Early in my career at NRHEG, the wrestling team made the state tournament for the first time. I didn’t know much about wrestling at the time (some might argue I still don’t), but I was swept up in Panther Fever and joined in the trips to the Target Center for the competition. I realized very quickly just how amped up our communities could get about our sports teams. The wrestling team has made more trips since then, and it’s always been a good time.
In 2004, the girls’ basketball team, defying expectations, made their first state tournament trip. I know much more about basketball than I do wrestling, and many of those girls had played basketball for me in junior high, so my investment level went up a notch. Panther Nation rallied and sent droves of fans to Target Center for those games. Fourth place seemed pretty good for a team that wasn’t supposed to be there.
The subsequent trips for girls’ basketball kept upping the ante, resulting in third place, two state titles, and a consolation championship, the last one for another team that wasn’t supposed to make it that far. Adding in the boys’ team and their first state tournament appearance, with an added consolation trophy, has made for quite the flurry of bus trips to Minneapolis in the past decade.
So it should just be old hat by now, right? One would think so, and then along came the 2018 version of Panther football. A new coaching staff, differences in offensive and defensive philosophies, and uncertainty about how the team would respond to all those changes caused a lot of speculation before the season.
After a season-opening loss to powerhouse Pipestone, things looked bleak. The team couldn’t even stay close to a good team. However, the tide turned a bit as the offense and defense both started to become accustomed to the new ways of doing things. Three straight wins set up a big contest against WEM, what was thought to be the final meeting before the Buccaneers drop down to 1A football next year.
The game was dreadful. Looking like the Minnesota Vikings against the Buffalo Bills, the Panthers struggled mightily to hang on to the ball and were drilled 48-6. Okay, maybe this team wasn’t as good as they had looked the previous three weeks. Against a very good team, the results weren’t there.
A funny thing happened after that. It’s as if the players and coaches said enough was enough. They’d proved to everyone that they were an excellent team. Going for two and the win in overtime at Maple River and getting the monkey off their backs that had been the Eagles in recent years, the Panthers propelled themselves back into the thick of the high seeds for the playoffs. Roasting LSH and LCWM to finish the season guaranteed they wouldn’t have to see WEM again until the section finals.
And there it was. But as well as they had played the previous three weeks, could the Panthers hope to keep up with the Bucs? You’d better believe it! Anyone who was in Janesville that night (and there were a lot of people) will tell you it was one of the finest showings ever by a Panther team, leading to the first-ever trip for NRHEG to a state football tournament.
And it felt just as exhilarating as the first wrestling trip, the first girls’ basketball trip, and the first boys’ basketball trip. Caledonia was a tough match-up, even before the weather terrorists struck with snow and wind, and I’m sure you can read plenty about it elsewhere in the paper. But those who braved the limb-numbing cold (and there were a lot of them) saw a team that deserved to be at the state tournament and a group of young men who gave it their all.
Coach Kruger has big plans for the football program. He coaches with as much confidence as the young men exhibit on the field. This will be a tough senior class to replace, but I’ve officiated the next wave coming in and have high hopes that, if they work hard, especially in the weight room, they will keep competing and advancing far in the playoffs.
And I’ve come to realize, despite all these trips to state tournaments for the various teams, each time feels like the first time and like we’re experiencing something new. I hope the football team can make it back again sometime soon and maybe even bring us all indoors to US Bank Stadium. I know it will be awesome when it happens.
And now we turn to basketball and wrestling and then baseball and softball. People outside NRHEG probably don’t expect any of those teams to make it to state, but those of us in Panther Nation know that you can never count our kids out. #countonme
But before all that begins, a reminder that you should all come out and watch our excellent NRHEG Marching Band perform their movie-themed Indoor Marching Concert on Nov. 19 and 20, starting at 7:30 both nights. For $6 (or $4 for students), you’ll get more than your money’s worth! Pack the gym!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is orexigenic, which means stimulating the appetite, as in, “The first trip to the state tournament was orexigenic to the team, making them hunger for another chance next year.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!