The defending Section 8A Champion Mahnomen/Waubun Thunderbirds are the unanimous favorite to win another section title in the 2026 KROX preseason coaches poll. The Thunderbirds, like many of the teams in the area, lost a lot of great players, but they just reload with more outstanding athletes. The coaches picked Red Lake County and Park Christian in a tie for second, with Red Lake County getting more second-place votes. We know this much, it will be a competitive section and the question everyone is asking…….Will this be the year somebody knocks off Mahnomen/Waubun?
COACHES POLL
1. Mahnomen/Waubun – 7
2. Red Lake County – 19
2. Park Christian – 19
4. Polk County West – 29
5. Bagley – 35
6. Ada-Borup-West – 38
7. Cass Lake-Bena – 51
8. Red Lake – 54
The team previews are below –
ADA-BORUP-WEST COUGARS – Kenley Wahlin (1st year interim coach)
The Cougars 4-6 last season (3-5 in the section) and beat Bagley 16-8 in the first round of the playoffs before falling to Mahnomen/Waubun 43-0 in the semifinals.
Top Returners-
Rudy Reyes – ran for 474 yards and 3 TD’s last year
Braxton Hendricks – caught 10 passes for 157 yards and 2 TD’s. He had 4 INT’s
Luke Finney – had 2 INT’s
Kelby Kujanson – had 2 fumble recoveries
Payton Eggen
Top Newcomers – Fall camp, everyone will be evaluated
Top Losses –
Connor Nelson – Threw for 441 yards and 8 TD’s last year
Casper Kritzberger – Caught 7 passes for 226 yards and 2 TD’s
Ames Fassino – Led the district with 42.5 tackles last year
Season Outlook according to Coach Wahlin – “We are hoping to grow from week to week.”
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BAGLEY FLYERS – Coach Brandon Schwegel (15th year)
Bagley was 5-4 last season, which ended with a 16-8 loss to Ada-Borup-West in the first round of the playoffs.
Top Returners –
Shane Thompson
Gunner Nolan
William Gray
Brett Schwegel
Micah Tramm
Thor Choc
Top Newcomers –
Hayden Hanse
Kamryn Thompson
Gage Gray
Key Losses –
Ethan Rud
Domanick Thompson
Jon Rose
Season outlook according to Coach Schwegel – “Looking to build upon a 5-3 regular season record.”
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CASS LAKE-BENA PANTHERS – Coach Michael Hanson (4th year)
The Panthers went 1-6 last season with a season-opening victory over Red Lake. They got banged up and weren’t able to play in the playoffs.
Top Returners –
Adrian Brown
Scotty Brown
Parker Tsuji
Dylan Jones (out last year due to injury).
Top Newcomers – Our sophomore and freshmen group as they will be needed throughout the year in situations and need to step up when called upon.
Top Losses – Only one senior to graduation.
Season Outlook according to Coach Hanson – “To stay as healthy as we can so we are able complete a full season and we will see what happens from there.”
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MAHNOMEN/WAUBUN THUNDERBIRDS – Coach John Clark Jr. (26th year)
Mahnomen/Waubun was 11-1 last year, outscoring opponents 345-18 during the regular season. In the Section 8A playoffs, they beat Ada-Borup-West 43-0 and beat Red Lake County 21-7 in the championship. At State, they beat Upsala/Swanville 17-8 and lost to Minneota 28-14 in the state semifinals.
The Thunderbirds have five straight section championships.
Top Returners –
Zach Zima (QB and DB) is a stud and will be dynamic for the birds. He had 30 carries for 287 yards and 2 TD. He had 23 tackles and 2 INT’s.
Three Offensive Lineman – Kaden Bartnes, Logan Abdo, and Dylan McMullen.
Gavin McArthur (Wing, WR, DB) He had 3 receptions for 101 yards and a TD. He was in on 34 tackles, 3 sacks, and had 1 INT
Cade Walz (RB, QB, LB) He had 18 carries for 117 yards and 1 TD. He was 6 of 8 passing for 79 yards and 2 TD’s. He was in on 30 tackles and had 3 INT’s.
Drayton Tibbetts (RB) – He had 26 carries for 132 yards and 5 TD’s. He was in on 13 tackles
Top Newcomers –
Isaac Hariluk (RB/LB)
Key Losses –
Brody Lhotka, Blake McMullen, Colton Stock, Hudson McArthur, Tanner Stech, Manny Johnson all started on both sides last year.
Season Outlook according to Coach Clark – “We have high expectations for our squad again this year. We have some holes to fill, but we should have good competition for those starting spots that need to be filled. Like always, we’ll need to stay healthy and have some younger players step up and fill holes. Our defensive line should be tough as nails, and those guys will anchor our offensive line, so we should be solid there. We have more quickness in the backfield this year but lose some tough runners! This is a team that I can see improving a lot as the season goes along. We should be tough by the end of the year.”
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PARK CHRISTIAN FALCONS – Coach Matt Baasch (5th year)
Park Christian had a solid year last year and was 7-3 (5-2 in section play). They beat Polk County West 14-6 in the first round of the playoffs before falling to Red Lake County 47-18 in the semifinals.
