Football: Willmar Cardinals try to stay focused for the opener

Aug. 29—WILLMAR

— The Willmar football team has had plenty of recent success over Big Lake. But don't expect the Cardinals to take the Hornets lightly in the season opener Thursday.

"Big Lake, they're always kind of a scary team," said

Willmar

head coach Jon Konold. "They're really super aggressive all the time. You want to make sure that you take care of the football.

"Starting 1-0 is super important, but we got to do the right things. We don't really want to worry about the scoreboard right now. You're doing the right things and you're executing well, you're going to have success on the scoreboard."

Willmar rolled to a 50-16 win over Big Lake in Week 3 last season. That was the Cardinals' highest scoring game of the season.

In that game, Willmar built a 34-0 first-quarter lead and went up 40-0 at halftime. Running back Ramero Trevino ran for 114 yards and scored four touchdowns. Quarterback Cullen Gregory ran for 75 yards and a score, and threw for another 94 yards. The Cardinals also forced six turnovers (four fumble recoveries, two interceptions).

Since 2017, the Cardinals are 6-0 against Big Lake and have outscored the Hornets 255-42.

"You gotta keep your kids level-headed," Konold said. "The last couple years have been lopsided games so you really got to keep your kids' heads in check and focused on doing the things that we're doing well and executing and just don't worry about the opponent. Worry about yourself, execute and get yourself ready."

But the Hornets will have some different elements to throw at Willmar.

Big Lake has a new head coach in Nick Shriver. He takes over for the Hornets after being the head coach for two years at Little Wound School in Kyle, South Dakota. He played college football at Division III Macalester College and went to DeLaSalle High School.

"Watching their scrimmage, they're a spread style offense with a lot of motion and some jet sweep looks," Konold said. "Defensively, they look like they want to bring a lot of pressure. They have a three-man front and like to bring some pressure with the linebackers."

But, Konold added, "First opponents, there's a lot of unknowns because you don't know their personnel because they haven't played anyone. And even moreso because they got a new coach, so are they going to do what they showed in the scrimmage?"

A more known commodity is senior running back Trent Josewski. He missed most of last year with a broken collarbone but averaged 6.63 yards per carry when healthy. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds at a prospect camp at the University of Minnesota.

"He's a really fast kid," Konold said of Josewski. "He's one of the top backs in 4A and he's got a lot of speed. And he's pretty shifty."

Konold added, "They got some pretty decent sized linemen back and a couple of their linebackers are really athletic looking."

New London-Spicer at Albany

7 p.m. Thursday

New London-Spicer

kicks off its state title defense with a heavyweight battle against a longtime rival.

The Wildcats face off with Albany after beating the Huskies 20-14 in overtime in the Section 6AAA championship last season.

NLS and Albany have played each other 11 times since 2015, with Albany holding a 6-5 edge. Six of those games have been decided by one score, with the Wildcats going 4-2 in those contests.

NLS brings back plenty of weapons, including its starting backfield with tailback Mason Delzer, fullback Lucas Swenson and quarterback Blake Schultz. Three starters are also back on the line in Marshel Johnson, Jack Hanson and Myles Macik.

Albany, meanwhile, has new faces scattered throughout the lineup. Not a single starter is back on the offensive line. Adam Dennis, a 5-foot-8, 150-pound senior, is slated to take the lead back role early on this season. Senior Andrew Olson is back and will be the Huskies' signal-caller, as is senior wideout Jack Rieland.

(Games at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)

Thursday

Mahnomen/Waubun at Benson, 6 p.m.

Willmar at Big Lake

New London-Spicer at Albany

ACGC at Maple Lake

Paynesville at Montevideo

Morris/CA at Minnewaska

Dawson-Boyd at TMB

Sleepy Eye at YME

Wabasso at MACCRAY, 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Litchfield at Annandale

BBE at Bagley

Windom at BOLD

Wadena-Deer Creek at KMS

LQPV at Murray County Central

Red Rock Central at RCW