The transformation is complete – or as complete as it needed to be for the Annandale Cardinal football team to defeat the state’s perennial No. 1 team, the Becker Bulldogs, Friday, Oct. 8. Signs of the Cardinal turnaround were apparent back in 2000 when the team won its first homecoming game since 1990. That was the year coach Matt Walter came on board, and the community education fifth- and sixth-grade football program was well underway. Since then, the excitement and expectation has been building. In 2002 the Cardinals beat the Delano Tigers for the first time in seven years. It was the first win for the Cards in 12 games. In 2003 they won their first playoff game since 1989 and gave top seed Becker a run for their money, playing even through three quarters. But this was the year everyone was waiting for, when the class that lost only one game as seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade football players, would be seniors. And so far, they haven’t let their fans down. Up until Friday, Oct. 1, the Cards were enjoying their first undefeated season since 1975. They were 4-0 when they went up against the Litchfield Dragons on the Dragons home field, during the Dragons homecoming. “They made a few more plays than us,” Walter said. But it’s not always about winning. “It’s about showing up and competing,” he said. And that’s what kids have been doing even through years like 2001 when they did not win a single game. “They always played hard, never quitting, even when they got demolished,” said Jeff Witherbee, president of the Annandale Quarterback Club and father to 2002 Annandale graduate Jake and current senior lineman Matt. In three years that Jake was on the team the Cards won only three games. “It was an emotional deal. A lot of ups and downs. Jake used to come home and not say a word,” Witherbee said. But the change didn’t happen overnight. Slowly, as the kids started winning, their confidence grew and soon they expected to win. “I didn’t see the intimidation in their eyes anymore,” Walter said. And for the first time in a long time, people were talking about the Annandale football team. “It seemed every time I turned a corner, someone was talking about us,” Walter said. The talk reached as far as the Cities and drew the attention of KARE 11 News. It started when the station aired a clip of senior wide receiver Ben Anderson clobbering a Waconia player in the Friday, Sept. 17, game. It aired as part of a feature the station does in which it highlights three clips of outstanding plays, then invites people to vote via the internet. “Ben won by leaps and bounds,” said Jeff. A few nights later, Wednesday Sept. 29, Eric Perkins of KARE 11 showed up at a Cardinals practice to interview coach Walter and some of the captains. “They asked about how the season was going, their leadership, how they stuck together and took their lumps,” said Witherbee. The story aired on the 10 p.m. news and suddenly everyone knew about the Annandale football team. By the time the big game, the game that would pit Annandale against their ultimate rival came along, the Cards were ready. On Friday, Annandale played Becker for probably the very last time since the Bulldogs are leaving both the conference and the section after this year. It was a battle between the two top teams in the Wright County Conference and essentially a battle for the title. If the Cardinals won, they would have a good shot at the WCC championship, something they haven’t attained since 1988. “Our kids have been waiting all year to play this game,” said Walter just hours before the big event. “It’s been a big motivating point for us. We have wanted Becker all year.” He speculated Friday night’s game would draw even the casual football fans out to the field. And he was right. The game clinching Alex Bronder field goal made the 10 p.m. news again and the outcome was deemed a Wright County upset. Afterwards, the camera crew followed the team into the high school commons where they celebrated with a pizza party, compliments of KARE 11. The party was part of the station’s prep sports highlight game of the week programming. For those wondering how the turnaround came about, there are a number of theories. The first has to do with the community education fifth- and sixth-grade tackle football program. The program, which was started in 1998 thanks to a sizeable donation from the Annandale Lions, introduces kids to football at an early age. Today they also have flag football for third- and fourth-graders after school and a flag football Saturday League, said youth coordinator Nicole Massman. This senior team was the program’s first fifth-grade class. They had 85 kids enrolled. This year those numbers are at 63. Now the football programs are all one big family, Massman said. Coaches and players help out the younger athletes by offering clinics and refereeing at games. “They do a lot for our program to help build theirs,” she added. The other theory behind the Cardinal turnaround is that Annandale simply has more three-sport athletes. For a while the trend in big schools was to specialize in one sport, said district athletic director Denny Harmoning. Schools the size of Annandale couldn’t afford that kind of specialization because they didn’t have enough kids. The coaches started to address that by encouraging cross training. They wanted athletes to branch out and try other sports as well. The result is a much more well rounded group of athletes. But whatever the reason, the turnaround has happened, and Friday night’s win seems only to have clinched the matter.
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