SLEEPY EYE — When Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s head football coach Brent Kucera took over in 2010, he knew the pieces were in place to make the Knights a solid program.

Kucera soon got the Knights back in the state tournament, taking them there in 2011 and 2012. But it was a change in the offense in 2011 that led to the success.

Armed with quarterback Jordan Anderson and a collection of talented receivers and linemen, the Knights became a power in the Southern Minnesota Conference.

“We had the receivers on the outside, we just had to figure out how to get our run game going,” Kucera said. “With Mark Stein, he came in as our line coach that year and that was a big part of it was getting in the weight room, but we had to get our run game going and once we got that going midseason where we could run and pass, that was kind of a unique thing, we were a balanced attack and you had to choose what to stop.”

2011 season

The Knights were coming off of three straight losing seasons, but that losing mindset didn’t last much longer. Midway through the season, they changed the offense to a more balanced style and that led to a lot of success. The Knights learned to win together as a team, led by an impressive offensive line up front.

“We were a young coaching staff so we were just trying to figure out how to coach and get a system in place and get a system that fit our players,” Kucera said. “In the 2011 season, we kind of figured out what type of kids we’ve got and what we need to do. We went to a full shot-gun system and we put them in place to make them successful and we utilized our players better.”

It was a struggle at first for the Knights.

“It was a little tough, we had to do a few position changes and add a few new plays or sets to the playbook and it kind of took off from there,” Kucera said. “We started pulling lineman and that made a big difference, we weren’t so predictable.”

They started the season 3-3, but they rattled off six straight victories, including an impressive win over defending state champion New Ulm Cathedral in the section finals.

“They stomped us in the regular season, but in the playoffs, I really give credit to our senior guys, they stayed focused and they were motivated,” Kucera said. “For the pregame speech from us coaches, we didn’t have to say a word, we saw in their faces and we just let them do their jobs.”

The season continued with a 34-15 victory over Adrian in the state quarterfinals, but the Knights made it to the state semifinals that year in a 32-12 loss to Mahnomen. In that game, Mahnomen’s Jacob Pavek rushed for 124 yards in the first half and Avery Fairbanks had 129 yards rushing. Pavek finished with four rushing touchdowns. The Indians scored on their first two possessions and raced to a 24-6 lead at halftime.

St. Mary’s, meanwhile, was led by quarterback Jordan Anderson’s 257 yards passing and two touchdowns. He threw a touchdown pass to Sean Mathiowetz and Adam Sellner and the two receivers each had 102 yards receiving also. The Indians did all of their damage on the ground, outrushing the Knights 335-58.

“I think it was a combination of everything,” Kucera said of the loss. “We were new to the environment, we were new to the Mahnomen experience, Mahnomen was one of the more successful programs in the state.”

That season, Anderson was named the All-Journal Offensive Player of the Year as he became a dual-threat. He finished the year with 2,141 yards passing and 21 touchdown passes and he also rushed for 965 yards and 11 touchdowns.

At that point, the Knights had learned the fruits of their labor. All of the hard work and building unity was showing up on the field as wins. Now, they had to work together in the offseason to build on that success.

2012

The Knights had a new roll to adjust to as the favorites one year after making it to the Metrodome. And although they weren’t able to get back inside to the warm weather, the 2012 season was still a pretty impressive run.

“We were so much more prepared, that season the kids new the playbook, they knew what to expect at practice,” Kucera said. “They knew they had to work for it, we were just light years ahead of the 2011 season. In 2011, we were figuring out on the fly how to coach, how to work hard, how to scheme teams. That 2012 season, we knew what to do better.”

After the state run, the now senior class was in charge of the offseason workouts and they led the way without any problems.

“It was fun to see, because for quite a few years, the guys were so motivated and wanted to keep doing it, it was the new experience and the kids wanted to keep motivated,” Kucera said. “The 2011 senior class really paved the way for many years.”

Led by Anderson and Mathiowetz again, the Knights finished the year 10-1, their only loss coming in the state quarterfinals.

Anderson led the Knights to an undefeated conference mark and was once again named the All-Journal Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 2,585 yards and 26 touchdowns and he also rushed for 959 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Mathiowetz, meanwhile, was a matchup nightmare for every opponent with his size and speed. He finished that season with 1,075 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.

Kucera said the coaching staff was still growing, along with the players.

“I’d say the biggest challenge was since we were running a newer style system back then, when we faced teams and they completely changed their defense, it got to the point where we asked why we were even scouting their defense,” Kucera said. “We started to scout their talent pool and didn’t even scout their defensive schemes so much because they would change so much against us.”

St. Mary’s defeated Cathedral again in the Section 2A finals, only to run into Faribault Bethlehem Academy in the state quarterfinals. There, the Cardinals scored two straight touchdowns in the second quarter to build a two-possession lead against the Knights and then proceeded to hang onto the lead in the second half.

The Knights eventually cut the BA lead to 22-12 on a touchdown pass from Anderson to John Brandl in the first half, but they weren’t able to get anything going offensively in the second half in the 43-12 loss.

Looking back now, Kucera remembers that 2011 team and how it led the way for future success in the program.

“I would say, that 2011 team, we didn’t have expectations that year, no one was expecting us to do much,” Kucera said. “Here we came from behind the scenes and just completely shocked everybody. Seeing the size of the crowd at that first section championship game against Cathedral, it was just an amazing experience because it was all so new.”