Grove
led 19-0, Tapio’s 11-yard scoring run late in the first half put the Rangers on
the board. He scored again from 10 yards with 25 seconds remaining in
regulation to cap the Rangers' rally and the memorable three-point victory.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Clines. “You
know, we started off down and we kept our composure. It was a lot of fun out there,
sticking through it as a team.”
Those kinds of lessons can pay off a season later, and that’s what the Rangers are hoping for in 2023. They will open the season with a road game at Cook County in Grand Marais, a 275-mile round trip that will set the tone for MIB’s regular-season road schedule. They also will play at Lake of the Woods (332-mile round trip), North Central (234) and Blackduck (242).
Home games will be much anticipated at
the Rangers’ state-of-the-art stadium that was built in 2018. When Mountain
Iron-Buhl’s junior high team lost a home game last fall, it was the
first home defeat for any MIB football team since the facility opened.
“We like to tease those
guys about that,” Zubich said.
The state championship poster is in
its place, and this year’s football team will try to hang another one.
“Last year’s seniors, when they were younger, were so
good in lots of sports,” Zubich said. “We tell the kids they have to be
mentally tough. It’s helped them, because they have been through so many games.”
--MSHSL senior content creator 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
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