But to this day, you still can’t get him to stop smiling when he looks back at an incredible ride in both sports. The Tigers won a state championship in both football and softball that year. To this day, it’s not certain if it had ever been done prior to that year, because the Minnesota State High School League didn’t keep of statistics like that.

Winning two state championships in one year is tough enough. But doing it with two completely different sets of athletes in two completely different sports?

“I just smile, it’s a perfect storm,” Dunn said. “They’re very different teams, but they’re equally as driven.”

Football

The Tigers (14-0 for the season) were among the preseason contenders for a Class A state championship that year. They were in the state tournament the year before, losing to Goodhue in the first round. With a senior-heavy class back in 2005, it seemed like the pieces were in place for a deep tournament run.

Dunn said that the competition in practice that year was tough. With so many experienced players on the roster, it was a battle every week.

“I remember the kids talking at practice and saying that Friday nights were a vacation,” Dunn said. “We were so deep, we had 19 or 20 seniors I believe and the competition fierce and we didn’t have the old rules on contact. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were just wars at practice. That was one of the things that stood out over the years in having numbers and not having numbers and all that. Being that deep, that athletic, was definitely the trademark of that team.”

Another trademark of that era of Springfield football was the defense. That year, Brandon Davis led the Tigers’ defense from the linebacker spot and he wasn’t the only standout. The defense featured size and speed and was coached by Jeff Briard.

“Brandon Davis, he played strongside linebacker for us, and he was just like having another field general out there for us,” Dunn said. “He understood everything, was a real student of the game and he got all of the other pieces of the puzzle together before every play. But that defense was way ahead of its time, it relied a lot on shading and gap control. A lot of things that are common now but weren’t then. It was innovative and we really had athletes to carry it out.”

On offense, the Tigers were unstoppable, too. Led by quarterback Zack Sturm and group of runners that included Chris Moritz, Matt Baier and Josh Nachreiner, the Tigers finished the regular season 8-0 and continued to march through the Section 3A playoffs unbeaten.

Once the state tournament rolled around the Tigers were 11-0 and they opened against the defending state champions from Rushford-Peterson.

There, the Tigers won 14-0 and Dunn still has a special memory of that game.

“That was probably the best overall football game that I’ve ever been a part of,” Dunn said. “We knew it was going to be a war, they were very physical and they were huge. Our strategy was to get on the legs of their offensive linemen. That wasn’t a very exciting prospect for our guys who were basically asked to give themselves up as part of the game. At the end of the game, we cut them loose and their big folks couldn’t run anymore, they were just beat up. It was such a physical game.”

The next week, the Tigers defeated Osakis 34-17. While it was a convincing win on the scoreboard at the end, it took a while to get that way.

“We were down, I think it was 4th-and-16 and Andy Ryan caught the pass and that let us go in for our first score, that was a real turning point of the game as I remember,” Dunn said. “From that point on, we had a punt return for a touchdown and Sturm had a big night, but at that point, we needed something.”

The Tigers moved to the title game and were meeting up with Goodhue. There, the Tigers held on for a 21-16 victory in what was another physical game.

The play of the game, however, came from their punter. Pinned deep in their own territory, Bryan Krebs was to punt, but the ball sailed over his head and into the end zone. He fell on the ball for safety [instead of giving Goodhue the ball back or giving up a Goodhue touchdown] and that cut Springfield’s lead to 21-16 at that point.

“The defense came up big again,” Dunn said. “The thing that comes up for me that game was winning the special teams. Towards the end of the game, we were getting ready to punt. We were up 21-14 at the time and I remember calling a timeout and telling Bryan Krebs, our punter, that if anything bad happened to fall on the ball in the end zone. As fate would have it, the ball went over his head. He went back, retrieved the ball and took a knee. Then the defense was able to preserve the win.”

It was the first state championship for the community. The second championship wasn’t too far behind.

Softball

The softball team made it to the state tournament before and finished 1-2, good enough for fourth place.

They too had many key players back in key pieces, including catcher Kaitlin McNutt and pitchers Naomi Timm and Krystal Schwanke. Timm and Schwanke gave the Tigers two good options and they were both used throughout the season. It was a nucleus that was essential to the program for a number of years.

“Those girls had been working through the system for years, they’re passionate about the game,” Dunn said. “We had good pitching, solid clutch hitting, we were very good on defense. The Tigers finished the year 22-6, but it the path to the state title wasn’t easy. Dunn said that it helped that New Ulm Cathedral, the Tomahawk Conference champion that year and defending state champions, got beat in the first round of the Section 2A playoffs against Nicollet. The Tigers had lost four of six games late in the season and it seemed like it was time to focus.

“We kind of sat back and re-evaluated,” Dunn said. “I can remember a practice where we all went to the outfield, sat and took our shoes off and just said it’s not that big of deal. The girls responded, it was such a difference, the girls were very light-hearted and they had fun. They were taking the game way too serious during that slump and I think that once we got to having fun playing the game, it kind of grew.”

After their talk, they got things right during the Section 3A playoffs.

“We had a couple of wars with Wabasso in the playoffs, but our catching was phenomenal and then Wilhelmi and Timm, we had a lot of senior leadership that came out of the woodwork.”

The Tigers won their first two games of the state tournament, setting up a state championship game against Silver Bay.

There, an unlikely hero emerged in freshman Andrea Miesen.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Miesen, who was 0 for 3 up until that point, delivered the game-winning single to give the Tigers their softball championship.

The 7-6 victory had many ups and downs for both teams. Wilhelmi earned the win in relief, pitching four innings, allowing a run on five hits. Timm struck out eight in five innings, allowing six hits and five runs. She struck out 21 batters over the two-day period.

“It was just one of those things that was just meant to happen,” Dunn said. “You’re just kind of there, trying to steer the bus and not let it crash.”

Dunn said that there were some similarities between the two teams.

“They’re very different, but they’re very much the same,” he said. “They both were very fundamentally sound players in their respective sports. If you think about bunting, field the ball, throw strikes, make routine plays, the ’06 team was so good at that and putting pressure on others.”

That 2005-06 school year was one that Dunn will think about forever.

“It was amazing, you’re getting text messages from all over the country and emails,” he said. “The people that followed both softball and football, I don’t know if anyone stayed in Springfield during our games or not. There was just a community support and the people were so proud of the kids and their school. It was an amazing time and it’s one I’ll never forget.”