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

Forgive Minnesota high school volleyball coaches who take a quick glance at the Marshall Tigers this season and mutter to themselves, “Uh-oh.” What they will see is one of the top volleyball programs in the state, led this season by a pair of Hall of Fame coaches who combine for 12 state titles and more than 1,000 victories.

The simple act of playing the first game was a big positive. Zero Week means starting practice a week earlier than normal and having a bye week during the regular season. Without Zero Week, some teams would only be able to play seven regular-season games rather than the usual eight.

Sunshine. Food trucks. Music. Dogs. And tennis. It all added up to a wonderful event in South St. Paul on Tuesday evening.

“There’s nothing to compare it to. For an NFL team to reach out and do something like this for us, it’s really special. It’s something our kids will remember forever.”

This is no normal football season in Royalton. Normalcy went out the window when assistant coach and Royals alum Nick Lanners was critically injured in a traffic accident. He suffered a spinal fracture and is facing a long road of recovery and rehabilitation.

Todd Bouman had a long career as an NFL quarterback. But ask him about his favorite football memory and he immediately goes back to his high school days.

"My wife is a person who exemplifies all the great things about education and activities. She cares so much about her athletes. Every year she’s emotional when the season ends because of how much she cares about them."

“We need to do better. Our community needs to hear these things. It starts the conversations that have to happen and the change that has to go with it.”

Brad Wendland wants you to do something, no matter who you are, where you live or where you work or go to school. Wendland, the head football coach at Waseca High School, knows he is lucky to be alive and he wants others to have the second chance he’s getting.

Roseau and Warroad are only 22 miles apart, within earshot of the Canadian border, and high school hockey is a binding agent, a cultural touchstone and darn near a religious experience.

“It was definitely different to wrestle other girls when I’ve been wrestling mostly boys all season. I’m not exactly the strongest girl around, but it’s been much more competitive wrestling a girl than wrestling a guy.”