Mahnomen/Waubun Football Faces Biggest Test to Date in Class A Semifinal

It’s been seven years since Mahnomen/Waubun Football last played in the prep bowl championship. The Thunderbirds have been right on the cusp of getting back the last two seasons, falling both times to Springfield in the Class A semifinals.

They’re hoping the third time is the charm, but awaiting them in this years semis is another storied program in Minneota, who own the last three state titles and hasn’t lost a game since 2022. The T-Birds aren’t selling themselves short, however, and they’re looking forward to rising to the challenge.

“Minneota’s a very well-known, very respected team and they have had their success in the past to back it up,” said senior quarterback and captain Blake McMullen. “But we believe that we can go out there and battle with them, and we’re just as evenly matched with them. And we can go out there and compete and make it a game.”

Of this team’s identity, he said, “Every year, every game is a new opportunity to go out there and show the fan base all the hard work that you’ve done … every play is a new play to be better.”

“It’s fun to go,” said senior captain and linebacker Brody Lhotka of getting back to the semifinals. “We’ve play in the Fargodome, we’ve play in [U.S. Bank Stadium]. It’s like, nothing better than that, right? But you lose—it’s not a good memory.”

He added, “I think every year we’re physical. [Very] physical is what we preach and practice. We stop the run really well, we try in the pass [game]. We’re physical. We’re made for football, we play hard-nosed football.”

Saturday’s semifinal game kicks off at 9 a.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium. A win would get Mahnomen/Waubun to their second prep bowl championship game since becoming a co-op program in 2018. It would be the 15th championship game reached between the two schools all-time.