Grand Rapids Football Leaning on Experience to Secure Trip to the Bank

Grand Rapids football made the state tournament in 1980, 1994, 2006, and 2021. Now in 2025, they’re making their fifth appearance.

The Thunderhawks had only one hiccup on their record this season, a 24-7 week two loss to Class AAAAA opponent Bemidji. In their nine wins, the T-Hawks have not scored less than 34 points, and in all 10 games, they are averaging 45 points per contest while holding opponents to under seven points per game and pitching five shutouts.

For these birds, team chemistry and experience has been the key to success thus far.

“We just kind of connect all together, you know?” said senior captain Dolan Verbick. “Running plays, going through practices, it just kind of feels different this year. Everything’s kind of connecting … [and] this year just kind of feels better.”

“We play as a team, not individuals, even at practice,” added senior captain Oliver Spahn. “I think our scout team does an incredible job, and we all bonded together. I mean, we started a lot of sophomores two years ago. Last year you got a lot of young guys. So this is kind of the benefit of that.”

“It’s been amazing. It’s been fun,” said junior captain Brandon Brula of the season so far. “It’s fun doing it with your brothers and all your good close friends. And we have just a really strong bond and a lot of athletes.”

Winning the section title was step one on Rapids’ to-do list, and they did so convincingly against Hermantown 49-0. That was after only beating the Hawks by 14 in their first meeting of the season four weeks prior. Now they’ll try to tick the next box: to win their quarterfinals match so they can play at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

“I definitely feel like it’s where we could be,” said senior captain Jaxon Rabbers. “Obviously, no for sures, but we’ve been working all season long, just grinding for this moment. We all want it bad enough. Playing at the Bank would be amazing. That’d be one of the best ways to end my senior year.”

“I think it’s all preparation,” said senior captain Marcus Thiel of their quarterfinals match-up. “We’ve been coming out every day for practice, every week with a goal in mind to get better for Friday. And that’s what we’ve done every week, so we got to keep that going.”

This week they’ll need to speed up the process of getting ready, as their journey to the Class AAAA Prep Bowl actually begins Thursday, November 6 at 7 p.m. at Brainerd High School against Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Grand Rapids enters as the top seed in the north bracket.