Indians' youth is served

SLEEPY EYE -- Last year, then-sophomore Bryce Belseth, a back-up quarterback to senior Jimmy Eckstein, sat and watched as his Sleepy Eye Indians' football team saw their season come to an end in a state quarterfinal loss to Le Center.

It was a team that was loaded with talent and a lot of seniors (17), most of which were two-way starters.

This started as a season with a lot of questions and a lot of underclassmen with 13 juniors, 18 sophomores and 14 freshman dotting an Indian roster that boasted only five seniors.

The message was "youth would be served."

"Realistically, I expected us to have a winning record like 5-3 or 6-2," said the junior signal-caller for the 10-2 Indians, who play in the semifinals of Class 1A in the Metrodome Thursday morning. "That would have been an excellent record; we had lost all of those seniors. And as far as playoffs ... I didn't expect this at all."

But as the year advanced, so did the Indians and Belseth.

"I have learned to take what the defense gives you," said Belseth. "We don't do a lot of passing on this team but when we do, you have to take advantage of it. As far as the running game, if they take away myself, there is always Cody (Walter) or Jose (Saenz) and if they take away those guys, that opens up things for me."

In the Indians' first game of the season, a 48-38 loss to McLeod West that they would avenge with a 26-24 win in the state quarterfinals, the strength of a player like Belseth was displayed as he broke off an option run for 70 yards for Sleepy Eye's first score of the season.

Belseth said that he is running more now than he did in the first part of the 2000 season. "My first couple of games, I broke some runs but teams started taking that away from me. Now lately I have gotten back into the mix a little bit more."

Going into Thursday morning's clash with Murray County Central, the 6-foot-2, 188-pound quarterback has rushed 110 times for 592 yards and scored 12 touchdowns while passing for 996 yards, hitting 54 of 105 attempts. Eleven of those passes have been for touchdowns.

RED ROCK GAME TURNS CORNER: Belseth felt that the turning point this season may have come after the Indians had won five straight, including an upset of Springfield.

"That game against Red Rock Central (a 34-12 loss)," he said. "We came off that big win (against Springfield) and we thought that we would come into Red Rock and it would be cake-walk. We just got our butts kicked basically. After that, we knew that we had to fight for everything."

The loss may have also brought the team together; chemistry on a team is important and that loss may well have mixed the ingredients together just the right way, especially for the 12 other juniors who have had success at the state-level before.

"We (juniors) pretty much play all sports together. We won (2000 Class 1A state) baseball championship last year. In basketball, we have been playing together since grade school," commented Belseth. "It just seems like we are a close-knit group."

END OF FIRST HALF TURNING POINT: Belseth felt that the turning point in the playoff game against McLeod West may have come with less than a minute to go in the first half.

Faced with a 4th-and-9 from the Falcons' 11-yard line, the Indians came up with a big play.

"We were down nine points and Cody (Walter) made that big catch for a touchdown; that was a big play. That was a big confidence boost for us being down two instead of nine points."

What Belseth won't say was the scrambling job that he did to allow Walter to break free in the end zone.

Belseth said that he does not know if the fact that they will be playing in the Dome "has quite sunk in yet. I am sure once we set foot on the Dome turf it will be amazing. This is nice not only for this team; you feel for the teams that have been in Sleepy Eye but not gotten there. This is a lot for them."

DEIBELE SAYS BELSETH MATURED: Indian head coach Dean Deibele commented that Belseth "has improved throughout the year. Coming into this year, we did not know what to expect out of him; we knew that he had some speed and he was a good athlete. All year, he has run with power; he has gotten the first downs when we have needed them, and he runs the option very well. Once he hits the crease, he is gone. He is a good runner. The last three or four games, he has also come up the big passing plays making nice reads on the line of scrimmage.

"He makes those (correct) reads and cuts up through the tackles on scrimmage when he sees that hole. He reads the option well."

Passing has also been a strength of his. "It seems like every time we throw the ball now, he comes up with a big play. Last game he was 5-for-10 in passing but those five completions were for 120 yards. His completion percentage is good and we are excited that when he passes the ball, he makes the big play."

HOFFMANN, RASMUS SHINE: This season, the Indian defense has been led by seniors Marty Hoffmann and Isak Rasmus, who are the two leading tacklers on the black-clad Sleepy Eye defense coached by Kim Mertz.

Hoffmann, a linebacker, leads the team with 72 solo tackles and 78 assists along with nine quarterback sacks and 19 special team stops. Rasmus, from his linebacker spot, has 62 solo stops coupled with 65 assists and five quarterback sacks.

"They both started last year and Isak actually started as a sophomore," commented Deibele. "And they both are leaders. The team looks up to those two for leadership; they both lead verbally and by their example. They both are hard-nosed and like the game of football. They play hard every single play."

Marty has seen four brothers (Luke, Sam, Joe and John) precede him at linebacker. " They were all All-Conference football players so he comes from a very good football family.

"Isak is intense; he is a three-year starter at linebacker. He is an excellent tackler and he plays the pass very well. That is why when we run into a passing team we put him into an outside linebacker so he can cover the pass. He makes correct reads and plays hard.

"We made the plays on defense and I think that as the game wore on, they got rid of the butterflies more and we stared playing more aggressive."

Deibele credits the (five) seniors "and the leadership that they have provided for us. We expected to go last year but sometimes it just doesn't work. The juniors, we knew were good but our seniors have really surprised us by their play and come out of nowhere to become huge contributors to our team. Travis Kiel had a huge game at cornerback for us (against McLeod West). He made some big tackles and nice defensive plays. Stu Krenz has come around; he didn't play the first couple of years for us but since then has really come on to play well for us. Justin Remus and Scott Krzmarzick (guard and center as well as defensive line) have also played well for us."

The Indians are a team on a roll now and I look for them to be playing next Friday at 10:30 a.m. for a state title.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer