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Prep Bowl: Positivity and a ‘pick-me-up’ attitude guide Simley to Class 4A title game

jace frederick, pioneer press
·5 min read

Simley football coach Chris Mensen busted through the school doors Monday afternoon and started racing toward the football field. Along the way, he hollered about how he wanted someone to get him a helmet so he could participate in the final week — the best week — of football practice of the season: The one that precedes the state championship game.

It’s not unusual for that type of energy to be present this time of year. The Spartans (11-1) battle Hutchinson (11-1) at 4 p.m. Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium for the Class 4A state crown, which would be the program’s first. How could you not be excited?

But that same energy and excitement permeated the team throughout the fall, which is exactly why Simley is in this position to begin with.

“The coaches make it so much more enjoyable. They’re positive every day, and everyone else is positive when it comes in — and that helps fuel the winning spirit,” Simley senior linebacker Joey Stanton said. “And when we keep winning, that obviously makes it better, because everyone is happy that we keep winning.

“So, yeah, everyone comes to practice with a positive energy and wanting to get better. That wanting to get better has helped us to get where we are.”

Mensen is the head of that energetic snake. Stanton noted the coach is always making jokes, including trying to get in on the ones between players.

“He tries to fit in, but he doesn’t always do a great job,” Stanton said with a smile. “But he definitely tries, and that gives us a laugh every once in a while.”

It’s that positive energy that has likely sparked the growth of Simley’s football program, which this season has its best numbers in Mensen’s four-year head coaching tenure. This is the Spartans’ third straight state tournament appearance.

The previous two tournament trips were short with Simley bounced in the quarterfinals, including a 40-0 loss to Hutchinson last fall.

Mensen doesn’t think he possesses some “magic formula” for success. Simley is the same hard-nosed, competitive team it has always been. But there are a couple of key pillars: “I think it’s senior leadership and buy-in to the overall mentality of the program,” he said.

Those are likely stronger this fall than in any previous seasons, and the Spartans have reached the state final for just the second time in program history.

“This year’s senior class has been vocal, they’ve expressed their buy-in to everything and it’s trickled down,” Mensen said. “A lot of teams talk the talk, but few can walk the walk, and the fact that we’re able to do this makes me unbelievably proud of our kids to buy in like that.”

They’ve bought into every aspect of the program, including a big one — picking one another up.

Mensen does not want to hear negative feedback from one kid to another. When it comes to teenage boys, Stanton noted, someone is often always looking for someone else to blame. “It’s human nature,” he said. The Spartans have made a point to buck that trend. If someone errs, as they will undoubtedly do over 48 minutes of football, everyone else on the sideline has their back.

“We’ve had big plays made and they come to the sideline all sad and it’s like, ‘Hey, pick me up next play. Pick me up next play,’ ” Stanton said.

That philosophy is easier to implement when the bonds between players are strong. Simley vows this group is closer than previous editions. The Spartans say they’ve established the ever elusive “brotherhood.”

“Basically, we’re all a big friend group, we get along, we’re like brothers,” senior linebacker David Gogins said. “We’ve all been (in the football program) for like six, seven years.”

Gogins noted a sequence against Hastings in which Raiders quarterback Daniel Millner snuck out the backside, flummoxing Spartans defensive back Tayvion McCoy on the way to a 68-yard touchdown run. Everyone boosted McCoy up after the play, and later in the half, McCoy returned an interception 55 yards for a score.

“If you’re putting somebody down, what is that going to really do for you?” Gogins said. “Like, ‘Yeah, you did that wrong, dadda dadda dah,’ and you’re bashing them. All they’re going to do is feel bad. But if you’re like ‘Get me next play.’ They feel at least good about it, confident more and, yeah, pick you up, most likely.”

Mensen said the defense is better than he expected it would be. The Spartans are surrendering just 13.1 points per game, down from 19.9 a year ago. That, the coach said, is because Simley doesn’t allow one bad play or series to lead to another.

“It’s those bonds that keep us together,” Stanton said.

It’s those bonds upon which championship programs are built. Mensen noted earlier this year that if coming to practice ever became a chore, he’d stop doing it. That’s not an issue with this team.

“It’s still fun every day. I love their energy, I love their commitment,” he said. “We’re playing into December. That can be a grind for a lot of teams if it’s not fun, but this is a ton of fun.”

“We’re just out here practicing and having fun,” Stanton said, “just enjoying the elements and enjoying the ride.”

PREP BOWL

Friday’s Prep Bowl games at U.S. Bank Stadium:

Class A: Springfield vs. Minneota, 10 a.m.

Class 2A: Barnsville vs. Chatfield, 1 p.m.

Class 3A: Simley vs. Hutchinson, 4 p.m.

Class 6A: Rosemount vs. Maple Grove, 7 p.m.

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