Photo courtesy of Chad Johnston: The 2023 Minneota High School football team includes Leo Hennen, Lincoln Jerzak, Max Rost, Ryan Dalager, Peyton Sheik, Tate Peterson, Lucas Rybinski, Chase Johnson, Brody Larson, Ryan Meagher, Andrew Lipinski, Easton Johnson, Destin Fier, Brock Fier, Carson Javers, Adam DeVlaeminck, Bretten Coequyt, Kellen Bradley, Sawyer DeSmet, Tristen Sussner, Landon Esping, Heydan Danielson, Joey Lacek, Creed Stassen, Grady Jerzak, Benjamin Schmidt, Parker Bradley, Easton Sheik, Hudson Thostenson, Eli Gruenes, Alex DePestel, Kyson Arndt, Cael Fier, Caleb Bottelberghe, Thomas DeSmet, Brayden Downing, Dalton Orvis, Kaden Neyens, Hunter Carstensen, Kyler Lozinski, Noah Gorecki, Samuel Myhre, Dantae Orvis, Kaden Christensen, Quinton Anderson, Grant Anderson, Blake Mead and Ian Myhre. The team is coached by Chad Johnston, Matt Myrvik, Steve Sussner, Les Engler, Alex Pohlen, Matt Buysse, Brian Rodas, Jordan Fink, Bryce Jeppesen and Matt Myhre.

MINNEOTA — Coming off another state championship run, the Minneota football team is back and looking to do some more damage in 2023. While most teams coming off a state championship need to take a year to rebuild and regroup after losing some seniors, the Vikings have no intention of taking their foot off the gas.

“We graduated a good group of seniors, but we had a lot of juniors and sophomores that played last year, so we’ve got a lot of experience to build off of,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said. “I think one of the things that we learned last year was we battled through a lot of adversity with the injuries. 

“We lost two games in the regular season to two very good teams, two very talented teams…. By the end of the year, we were a bit more healthy, we had kids back and obviously made a nice run at the end of the year to finish the season.”

Among those injured players was Ryan Meagher. He came up big in the Vikings’ playoff run, scoring five touchdowns in the final four games of the season, but was limited to eight total games due to injury. With plenty of time to get healthy for this season, Meagher will look to be a focal point of the Vikings offense in his upcoming junior season, especially following the graduation of last year’s Independent Player of the Year, Zack Fier. 

“We’re expecting big things for him [Meagher]. I think one of the big differences last year was obviously we also had senior Zack Fier at the same position, so we had depth there,” Johnston said. “Our goal was  to not have someone carry the ball 25 times a game and have them take a beating. You can switch it off between a couple of kids… Zack and Ryan are two different style runners but they were two very effective runners so we were never really worried, but this year Ryan’s going to carry a bigger load.”

Johnston added that he feels it’s important to find another running back the team is comfortable with to take some of the burden off Meagher.

The team also graduated its starting quarterback in Isaac Pohlen, giving Ryan Dalager the opportunity to start under center. Johnston said Dalager played well enough to force a sort of quarterback competition during his junior season last year and should be able to fit right into the team’s offense this year. 

“Ryan’s got a very, very strong arm. He sees the field well. Last year, he was a little inexperienced with some of his reads but I think he’s doing a better job this year and at a quicker rate,” Johnston said. “Again, kid’s got a very, very strong arm, probably has a stronger arm, and he just needs that experience. He needs that confidence.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings have more than enough returning talent to field a competitive team. Parker Bradley led the Vikings in total tackles last season with 108 as just a sophomore. Better yet, the Vikings’ second leading tackler, Alex DePestel, also returns after nabbing 51 tackles as a junior.

“We’re going to be pretty effective against the run this year again. We return pretty much all of our linebackers… with the exception of one senior,” Johnston said, adding that Sawyer DeSmet and Peyton Sheik will also both add value to the front seven as defensive ends. 

The one thing that they do lack is experience in the secondary. Max Rost has experience as a defensive back, but he missed time with an injury last season and the team’s two interception leaders, Peyton Gillund and Jackson Lacek, both graduated. 

Other players that Johnston said he sees making a leap on the defensive end included Brody Larson and  Keaton Jurrens. 

DeSmet will also play a key role on offense this year. He was an effective pass catcher at tight end for the Vikings last year, bringing in nine catches for 145 yards, but the loss of some pass catching options could leave him at more of a wideout role at points.

Minneota will kick off its season against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Thursday night. While the expectations are high, it’s something Minneota embraces.

“When you’re coming off a state championship season, you’re always coming back with high expectations if you’re coming back with enough kids with experience. We feel like we have enough kids back. We’ve got a good chunk of our offensive line returning, we’ve got alot of kids at skill positions that played last year, defensively we’re good up front with our front eight,” Johnston said of the start to the season. He added that they’ve played scrimmages but that those scrimmages don’t show everything the way real games do. 

“We basically told our kids, you haven’t done anything yet. Last year was last year and this season is this season. People are going to be gunning for you, so we’re excited to see where we’re at.”