After the MIB football team won, running back Damian Tapio (21) was chosen by coach Dan Zubich to be the first team captain for the 2023 football season. “It was well deserved and he shows leadership on and off the field. He’s our spark,” said coach Jesch when Damian was named team captain. See story and more photos on pages 34 – 36.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The stories featured here were written by journalism students who are also MIB football players in Cathy O’Malley’s journalism class at Mountain Iron-Buhl High School. These student stories share the excitement of the Rangers winning the 2022 State Football Championship in December. –Jill Pepelnjak, Writer
Fans in the stands: The fan experience
For the first time in 50 years, not since Mountain Iron won the state football championship in 1972, the MIB Rangers won the 2022 State Football Championship.
Many fans were able to attend almost every game this year, while many fans supported the team even though they were unable to attend. Many fans supported the team by following them on Facebook or following them on other platforms if they could not. Those who could liked to share their experience with those who could not.
Riley Busch (11), left, and Colton Gallus (19) worked together, along with their teammates, to win the state football championship. Featured photos (taken by Hali Savela and Jordan Zubich of the MIB Yearbook).
For the state quarterfinals, not many people attended because it was held in Moorhead, which is a four-hour, seven-minute drive away. That’s pretty much it for some Rangers. It was also very cold that day, so that was also the reason why people did not go. There were probably 50 people in total and about 15 children in the student section. While the football team beat Kittson-County-Central 42-28, they didn’t have much fan support for the other games. The weather was probably the main driver of participation.
For the state semi-final, compared to the quarter-final match, more people came. The semi-final match against the U.S. It was held at Bank Stadium, which made it a lot easier for some people to attend as it’s only a three hour and five minute drive compared to the trip to Moorhead. Some say that over 150 people attended. Supportive fans cheered on the MIB football team in a 36-15 win over Wheaton/Herman-Norcross.
Cheerleaders who helped the Rangers to the state championship were (l. to r.) Delilah Goerdt, Jade Vesel, Emma Hipple, Arianna Jenner, Evangeline Johnson and Kristina Goggleye.
The State Championship game was one to remember. A lot of people went to the game because it was the first time for MIB in 50 years and it was a great achievement. Again, the game was held at US Bank Stadium and many people went down. There was even a sponsored fan bus where people came down to the game.
The Girls Basketball team also took a bus to the game, so there was extra support in the fan section that day. Some say more than 300 people attended. Many people showed their support that day by showing up in Ranger gear and pompoms. All encouragement and support led the MIB football team to a 28-25 win over Spring Grove.
Hustle, Hit, Never Quit: State Semifinals
The MIB football team left the Iron Range on Wednesday, November 16th to head down to the cities after the interscholastic rally. We left it for our last practice against Wheaton in the state semifinals game. It brought us a lot of excitement on our walk before we left. The team and cheerleaders played and cheered on the walk as well. We walked through the elementary school with the youngest children excited to cheer us on at around five.
The entire Mountain Iron-Buhl (MIB) football team gathered in December to celebrate winning the 2022 State Football Championship. See also the photo of runner Damian Tapio on page (21). 26
Then we got on the bus and watched the Step Brothers on our coach bus. We stopped at the Village Inn in Wyoming, Minnesota. Evan Anderson said, “I got a VIB (Village Inn Breakfast) which included two waffles, three pancakes, two bacon strips and two omelets.” After this stop the group was well cheered.
Next, we stopped in Plymouth in a bubble dome for some indoor practice before the game. St. We arrived at the hotel in Louis Park, where we were greeted with pizza and a magician. The magician was amazing. He did a different trick for everyone, and the group absolutely loved it.
We woke up ready to take on the day. Everyone was excited. U.S. We went to the Bank Stadium where we put our things in the locker room. Then they took us out to the field for a little walk before the game.
Kylee Renzaglia, Natalie Bergman, Sam Hoff and Sage Ganyo were among the Ranger fans who showed their support in the stands. “I think it’s very special to have happy fans at our matches. It really helps with the drive and just the game,” Dylan Anderson said.
After that, we went back to the locker room, got dressed and went out to play. We left knowing what to do. It was a back-and-forth game until Wheaton’s starting quarterback got hurt before halftime.
We were down 15-14 at the half but with our heads up. We came out of the game with enthusiasm, they didn’t have their quarter, so we knew we had them.
From then on, we dominated, winning 36-15. Everyone was excited that we would have a chance to win the state championship for the first time in 50 years since the 1972 team won.
DZ’s Day in the Life: Spending a day with a state champion head coach
Coach Dan Zubich starts his day bright and early when he wakes up around 3:00 a.m. and heads to work. He works for eight hours and then goes home. Then he works himself up a bit by going to the gym. Finally, after practice, he goes home and watches some game film of the opposing teams.
Next is the mid-afternoon part of his day, where he gets dressed in one of his gym clothes and gets ready to train. He has lunch and goes to the gym. He then watches the players get up and coaches the team throughout the training session. Finally, he gives a post-practice lecture.
Then it’s night. Coach Zubich goes home and has dinner. After dinner he turns on the television to watch a sports game, whether it’s basketball or football. Then he spends some time with his family. Finally, he closes the day by taking a good rest before work the next day.
Damian Tapio—First pick: Coach Zubich
appoints the first captain for the next football season
Running back Damian Tapio had a stellar season with 1,809 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns and has been named a first-team captain for the 2023 football season.
