John's Journal: A Glorious Game To Kick Off The Season

SPRING VALLEY – Down here in the southern climes of Minnesota, where friendly Iowans are known to roam across the border -- which is only 15 miles away on U.S. Highway 63 – the history of football at Kingsland High School is filled with greatness and not-so-greatness.

The Kingsland Eleven won the Class B state title in 1995, the 2A championship in 2002 and finished as 2A state runners-up in 2003.

The dark days began in 2012 and overstayed their welcome. The Knights lost 51 games in a row before winning the final contest of the regular season in 2017.

They finished 1-8 in 2018 and 2019, then 1-5 in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. The tide started to turn in 2021 when they finished 3-6, and in 2022 they climbed another rung to a 4-5 finish. They saw the mountaintop last season, when they reached the Nine-Player state championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium, site of a heartbreaking 14-12 loss to Nevis.

That game has been stuck in the local craw ever since that Thanksgiving weekend in downtown Minneapolis. The first opportunity to start over came here Friday night when the Knights hosted a new-look cooperative team that they are familiar with.

The visitors have been known as LeRoy-Ostrander for years, but the addition of players from Austin Pacelli and Lyle – two tiny schools, one private, one public, which have cooperative teams in many sports and didn’t have enough football players last year to field a varsity team – gave the Cardinals a 36-person roster. That’s remarkable when you consider that LeRoy-Ostrander won the 2021 Nine-Man state title with 17 tough, talented kids.

What’s also remarkable is that it would surprise no one to see Kingsland or LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli make fresh noise in this year’s postseason. That is based on the recent strength of both programs, but also on geography. The Knights and Cardinals are in Section 1, which has produced eight Nine-Player state champions and four runner-up teams in the past 16 years.

Kingsland was the only team to beat LeRoy-Ostrander during the 2023 regular season, and as the teams regathered for Week 1 of 2024, anticipation was high in this town of 2,452 folks. The setting was magnificent at Charlie Reps Field, named for a beloved man who was a coach and athletic director from 1948 to 1987. The grass was lush, the sun was bright and the temperature was perfect. One of the finest anthems ever heard was performed on the trumpet by Joshua Hogberg, Kingsland’s band director.

Up until then, everything was perfect for both teams and their cheering sections.

The game itself was not quite as flawless, however, unless you love penalties and a game time of nearly three hours. By the end, the officials were rumored to be icing their flag-tossing rotator cuffs and the athletes, most of whom play on both sides of the ball, were tapped out.

“I'm kind of tired, but we've done great conditioning,” said L-O/L-P star Cam Hungerholt, a senior quarterback and defensive back who will play at Minnesota State Mankato. Cam did everything in his power to get the win, which the Cardinals did, outscoring Kingsland 36-25.

The numbers were eye-opening on two fronts. 1) Penalties were called 28 times and the ensuing walk-offs totaled 230 yards. 2) Hungerholt passed for three touchdowns and ran for two others, totaling 344 yards (181 rushing, 163 passing).

The first half was highlighted by itchy starting blocks and linemen on both sides jumping early. That’s somewhat expected for Week 1, when adrenaline cannot be ruled out.

“I think in the first half we had 10 or 11 penalties or something, and that really, really hurt,” said Kingsland coach Matt Kolling, a member of the Knights’ 2005 championship team. “We hadn’t played for a year and we had a lot of juice to let go.”

LeRoy-Ostrander finished 8-2 last season with a team that had only two seniors. Kingsland was 13-1 in 2023 and has plenty of veterans back, including multi-talented lefthanded junior quarterback Kaaleem Reiland, who ran for two touchdowns, and senior lineman Parker Johnson, who is a handful.

“This is more than just a win,” said L-O/L-P coach Trevor Carrier. “Playing one of the best teams in the state of Minnesota, on their field, with Parker Johnson and Kaaleem, two of the best players in the state and not even in just Nine-Man football? They are well-coached and they are physical throughout.”

Hungerholt and Reiland took all the snaps, threw passes, and ran and ran and ran. Which raised this postgame question to both head coaches: Do you worry about wearing those guys down?

“We can rotate in and try to keep them fresh as we can,” said Carrier. “But you know, there's a varsity for a reason. They've worked hard.

“You put the ball in their hands at the end of the game and you’ve got to tell them they've got to make a play. I mean, it's almost crazy to even say, ‘Hey, I know you played every down, you’ve had how many tackles, you've been hit how many times?’ And then say, ‘Guess what, suck it up. You’ve got to make one more play.’ And they do it.”

The reaction was the same from Kolling.

“You can see how tired Cam was. We thought we had him there a few times, but he dug deep and found something. You worry about it, but ultimately it's a gut check. You tell them, ‘Man, you're playing both ways. You're not going to come out.’ That’s why we condition the way we do, so they can push through.”

And even now, with seven games to go in the regular season before the rock-‘em, sock-‘em Section 1 playoffs commence, there is talk on both sides of a postseason rematch. The Cardinals currently have the upper hand with Friday’s win, but you can just imagine the emotions, and the conditioning, and the preparation, and the hoopla, that would swirl around another meeting with the losing team packing up the gear.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Kolling said. “I thought it'd be a little closer, but ultimately they got us. They got us tonight, but we want to see them again.”

In the postgame team gathering in the west end zone, Matt wrapped up his remarks with a simple message: "We’ll get over it, we’ll learn from it and we’ll get better."

-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 [email protected] or [email protected]