How handshakes and hellos conjured football magic in Mankato

FOOTBALL ACROSS MINNESOTA | Week 13

Todd Hoffner knew his Minnesota State Mankato football team needed a different message in preparation for the Division II playoffs. Something to get his players in the right frame of mind.

The Mavericks had lost their regular-season finale to Minnesota-Duluth by two touchdowns to finish 8-3. Getting a bid to the Division II playoffs wasn’t a certainty. The mood was gloomy as some players thought their season might be over.

The playoff committee put the Mavericks in the tournament field, but they drew a first-round road matchup against conference foe Augustana, which had won the three previous meetings, including an 18-point victory in Mankato this season.

“We had to try some different psychological strategies,” Hoffner said.

Hoffner called a 7 a.m. team meeting Monday morning the day after the tournament pairings were announced.

As players filed into the door, he greeted each one with a formal introduction.

Hello, Coach Hoffner. Nice to meet you. What is your name and where are you from?

Hoffner’s assistants did the same thing.

“You should have seen the smiles,” Hoffner said.

Senior quarterback Hayden Ekern wasn’t sure what was happening when he saw 20 teammates lined up at the door.

“It was awesome to have a fresh start and forget about what had happened,” Ekern said.

The meet-and-greet served as a symbolic new beginning to a new season, though kicker Matthew Jaeger admits he missed the fun because he accidentally made a mistake setting his alarm.

“Ironically and unfortunately, I missed that meeting,” he said. “It was ironic because the last time that I was late was actually the first day I was there at Mankato 2½ years ago.”

Oh well, he got the memo. Jaeger nailed a game-winning field goal as time ran out in an upset of Augustana in the first round and then repeated the heroics on Saturday with a game-winning field goal with one second remaining in an upset of regional No. 1-seed Colorado State Pueblo.

Amazingly, the Mavericks now play host to conference rival Bemidji State in the national quarterfinals Saturday. The Beavers likewise have pulled off two road upsets to advance.

MSU Mankato’s roadmap included Hoffner’s creative message and a players’ only meeting that week.

“We needed to lean on each other,” Jaeger said. “We need to all 100% believe that we can get this done.”

The Mavericks wear T-shirts during workouts with the letters “MPET” on the back with the school logo. It stands for mental, physical, emotional toughness.

“Anytime there is difficulty or adversity in a game,” Hoffner said, “the team that can respond to those situations and not let them beat you mentally, physically and emotionally is the team that’s going to come out on top. That slogan has really shined strong in these last two games of the playoffs.”

The Mavericks trailed Augustana 19-10 with three minutes left and clawed back to win on Jaeger’s 34-yard walk-off field goal. They leaned on stingy defense and a successful onside kick that they refer to as “banana kick” to turn the tide.

They trailed CSU Pueblo 16-6 in the fourth quarter and won on Jaeger’s 32-yard field goal. Again, they used defense and a successful onside kick — this one called “double wave” — to come back.

“It’s been a testament to the whole season,” Ekern said. “We have a group of fighters. Our story hasn’t always been perfect at times, but we know that we’re still able to write our own story. That’s what we’re clinging to.”

The Mavericks get to host a playoff game, which has an interesting fact attached to it: They are 3-2 at home this season, 7-1 on the road.

Go figure.

One of their home wins came against Bemidji State 31-29 with the deciding points coming from — you can probably guess — Jaeger. His 31-yard field goal was the final play of the game.

A formal introduction from their head coach allowed the Mavericks to reset their focus for the playoffs.

“You go from barely getting into the tournament to winning a couple of late, dramatic walk-off type of wins,” Hoffner said. “I don’t know if it can get more exciting and electric than what’s happened down the stretch for our team. We don’t know how long this magical journey is going to last, but we’re definitely living in the moment and loving every minute of it.”

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FAM 2024

The calendar has flipped to December, which means Season 4 of Football Across Minnesota has come to a conclusion. I’ll have a final feature coming later this week about a remarkable Twin Cities high school senior football player. Look for that online on Friday and in your Sunday paper. Please check it out.

Minnesota football never fails to produce unique and interesting stories, and I’m beyond appreciative that so many have allowed me to share their experiences.

I watched a standout offensive lineman perform a beautiful rendition of the national anthem on his violin before kickoff. A Super Bowl-winning kicker gave me a tour of the fire station where he serves as fire chief. I spent a Friday night hanging out with a media legend who recently retired but still devotes so much time and energy to chronicling prep football. I got to watch a future Gophers quarterback play on a visit to California and hear his emotional story of a family tragedy that led him to start playing football. I learned from a tipster about a local college team that practices before dawn. The logistics that go into the Vikings traveling to London for a game require months of meticulous planning. And I was inspired by Benilde-St. Margaret’s senior Owen Guertin, who didn’t let 17-hour brain surgery as a kid stop him from becoming a varsity athlete.

The fount of compelling football stories in our community seems endless. FAM will keep searching for them when we return for Season 5.

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WEEKEND REWIND

The five best things we saw on social media this weekend:

“Listen, there is a reason why I called the play I did in the end. He’s one of our best players. He’s going to continue to be one of our best players, and there’s not a guy in the locker room that doesn’t absolutely love playing with Aaron Jones, and we’ve got his back without any hesitation or question.”

— Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell after briefly benching running back Aaron Jones after two fumbles in the first quarter, and then calling a pass play for him on a game-winning touchdown.

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UP NEXT

Bemidji State vs. Minnesota State, 2 p.m., Saturday, Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato. Few would have predicted the two NSIC rivals would meet in the quarterfinals of the NCAA D-II playoffs. MSU Mankato won the regular-season meeting 31-29 on a last-second field goal.

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DAILY DELIVERY + FAM

Michael Rand and I talked about Minnesota State’s dramatic playoff wins in our weekly YouTube chat. Watch our video right here:

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A FAM FINAL WORD

I want to extend my deepest appreciation to those in Minnesota’s football community who shared their stories with FAM, and to our readers who make it part of your weekly reading habits. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Until next season.

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Football Across Minnesota (FAM) is my weekly column that tours football topics in our state from preps to pros. It publishes on Tuesday mornings in the fall and early winter. This edition is our last of the season, but please look for a special FAM feature later this week online and in the Sunday print edition. Thanks for reading — Chip (@chipscoggins on X; email me at anthony.scoggins@startribune.com)

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Want more Football Across Minnesota? Chip’s previous columns are here: