Stewartville's Ayden Helder adds Post Bulletin Player of the Year to list of honors

Dec. 8—STEWARTVILLE — Ayden Helder made it his mission to have a banner senior season for the Stewartville football team.

Mission accomplished.

The quarterback had a record-setting season individually, leading the Tigers to a 14-0 record and a Class 3A state championship.

For all of his achievements and stellar play, Helder has been named the Post Bulletin All-Area Football Player of the Year.

"That's awesome," Helder said. "... It's something to be proud of."

Helder was selected from a group of finalists that included Mayo receiver Carter Holcomb and running back Beau Wiersma of Kingsland.

Helder is also a finalist for Mr. Football in Minnesota.

Stewartville coach Garrett Mueller said Helder worked very hard in the offseason to make a big jump from his junior to senior year. He improved his footwork, his throwing mechanics and throwing accuracy.

"He had a really good junior year by any standard," Mueller admitted. "But he really wanted his senior year to be special."

Helder put in a lot of extra work, both individually and with teammates. He also plays basketball at Stewartville. But aside from that, the rest of the year he has football on his mind.

"It was definitely a lot of off-season work as a group, as a team," he said.

That included team weightlifting and sprint sessions several times a week. Helder also spent a lot of extra time throwing and getting timing down with his receiving corps.

"For the team to come together and put that work in during the off-season, it was definitely a big deal," Helder said.

The hard work paid off. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Helder said he put on about 10 pounds and grew a half an inch since his junior season. With the added muscle and maturity, his arm strength also improved.

He put up dazzling passing numbers during the 2023 season. He was 167-for-236 (70.7%), for 2,457 yards with a whopping 42 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 405 yards and four touchdowns. Helder said he thought his biggest improvements on the football field were in decision making, timing and taking care of the ball.

"I think a lot of playing quarterback is just getting the ball out on time," he said. "Interceptions and mistakes come when you hold the ball too long and your timing isn't right with your receivers."

Helder excelled at getting the ball out quickly and accurately to a talented cast of receivers. His 42 TD passes are a single-season school record, and he threw just two interceptions.

"It's kind of crazy to think about," he said. "But there were a couple of balls that were definitely 50-50 that my guys went up and got for me. So that low interception rate can be accounted for by guys making plays for me."

Mueller said Helder's biggest attributes were being a great teammate and leader. The coach said the QB also did a great job of distributing the ball to the Tigers' talented skill-position players.

"He has an extremely high football IQ, one of the smartest football players I have had the opportunity to coach," Mueller said. "And in that position on the field, as a quarterback, you have a ton of responsibilities as far as reading a defense, calling pass protections and going through progressions."

Helder, named Academic All-State, said it was the second game of the season against Waseca — the team that Stewartville also met in the Class 3A state quarterfinals — that had the Tigers believing this could be a special season. A year ago Stewartville had reached the Class 4A state tournament, but lost in the quarterfinals to Hutchinson. This time the Tigers won their state opener 22-0 against Waseca to move on to U.S. Bank Stadium and the state semifinals.

"I think the goal was definitely to get further than last year," Helder said. "So after we beat Waseca and made it into the Bank, that was definitely kind of a turning point for us. We started to believe we could really do something special."

The Tigers beat Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 28-7 in the semifinals and

Annandale 43-13 to win a state championship

and cap a perfect season.

The state title was amazing for Helder and his teammates. But the most fun he had all season?

"Just kind of growing closer with my teammates and the coaching staff, that's kind of a big deal," he said. "I think that's a big reason why Stewartville football has been successful, just the relationships we build together as a program are always the most memorable and they stick with you the most."

Last week Helder made some more memories as he played in the annual Minnesota All-Star football game. He was a member of the South squad, which lost to the North, but he enjoyed another opportunity to play at U.S. Bank Stadium.

"That was definitely a super-cool experience for me to meet people I otherwise wouldn't have," Helder said. "Every day going to practice, twice a day, and then just becoming closer with those guys all over the southern part of the state was super cool. Definitely an experience I will never forget."

He now will be looking into playing college football. He hopes to choose a college in the near future and has been getting interest from a host of area Division III schools, including Luther College in Iowa, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Macalester College in St. Paul.