MOORHEAD, MINN. – Monday marked the dawn of the Class 6A era for a Moorhead football team still stung from its 48-44 loss to Alexandria in last year’s 5A, Section 8 championship game.

The Spuds will soon play a district schedule that includes games at Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Edina, with visits from Wayzata and defending 6A state champion Maple Grove.

But on the first day of practice, Moorhead players and staff embraced the challenge, especially with four players who have drawn Division I offers. That list includes junior quarterback Jett Feeney, who led the state with 48 touchdown passes last season.

The loss to Alexandria “hurt a lot right away,” Feeney said, “but I think it just gave our team a lot more motivation for the offseason in the weight room. I think we’ll be really good this year.”

The Spuds were 9-0 before that loss and had defeated Alexandria 36-34 just three weeks earlier. There won’t be a rematch now that Moorhead is in 6A, with the 23rd-biggest enrollment in Minnesota.

“We’ve kind of done our farewell tour on the 5A side because our enrollment is doing nothing but growing, which is an awesome situation to have as a community,” Moorhead activities director Dean Haugo said. “… There’s no pity party. There’s no woe is us.”

It helps having talent like Moorhead has, and all four players with DI offers are juniors:

• Feeney completed 71.5% of his passes and threw just six interceptions last season. He has drawn offers from Montana State and North Dakota State.
• Wide receiver David Mack had 18 touchdown catches last year and has offers from the Gophers and South Dakota State.
• Running back Taye Reich averaged 8.7 yards per carry last season and has offers form the Gophers, Kansas State and North Dakota.
• Defensive back Zak Walker has an offer from NDSU.

Spuds coach Kevin Feeney, Jett’s father, said the junior foursome has been playing together since third or fourth grade.

“I would say in sixth, seventh grade, you could kind of tell these guys are wired a little bit different,” he said.

As eighth-graders, they went undefeated in football — and didn’t allow a single point. They had their dominant moments last season, too, and were cruising until the very end.

“We were a really good 5A school, maybe not the best, but we were pretty good,” Walker said. “I don’t think a lot of people believe in us in 6A. … This is just an opportunity to prove what we can really do.”

To get ready for the 6A grind, the Spuds traveled to Anoka last week to scrimmage against the Tornadoes, who advanced to the 6A state semifinals last season.

“I was really impressed with how we did,” Reich said. “We held our ground against them, and they’re a pretty solid 6A team. … We’re a little worried about our size, but [the linemen] were holding their ground against some big boys.”

The new season will start Aug. 28, with Rogers trekking to Moorhead, and then the Spuds take the long drive to Woodbury the following week.

“I’ve been telling our team, it’s like playing North Dakota State every week,” Kevin Feeney said. “Because it’s going to be a really, really good brand of football and a very physical brand of football. … Some of the best teams in the metro want to play 22 guys in a phone booth. We’re going to try and stretch the field.”