Football: These gritty Willmar Cardinals get going

Aug. 17—WILLMAR — Travis Venenga was asked what the identity of the 2026 football team was going to be. His answer: Gritty. "We're going to play through the whistle," said Venenga, the Cardinals' starting left tackle. "We're going to play hard and ... drive (other teams) to the ground. And we're going to be one percent better every day." But before Willmar can showcase its grit on the football field, it had to shake off the off-season rust. That process began Monday with fall practices beginning across Minnesota for the first day of fall season practices. Football, volleyball, cross-country, boys and girls soccer, girls swimming and girls tennis all had their first day of practice on Monday. "It's going to be a great year," said Venenga, who is one of five captains for the football team alongside Hudson Sjoberg, Isaac Cayler, Jackson Carlson and Lawson Anez. "It was a great first day. Everybody's a little out of it, but we'll knock off the dust real fast and get into scrimmage mode." Cardinals head football coach Jon Konold said that 75 players showed up for the team's first practice. He praised the players' work in the off-season, especially in the weight room. "Just looking at our numbers from our guys from last year to this year, there's kids that aren't our strongest kids, but they made 100-pound improvements from their bench, squat and clean all totaled up," Konold said. "Overall, we're just really happy with the work we put in during the summertime. It helps prevent injuries and helps kids' confidence." The Cardinals have two weeks of practice before getting some live reps. Willmar is hosting Buffalo, Hutchinson and Sartell for a scrimmage at the Willmar Civic Center turf fields at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. That's followed by the season opener against Fergus Falls on Friday, Sept. 4 at Hodapp Field. The Cardinals lost at Fergus Falls 21-13 in the opener last season before finishing the season at 6-4. Fergus Falls went on to win Section 8AAAA and go to state. "I think everybody's ready for their shot to prove that we can be better than we were last year," Venenga said. One of the keys from now until the scrimmage is getting the offense acclimated to its new starting quarterback. Senior Alex Hoppe is slated to take over at QB following the graduation of three-year starter Jordan Ellingson. Hoppe spent the summer battling senior Briar Schuett and junior Jacob Ellingson, Jordan's younger brother, for the position. "Alex really understands what we want him to do offensively and knows where to go with the football and how to distribute the ball to different guys," Konold said. "I feel confident in any of those guys. Those other two (Schuett and Jacob) offer abilities in different areas of the team that are going to help the team. Alex really put things together this summer and was able to edge the other guys." Now, it's about building a rapport with Hoppe and the rest of the offense. "We want to see his command of the offense and his comfort level in running and commanding of the huddle to go (up)," Konold said. "We want him to be put in positions where he's going to feel stressed and he's going to have to execute with some pressure around him. We want to see that growth because we've been rotating three quarterbacks all summer long. "Now that we've identified a guy, he's got to take the reins and (see) how he can jell with his offensive line and his receivers." Five players with starting experience are back on the offensive line. Venenga started at left tackle, Sam Huisinga was at right tackle. Ben Pederson played center. Zavore Hunt and Josh Meraz split time at left guard. "Everybody's got great chemistry on the O-line," Venenga said. "I do think we're gonna rotate people in and out, but we all have good chemistry, so it's not gonna matter (who's playing)." Monday was the start of what Konold and the Cardinals hope can be another successful campaign. "Last year was a really, really good year for us to give kids confidence," Konold said. "The teams we lost two, two of them went to the state tournament (Marshall and Fergus Falls). If we want to get to that level, the talent level is gonna have to be there. The grit, like Travis talked about, that's got to be there. The execution's got to be there and you got to stay healthy."