MINNEAPOLIS – “JMG” on the back of the Minneapolis Lions’ helmets in memory of longtime wrestling and football coach Jeff Giles, who passed away last year.
A group of high-character kids and leaders, especially the senior class and junior quarterback Eric Yoxall.
A new-look spread offense and a defense gleaned from longtime Sterling College defensive coordinator Chuck Lambert.
A strong “buy-in” that started in the summer with first-year coach Jhon Haehn.
Two wins against Beloit, a major hurdle in recent years.
The positives have yielded a great season for Minneapolis football, one of the biggest surprises left in the Kansas playoffs.
“There has been a whole bunch of different things,” Haehn said.
Minneapolis, a school long known for basketball and track success, is 8-3, a five-win improvement from last season and has tied the farthest playoff advancement in school history. The Lions defeated Hoisington 17-14 on a touchdown pass with 19 seconds left last Saturday night to move into the Class 3A quarterfinals.
The Lions beat Beloit 59-34 in the first round, the second win against the Trojans this year. The Lions were a 23-point underdog against Hoisington, according to preppowerindex.com.
Minneapolis, unranked all season, will play host to Halstead (9-2) on Friday.
“It’s awesome,” Yoxall, who has thrown for more than 1,900 yards and is Kansas’ best kicker, said. “I just remember stories my dad telling me and thinking, ‘Hey, I get to tell my kids these someday.’ It’s just a great feeling knowing that we have done good, and we’ve got all the memories with us.”
Class 3A is long known as the most tradition-laden classification in Kansas football. Silver Lake, Rossville, Conway Springs, Garden Plain and Scott City have dominated the class, along with a strong second tier that’s included Beloit, Norton and Wichita Collegiate.
In the last seven years, just 12 teams have earned spots in the sub-state championship game. In that span, 17 different squads have made in Class 4A, according to playoff records. That number will at least be nine after Friday.
Minneapolis has never reached sub-state, and Halstead hasn’t been there since 1980.
“We have a good class of seniors, and we have talent all around,” senior wide receiver Josh Macy said. “The senior class, they started in the summer. We got a lot of kids in the weight room, and we worked
our butts off in the offseason. It’s carried over to now, and I think our work is starting to show a little bit.”
Minneapolis went through a difficult time last year when Giles, a coach for more than 25 years, passed away unexpectedly in mid-February. The Lions have remembered him throughout the season with a decal at the backside base of the helmet.
“We know he is looking down and proud of us,” Yoxall said.
Haehn played at University of St. Mary and then coached there for six years.
The Lions returned eight starters on both sides of the ball and switched from a Wing T offense to spread. The defense went from a 4-4 to a 3-4. Haehn wears a perpetual smile and is full of energy.
“He is great,” Yoxall said. “He is such a blessing. Just happy to have him here. Just a great guy overall, and a great coach who knows his football. Just awesome.”
In a recent weights class, Haehn talked about the last day of summer conditioning. The team ran 16 110-yard sprints that Haehn ran, too.
“When you build up and you do all of that stuff, it makes it really hard to give in when things get tough,” Haehn said.
The spread offense has produced 26.5 points per contest, the best production since 33.7 points per game for a 7-4 team in 2009.
“They are balanced,” Hoisington coach Zach Baird said. “They do a good job, and they’ve got some good playmakers out there on the edge, and their quarterback is a smart kid and is accurate with the football.
They give you some problems.”
Senior Gage Mortimer, who caught the game-winning score against Hoisington, Macy and senior John Kelly, have caught at least 32 passes. Yoxall is 9 of 9 on field goals with a long of 41 yards. No other Kansas kicker has more than six made field goals, according to maxpreps.com.
“Changing to the spread I think helped them, because it fit their skill set,” Haehn said. “Minneapolis has been a big basketball school, and the spread attack is a lot about going up and getting footballs.”
The Lions started 1-2, but are 7-1 since, including a 27-26 overtime victory against Beloit in Week 6. In the previous eight years, Minneapolis hadn’t been within 29 points of the Trojans.
“It was a new offense, so we got it down pat in the offseason, and that has helped us tremendously,” Yoxall said. “Then, we all have just come together and been together and just said ‘Hey, we’ve got talent, let’s go do it.’”
Defensively, Haehn’s first call when he took over as head coach was to Lambert. Haehn was always impressed with Lambert’s defense. ‘Hey, teach me what you guys do, because what you do is difficult to
get after,’” Haehn said.
The Lions have permitted just 15.2 points per contest. No Minneapolis team – including an 8-4 squad in 2007 – has been under 21.5 in the last nine years. Seniors Jake Fleming and Quentin Clark each have more than 100 tackles.
“The kids buying in - I came in brand new, and they bought in right from the bat,” Haehn said. “We have got a bunch of good seniors, and they are great leaders.”
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