After the big 2022 state championship win, coach Dan Zubich said at the awards ceremony, “Next season’s first team captain will be Damian Tapio and there are three more spots to fill.”
Can the new team captain lead MIB Rangers to a back-to-back championship? Dylan Anderson said, “Yes, I think Damian Tapio is a great leader and player.”
I asked Daimion Tapio how he feels about being the captain of the team and he said, “It feels great and it shows that my hard work has paid off and I’ve earned my respect.”
We’ll find out next year if he can chase down the state championship.
A day in the life of a State football player: how the day went
On December 2, the Rangers had a statewide pep rally and send-off. It began with the Rangers signing autographs for high school and elementary school students, followed by a pep rally.
The Rangers were named in numerical order and were seated in the gymnasium. Faculty, staff, Mountain Iron Mayor Peggy Anderson and Mayor John Klarich Buhl addressed the group. We also got a video of Viking Running Back and Team Captain CJ Ham.
The Rangers left at 10 a.m., escorted by the fire department. Around 12:30, we stopped at the Village Inn in Wyoming, Minnesota to have breakfast and talk with their friends.
It was 2:00 p.m. As the Rangers got off the bus at the Plymouth Dome for practice. After training, the Rangers checked into their hotel room. At 18:00, the boys went to eat at an Italian restaurant. At the restaurant, we ate food and had an inspirational speaker join us on a zoom conference.
We went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. The next day, we woke up at 07:00 to enjoy the group breakfast. At 08:00, the boys left for the stadium. We arrived in the U.S. at 09:00. Bank Stadium, and we had an hour to prepare for the state championship game.
After the game, the boys went to eat at Forest Lake, enjoying our victory and enjoying our food. We went home and got an escort around town. We went back to school and had a celebration with all our fans and parents.
Memories were made that we will never forget.
Snow, Wind, Football = WIN: Rangers face Kittson in state quarterfinals
After winning the section championship, the team was ready to take care of business in the state quarterfinals the following week. Looking at the forecast for Friday, November 11, in Moorhead, Minnesota, the team had to prepare to play in cooler weather led by Kittson’s big boys and state running back Chisum Schmiedeberg.
A good week of training in preparation ended with a dispatch before heading west. The send-off was congratulatory from the staff, coaches and fans. But the main focus was to win everything. That started with the quarter-final game before we got ahead of ourselves. There was also a guest speaker, Jeff Anderson, who played on the 1972 championship team, giving the boys even more motivation.
At first, the temperature was 15 degrees, but with the wind chill it felt like zero degrees. The boys were hot and embraced the cold, as coach Buffetta told us.
A long, hard-fought game saw the Rangers outlast the U.S. 42-28 the following week. It led to Bank’s advance to the state finals, where we had to face Wheaton/Herman-Norcross.
Superfans: Watching the game at The Bank!
School spirit brings magic and energy
for the team and the school community.
Football playoffs are when the team plays outside, usually in freezing weather. When we played Cherry for our final section game, we filled the stands for the important game with one of our arch rivals.
Our team and community supported us in the semi-final match at The Bank. We had the opportunity to play where the Vikings play. The school had an energetic and fun send-off.
The last state championship game was held Dec. 3 against Spring Grove. Finally, for the finals against Spring Grove. Rangers fans packed a bus and left at 4.30am to make it in time for the game. The fans never gave up hope, even though they were 0-19 down in the first half. The suspenseful comeback brought the fans to their feet and the Rangers finished the game 28-25 and it made for an exciting finish.
The fans had a lot of support in the comeback win as Braylen Keith and Nikolas Jesch noted, “We didn’t even hear the cadence and had to watch the ball to know when to release it.”
The team were honored to have the fans in attendance and believe it helped them win the game after a crazy comeback.
What are Protestant Irish called?
But many Irish Catholics believed that Ireland should have its own government, independent of England and the British Crown. They were known as patriots. Read also : Here are your 2022 Detroit Lions Cheerleaders consisting of 10 rookies, 7 veterans. In contrast, Irish Protestants generally supported British rule in Ireland. They were known as loyalists.
Is Gaelic Protestant or Catholic? The majority of Scottish Gaelic speakers are Protestants, and when they came to Ireland during the Plantation, Ervin explained, they brought their language with them. Ervin’s Irish language tours began three years ago, when the group of women who were part of the East Belfast Mission took an introductory course in the language.
What are the Protestants of Northern Ireland called? Ulster Protestants (Irish: Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethno-religious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants in the 17th century. They are the descendants of the settlers who arrived from Great Britain at the beginning of the century.
Why do Celtic fans say Bhoys?
Nicknamed “The Bhoys” (the h is said to have been added to phonetically represent the Irish pronunciation of the word boys), Celtic share a bitter crosstown rivalry with Rangers, which is often sectarian in nature, in the eyes of Celtic and their supporters. To see also : How the N.F.L. Teams use social media to promote and control cheerleaders. as a Catholic team and Rangers as a Protestant party.
Are Celtic fans Irish? The Celts have traditionally come from the Catholic population of Scotland and people of Irish descent, but not exclusively.
Who are the Bhoys? “Bhoys” was a common self-reference and nickname among Irish emigrants. The additional lyrics were an attempt to capture the Irish accent, as well as possibly expressing a sense of their own cultural identity.
