Kenyon-Wanamingo has spent much of this season looking for signs of improvement somewhere other than the scoreboard.
The Knights are running the ball better. They are holding up physically in ways Kenyon-Wanamingo head coach Cole Walters did not see consistently a year ago. Young defenders who were learning on Friday nights last fall are playing bigger roles now. The record has not followed. Kenyon-Wanamingo is 0-5 after Friday’s 38-6 loss at Goodhue, one season after finishing 0-9.
“This team has competed at a higher level than last year,” Walters said. “We have nearly all starters returning from the previous season, which means that we are more confident and comfortable compared to last year.”
Friday’s game at Central, which will be broadcast by Varsity Sports Now, gives the Knights another chance to put a result behind some of what Walters has been seeing.
Senior offensive lineman Jaxson Hedeen notices it in fairly simple terms. Players who were learning varsity football a year ago understand the speed of the game now, he said, and know what each snap demands. Asked what Kenyon-Wanamingo does better now than it did in Week 1, Hedeen went straight to the point. “Running the ball,” he said, “and being more physical.”
Through the first four games, according to statistics provided by the program, Kenyon-Wanamingo rushed for 784 yards on 166 attempts, an average of 4.7 yards per carry. The Knights later averaged more than 5 yards per rush over a two-game stretch, according to Walters, as the offensive line began to settle in.
Hedeen and fellow senior offensive lineman Collin Meyer are part of a group that largely returned intact after playing together last season. Walters has seen that familiarity show up in the running game and in the protection of sophomore quarterback Isaac Mills.
Mills impressed the coaching staff during two-a-days and eventually took on a larger role at quarterback. Senior wide receiver Jaydan Carroll, who started at quarterback last season and opened this year there, moved back to receiver after the first couple of games. Carroll had played receiver before moving to quarterback as a sophomore.
The change put Carroll alongside junior wide receiver Carson Senn and gave Mills another experienced option. Carroll also helped the younger quarterback through the transition. “His leadership has been constant these past two years,” Walters said, “and the team is better because of it. He has helped Isaac and has led by example throughout the whole process.”
Kenyon-Wanamingo is asking plenty from its younger players, too. Walters pointed to sophomore linebackers Ben Scheffler and Chase Cordes and sophomore defensive backs Seth Nystuen and Wyatt Oster among the players taking on varsity responsibility. Scheffler and Nystuen have started on defense throughout the season, while Oster worked his way into the starting lineup and Cordes has mixed in at linebacker.
Juniors Gideon Johnson and Nate Keller know something about getting that opportunity early. Both were among Kenyon-Wanamingo’s leading tacklers as sophomores last season. Walters said both remain among the team leaders in tackles and tackles for loss this fall.
When Walters supplied updated defensive statistics, Johnson had 19 solo tackles, 11 assists, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. Keller had 13 solo tackles, 14 assists, 1.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. “They represent a group,” Walters said, “that is hungry to improve and compete.”
The Knights had plenty of chances to find out how they would handle losing together last season. According to Walters, the young roster never splintered or began pointing fingers during the 0-9 finish.
The program kept its monthly leadership council, where players discuss the team and different parts of leadership. This year’s group also wanted more time together away from football. There have been team meals, trips to the arcade and the program’s annual Madden tournament.
The Knights chose “Do Your Job” as their theme this season. For Walters, the phrase only works if a player trusts the teammate beside him to do the same. “In order to do that,” Walters said, “you need to have trust in the guys next to you.”
That trust shows up in teammates believing in one another and in what they are doing, Hedeen said, even through difficult stretches.
Kenyon-Wanamingo has three games left to turn some of those changes into the result it has been chasing. Walters sees an offensive line creating room, backs running hard and Mills growing more comfortable at quarterback. On defense, many of the players who were asked to learn varsity football early are no longer experiencing it for the first time.
Hedeen did not make the goal for the final three games complicated.
“Get a win and go from there.”