WADENA, Minn. – The storms that rumbled through town early in the morning were long gone by the time the Wadena-Deer Creek football team arrived for its home opener.

The conditions that greeted players were darn near perfect. Blue skies, 70 degrees, the smell of hamburgers and grilled onions wafting in the breeze, pep band warming up, fans pouring into the stadium.

Coach Kyle Petermeier surveyed the scene Friday night as his players knelt in the end zone moments before kickoff.

“Take this in,” he said. “It’s a beautiful night for football. This is what it’s about. Have fun and enjoy it.”

The Wolverines didn’t need a reminder to savor every second of this night after having that time-of-their-lives togetherness pulled away prematurely last season.

The school canceled the final two games last fall as injuries piled up, leaving a roster already thin on upperclassmen in a precarious position. Everyone agreed with the decision, knowing it would be unfair and potentially unsafe to ask freshmen not yet ready for varsity to finish out the season.

“After getting over our own egos of forfeiting,” Petermeier said, “it was a pretty easy decision.”

The roster remains light on upperclassmen again this season, but the Wolverines are back on the field. They’ve picked themselves up, proudly. That’s what Wadena does.

When a tornado tore through town 15 years ago, they rebuilt their homes and their school. When a recent school referendum involving updating athletic facilities failed, businesses stepped in.

“In a small town like this, you’ve got to rally around your own,” said city council member Duke Harrison, a former Wolverines athlete who is now the fifth-generation leader of Mason Brothers grocery wholesaler.

The evidence of that is everywhere, from the new $184,000 videoboard in the gymnasium purchased by a banker to the $5 burger bash hosted by the Lions Club at football games. Friday’s opener was an open house, with the town gathering for fellowship just as much as football.

“As long as I can remember,” sophomore lineman Mitchell Schmitz said, “it’s a big event Friday night in Wadena.”

This city knows comebacks

An EF4 tornado with winds estimated at 170 miles per hour cut a path through town 15 years ago this June, destroying the high school and damaging hundreds of homes.

Norm Gallant, a longtime coach and teacher in the district, had taken over as athletic director two days before the tornado hit. Gallant pivoted in his office chair one day this summer, pointing out the window to show the path.

“Basically, a bull’s-eye on the high school,” he said.

Residents consider it a miracle that the town suffered no fatalities. The devastation to structures was intense.

Gallant remembers hearing chainsaws humming once it was safe to step outside and assess the damage. His heart sank when he visited the school. He saw a car lodged in the front of the building and windows smashed.

“Everything that could be destroyed was destroyed,” he said.

The building needed to be replaced. The hockey arena was wrapped around a house about a block away. School officials never found a shed that held blocking dummies and other equipment.

The small town revealed its soul in recovery. Neighbors helped neighbors. They rebuilt together.

“It was a summer of not much sleep,” Gallant said. “We just all rolled up our sleeves.”

Harrison was going into his senior year without a school building. He played football and two other sports and was a member of the marching band.

He spent weeks that summer cutting trees and moving residents into temporary housing. He helped remove a park bench from his friend’s living room.

Officials improvised to make sure school started on time, using available classroom space at the elementary school and a nearby tech school.

The football season went on as scheduled because the stadium was spared. Players dressed for practice at the elementary school and walked a half-mile to the varsity field.

“We were burning up cleats to get out to the football fields,” joked Harrison, a lineman.

A new $38 million school opened in fall 2012. A photo of the student body and teaching staff assembled in the gym on the first day hangs in the main office with the caption: “It was a GREAT day to be a Wolverine!”

‘Strong school, strong community’

Jeff Browne owns a state record that will never be broken. In 1978, Browne set a Class A state track meet record in the now-defunct 880-yard run.

“He’ll have that forever,” Gallant said.

Browne has left an indelible mark on the school in other ways.

The school’s athletic fields need repair. Wooden bleachers are worn and ready for a makeover. Gallant was hoping to secure funds through a referendum. When that fell through, he went knocking on doors.

Gallant envisioned a marketing plan tied to a new Daktronics videoboard installed in the basketball gym. He approached local businesses about signing up as sponsors to raise money for projects.

His first visit was to Browne, a third-generation CEO of the family-owned Wadena State Bank.

“I had no delusion of anybody buying [the videoboard],” Gallant said.

Browne did just that, covering the $184,000 cost.

“It had a good feel to it because it was creating money for them and they needed it,” Browne said. “It would be a neat game experience.”

