Schnepf: Slowly but surely, Dragon football keeps getting better
By Kevin Schnepf
MOORHEAD – Jake Hodge was an 18-year-old freshman playing quarterback for a college program more than a century old. Hodge showed his age.
To make matters worse, the Minnesota State Moorhead football team did not—a once proud and successful program that had become synonymous with losing ever since it moved from the NAIA level to NCAA Division II in 1995.
“I remember just laying on my back and looking up at the sky a lot,” Hodge said, referring to the 2012 season in which the Dragons won only one game.
Hodge was one of perhaps too many true freshmen who were forced to start for the Dragons that year. But Hodge was convinced by the coaches who recruited him that there were better days ahead.
Slowly but surely—perhaps the best way to describe the rebuilding process ever since head coach Steve Laqua took over in 2011—Dragon football has gotten better. After posting four wins in each of the last two seasons, this year’s Dragons—led by Hodge and 20 other seniors—are looking to post the program’s first winning record since 2006.
“I would be lying if I told you I wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t get to that point,” said Laqua, who since making the move from high school coaching at Fargo Shanley has an 11-33 record in his four seasons at MSUM.
Slowly but surely. The Dragons went 2-9 Laqua’s first year. Then there was the 1-10 season followed by back-to-back 4-7 records.
“I was certainly disappointed last year,” Laqua said. “I thought we underachieved a little bit.”
What has the Dragons spewing optimism this fall is not only the sparkling new turf field—where they will open the season Sept. 3 under the new lights—but an experienced senior class and some talented underclassmen who will be able to provide the Dragons with some depth for a change.
There’s a reason for all this. Under the guidance of athletic director Doug Peters, the Dragons have increased their football scholarships from 9 to 24. And next year, they plan to reach 28, the maximum allowed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Throw in improvements to the field, some improvements to the locker room and weight-training facility and some more money for assistant coaches, the Dragons feel they are on pace with their “slowly-but-surely” rebuilding process.
“Our plan is coming together nicely,” said Laqua, who was then asked how close his program is to the league super powers like Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State-Mankato and the University of Sioux Falls.
“There is still a wide gap to the upper level,” said Laqua, whose Dragons lost to those three teams last season by an average score of 70-19. “You can’t jump a canyon in (one jump). You have to take that first jump and be able to take it from there. We’re just making sure we can climb to the top with that next step.”
But first things first: the 2015 season in which the Dragons were picked to finish 10th in the 16-team league. That’s a pretty high ranking compared to recent years. After Duluth, Mankato and Sioux Falls, most coaches agree it’s anybody’s game with teams 4 through 16.
To make this season seem even more appealing, the Dragons do not play Mankato and Sioux Falls—which, when mentioned, brought a smile to Laqua’s face. The Dragons also feel good about playing Duluth at home this season.
“We are not settling for a .500 record or even a 6-5 record,” said senior wide receiver Adam Jiskra of Grafton, N.D. “We’re trying to win 8, 9 or 10 games.”
That’s quite a difference since the 2012 season when Hodge found himself sacked to the turf one too many times.
“We kind of knew that was going to be a down year,” said Hodge, who sat out his senior year of high school football at Kasson-Mantorville (Minn.) with a knee injury. “It was kind of a disaster. But now you look back at it, we’ve come a long way since then. And knowing that us seniors have been a part of that … it feels good.”
Originally published in the Forum. View it here.