Top Returners –
Jayden Hanson – passed for 1,810 yards and 13 TD’s last year.
Logan Giese – ran for 850 yards and 16 TD’s and passed for 172 yards and 1 TD. He had 49 tackles with 5 for a loss and 6 INT’s.
Henry Baasch – Had 18 tackles and 1 INT last year.
Elijah Bjur – Had 34 tackles last year.
David Pettys – ran for 218 yards and 2 TD’s
Top Newcomers –
Jack Rasmussen (missed last year to injury)
Keagan Card – had 42 tackles last year
Pierce Killerlain – had 14 tackles last year
Key Losses –
Gavin Giese – had 610 yards and 6 TD’s receiving last year and led the team with 79 tackles. He also had 3 kick return touchdowns.
Freddie Leistikow – had 540 yards receiving and 5 TD’s. He had 50 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 INT.
Season Outlook according to Coach Baasch – “We are a much different team than last year, graduating 5 WR/DBs that are 6’3″ or over. We’ll have to play a bit of a different style of football with our smaller, scrappy WR/DBs that have replaced those seniors.”
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POLK COUNTY WEST THUNDER – Head Coach Darrin Byklum (30th at Climax/Fisher and PCW – 37th overall)
Polk County West is coming off a 3-6 season last year with a first-round loss to Park Christian, 14-6.
Top Returning Players –
Micah Zavoral – had 2 int’s last year
Jace Motl – Had 81 carries for 386 yards and 2 TD along with 48 tackles and 3 sacks last year
Dylan Larson – Had 25 carries for 205 yads and 1 TD
Tiyaz Davis – 25 carries for 184 yards and 2 TD’s.
Jaycer Davis – Had 95 yards receiving and 2 TD’s along with 24 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries.
Alex Reitmeier
Dustin Carl
Top Newcomers –
Tristen Schwarz
Charlie Hart
Skyler Berg
Grady Horken
Blair Johnson
Key players lost –
Izic Edwards
Parker Bernhoft
Ty Torrence
Season Outlook according to Coach Byklum – “We have 19 freshmen coming up this year. We will focus on getting better every week and being ready to compete come playoff time.”
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RED LAKE WARRIORS – Coach Nolan Desjarlait
Red Lake was 0-9 last year and had their best game of the year in week one when they lost to Cass Lake-Bena 34-26. They lost to Red Lake County 77-22 in the first round of the playoffs.
Top Returners –
Isaac Jourdain (QB) – was 31 for 81 passing for 645 yards and 2 TD’s
Isaiah Oakgrove (RB) had 63 carries for 292 yards and 3 TD’s.
Dimitrius Harris (WR) – had 17 receptions for 352 yards and 2 TD’s.
Jake Anderson (WR/RB) had 8 receptions for 143 yards.
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RED LAKE COUNTY REBELS- Head Coach Brian Remick (27th year)
Last year – Red Lake County was 9-2 with both losses to Mahnomen/Waubun, including a 21-7 loss in the Section 8A Championship game.
Key returners –
Ben Gullingsrud (Jr) had 86 carries for 547 yards and eight touchdowns rushing. He had five receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown and led the team with seven kick returns for a 28.3-yard average. He is an outstanding athlete, a do-everything player for the Rebels, and will be a big force again this year. He was sixth on the team in defensive points.
Thor Thompson (Sr) – A big 6’3 230 (last year’s numbers) pound lineman that is a force on both sides of the ball and will be one of the top lineman in the section after leading his team to a total of 2,896 rushing yards, 646 passing yards and only giving up a total 1,974 yards with at least half of those coming in the fourth quarters while RLC led big! Thor had 14
Boe Nelson (Sr) – Had 51 carries for 263 yards and 10 touchdowns. Had five receptions for 47 yards and is a big strong back that will be called upon more this year.
Thoren Thronson (Sr) – The 6’4, 160-pounder had four receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown. He also completed 2 of 3 passes for 24 yards and a touchdown last year. On defense, he had 74 defensive points, which was fifth on the team last year, and added one interception.
Top newcomers – Coach Remick said, “We have many spots to fill, so it will be interesting to see what newcomers step up.”
Some guys that will be looking for more playing time are Nate Powers (251 yards rushing and 3 TD’s), Theo Tydlacka (216 yards rushing and 3 TD’s), Avery Knott (202 yards rushing and 1 TD), Marshall Gagner, Mason Williams, Kole Kleven, Benji Bramer, Gunnar Broden, and many more. It all comes down to who was in the weight room and worked hard in the offseason!
Key losses from last year’s team – Gunnar Halverson and Masen Pahlen are both playing football at Mayville State, Oliver Melin is playing at Valley City State, Kegan Schmitz and Riley Broden are playing junior hockey, and Connor Duden is playing basketball at Bemidji State.
Season outlook according to Coach Remick – “We lost some very good players over the last few years. We do have five starters back on both sides of the ball. We have some very good numbers (45 to 50 in 9-12th grade) and some guys who did very well on JV last year. We will see how it all comes together. We hope to be a top three team by playoffs.
