Mahnomen-Waubun Football Heading to State for 4th Straight Season

If you play football in Section 8A and want to make it to the state tournament, then you’re gonna have to go through Mahnomen-Waubun.

Since Mahnomen and Waubun co-op’d for football in 2018, the team has won a Class A state title and five section championships. Before that, the two schools combined for 30 state appearances, six state runner-ups, and seven state titles.

Members of Thunderbird senior class aren’t strangers to success, having been to the state tournament all four years of their high school careers. While it might seem like a lot to live up to, they’ve handled the pressure thus far.

“Well, this is a senior class that does it the right way,” said head coach John Clark Jr. “They’ve been tremendous leaders, number one. I think that’s what stands out for me is just their leadership in a positive manner. Certainly role models for our younger players to look up to. They’re, you know, obviously hard workers, tough kids, but just the way they go about their business, they can be loose at times, but they know when to buckle down and be all business and a special group.”

Last year, the T-Birds made their deepest run in the state tournament since winning the Class A state title in 2018, making it to the semifinals where they lost to Springfield. To get back there, they will have to go through another perennial Class A power in Deer River, who knocked off Mahnomen-Waubun in the 2022 quarterfinals.

“They’re not just another team, they’re a good team, but you got to beat them all,” said senior RB/LB and captain Eastin Bevins. “I think our defense has to be on point and we just got to run the ball hard. We are hard workers and we deserved the section championship because how hard we worked.”

“Super excited – playing the teams, you know, it’s really fun to play against the good teams,” added senior OL/DE and captain Lex McDougall. “You know, they’re there for a reason, so it’s a lot of fun. “We all got to keep our heads up and be on point and just do our jobs.

The Thunderbirds will play the Warriors on Friday at Becker High School, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. We’ll also hear from Deer River this week.