WSU Football Shield–Photo Courtesy of WSU Football social media
(KWMN)- The vibes were high from Maxwell Field last Saturday as the Winona State Football program played their second Spring game under Head Coach Brian Bergstrom.
Despite the weather, the attitude and approach were off the charts for the Warriors, and it was the Defense that came out victorious over the Offense, 23-17.
“I think the guys played hard,” Bergstrom said following the game. “I think what you saw was a lot of hard work come to fruition…guys that care about each other and that have made huge growth since practice one.”
The Warrior defense was the heart and soul for this team last season, often times keeping the team in a winnable position or downright winning the game for the Warriors. That hasn’t seemed to change, and welcoming back Seniors (or super-seniors) Darius Manuel, Clay Schueffner and Myles Hawthorne to name a few, they’re poised to be even better than they were a season ago. VJ Herron, a Senior who hasn’t played a whole lot the last couple of seasons, was a pleasant surprise. Herron had multiple pass breakups, but it was his tackling, hard-hitting tackling that impressed, making a plethora of plays in his few reps. As it typically is after losing a chunk of players to graduation, the depth will be a question mark for this defense, and it’s a wait and see for who steps up on that side of the ball.
The Offense had a few less plays that made the fans jump out of their seat, but nonetheless, showed flashes of their potential. The offense showed a clear intent to push the ball down the field, highlighted by a 60-yard touchdown pass from Junior QB Brady Dannenbring to Soph. wideout Keaton Arendt. The explosive plays are what has been lacking from this Warrior offense in years past, and it’s something that offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte wants to be better at.
The backfield will certainly help to do so, and this Warrior backfield is STACKED with talent. It was mostly Junior running back Cair’ron Hendred getting carries last Saturday with Junior Ty Gavin and Senior Noah Carlson not suiting up due to minor injuries. In the few carries that Hendred got he impressed with his ability to fend off tacklers and find the open field with his shifty movement. He, paired with Carlson and Gavin, could have this Warrior backfield competing as the best backfield in the conference.
“It’ll be another group to keep an eye on…It’s going to be a talented backfield, I keep telling those guys we gotta become more explosive and get plays over with, you know, I like touchdowns…We keep making holes for ’em, they’ll be special and some of the best in the conference,” Fruechte said of his running back group.
The Warriors were without their ‘starting’ QB, as Senior Trevor Paulsen didn’t suit up due to a torn labrum. An injury that he suffered in February and will keep him sidelined for six months. That opened the door for the coaching staff to get a great look at new transfer from the University of South Dakota, Cole Stenstrom, who split first half QB duties with Soph. Kyle Haas.
Both Stenstrom and Haas showed their potential, as well as their room for improvement in limited opportunities in the first half. The Quarterback position will be in the limelight throughout the summer, not only because last year Paulsen and Haas split snaps, but now with the injury to Paulsen there are even more question marks that position brings. One would assume that having two QBs splitting snaps isn’t the most ideal way to go about running an offense, but if it works, it works, as it did last season. It’s also never a bad thing to have too much talent in the QB room. Competition breeds results, and this coaching staff is well aware of that. Although a tough decision, Fruechte and the offense are looking forward to it,
“All of them have progressed really well…It’s going to be a battle…I think it’ll be really really fun to see all those guys compete, cause they’re going to be tough, really, really tough,” Fruechte said.
Fruechte was mainly quiet about putting one QB over the other, which shouldn’t come as a shock, it’s only April after all, and Fruechte and company have plenty of time before announcing a starter. Whoever is starting at QB week one will be well aware that it’s not set in stone. As we saw last season, if the results aren’t coming, changes will be made. Fruechte continued to have high praise for all his QBs,
“What I love about ’em [Quarterbacks] is that they all want each other to succeed, you know, they want the best out of each other, to be their best. And that’s important to me, you’re only as good as your weakest link.”
Fruechte said that he was really impressed with Stenstrom, referring to the fact that he has had minimal practice time but is adapting to the offensive quite well. One of the things Fruechte referenced when it comes to the play of the QB was anticipation. He wants the guys throwing the pigskin to have their ‘eyes in the right spot’ and not to think too much, but rather anticipate.
Overall, Fruechte wasn’t getting carried away with the spring game, knowing that the offense he saw on the field Saturday won’t be exactly the one that’s fielded come week one.
“It is what is–we keep it vanilla, man,” he said, when asked about how he thought the game went.
That was the theme I noticed from this coaching staff on Saturday. It’s business as usual, and they want to win first and foremost. Being in year two under Bergstrom has provided a jump for this team as well. Bergstrom could notice a better understanding of the scheme with a year studying for the players. Furthermore, Bergstrom felt a better sense of confidence,
“I think we trust each other more…There’s a greater trust in both the staff to players and players to staff–greater trust in teammates, greater trust in coaches…when you trust each other you play better.” Bergstrom said, “I think that there is confidence and a swagger of who we are, we know ourselves better and we play like it.”
There was one change that may surprise folks when it comes to the coaching staff. Staffs are ever changing and there’s typically turnover each season. This year, Bergstrom decided that it was best for longtime defensive coordinator, Brian Curtin, to move to the other side of the ball. Curtin, after coaching defense at WSU for the last twenty years, will now serve as the wide receivers coach and the special teams coordinator. Bergstrom credited the move to the fact that he himself took on more duties on the defensive side, and with Spencer Erickson filling the role of defensive coordinator quite nicely, Bergstrom wanted to bolster the offense with another great coach in Curtin. This way the staff was much more balanced, instead of loading up the defensive side or vice versa.
Although just a spring game, the energy around the team is palpable, and championships are the goal. There’s a long way to go before the team officially begins practicing in the summer but this team is off to a great start and can use this start moving into their summer workouts and eventually hit the ground running on day one of the 2023 season. The NSIC, as it always is, will be uber competitive, but Winona State seems ready to put the league on notice.
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