Gallant didn’t stop there. He visited businesses around town, securing 14 sponsorships that will net $62,000 annually for the next five years. The $310,000 in pledges will go toward repairs.

Wadena students will help operate the videoboard and create content for advertisements that scroll during events. A business teacher is overseeing this new program.

“Strong school, strong community,” Browne said. “Some of my best memories are high school and high school sports.”

Showing up

Football Friday nights in small towns often become a community meetup featuring a blend of former, current and future students.

“I’ve been coming to football games ever since I was 6 years old,” sophomore Cam Snyder said.

He’s the starting quarterback now. The Wolverines are leaning heavily on underclassmen again with a small senior class. Petermeier sees the roster balancing out in the next few years thanks to strong participation at lower levels.

Petermeier, the son of a coach, won zero games his first season as head coach in 2019 when he was 23 years old and “didn’t know anything I was doing,” he joked. He steadily built his program into a seven-win team as recently as a few seasons ago.

Petermeier, though, knows a program is measured by more than just wins.

“If we win zero games or seven games, it’s never empty,” he said. “People show up.”

They showed up as usual on a postcard-worthy Friday night. The Wolverines played hard but lost to undefeated Otter Tail Central 34-14.

Harrison, the former lineman and current city councilman, helped organize the Lions Club burger bash near the picnic tables where fans congregated.

“It’s Friday night football,” he said earlier this summer. “You don’t need a whole lot of other descriptions.”

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WEEKEND REWIND

Game balls

Martin Sleen: Hermantown junior rushed for 308 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Duluth East.

Nic Swanson: Lakeville South running back scored four rushing touchdowns on 13 carries to pace a win over intracity rival Lakeville North.

Andy Peters: St. Thomas quarterback passed for 221 yards and three touchdowns (two coming in the fourth quarter) as the Tommies rallied for a 20-7 road win over Northern Michigan.

Jadon Apgar: Minnesota Duluth freshman kicker made three field goals, including a 25-yarder at the final buzzer to help the Bulldogs upset Minnesota State Mankato 17-14.

Social shoutouts

The best things we saw on social media this week:

Big boot: Jadon Apgar’s field goal at the buzzer gave Minnesota Duluth the upset victory over Minnesota State Mankato.

Where did he come from? Pretty sneaky, St. Thomas!

Sweet snapshots: Not many photographers love high school sports more than our guy Alex Kormann. Please check out his latest set, from Minnetonka-Moorhead last Friday.

No leftovers: The Strib Varsity trend we didn’t know we needed: social content of football teams demolishing truckloads of tacos.

He said what?!

“All great players go through adversity. This is probably his first piece of adversity in the 15 months he’s been here. Adversity strengthens you if you use it properly. You swallow the pill of adversity, and you take accountability and responsibility for it, and we all do it. It’s going to make you better.”

— Gophers coach P.J. Fleck on sophomore Koi Perich, who made several critical mistakes in a loss to Cal.

Numbers to know

19: Consecutive regular-season losses by Mankato East against crosstown rival Mankato West before snapping that streak to win the Kato Jug traveling trophy with a 28-7 victory.

30: Consecutive wins by Stewartville before Kasson-Mantorville ended that winning streak with a 21-18 victory.

36: Consecutive wins for Minneota in Class 1A.

1: Vikings quarterback who will make his first start with the team on Sunday, likely Carson Wentz. J.J. McCarthy will miss at least one game with an ankle injury, the rotten cherry on top of a spoiled Sunday night home opener.

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UP NEXT

Grab your popcorn

Elk River at Alexandria, 7 p.m., Friday. This is a rematch of the Class 5A Prep Bowl, which Elk River won 33-24. The undefeated Elks are ranked No. 7 in the Minnesota Top 25 this week, and it’s no secret what the top priority for Alexandria (2-1) will be: Stopping the run. Elk River leads the state in rushing at 480.7 yards per game. You can watch a livestream of this game on Strib Varsity: bookmark this page and come back just before 7 p.m. on Friday night.

A FAM final word

“Dud.”

It was a rough weekend for the two most high-profile football teams in the state and their collective fan bases. The Gophers self-imploded in a loss to Cal, and the Vikings offense sputtered in registering only two field goals in a loss to Atlanta in the home opener.

. . .

Thank you for reading Football Across Minnesota (FAM), my weekly column that tours football topics in our state from preps to pros. FAM will publish midday on Tuesdays. I appreciate feedback, so please reach out anytime. — Chip (email: anthony.scoggins@startribune.com; on X: @chipscoggins)