Eagles begin 2023 football season without their ‘biggest fan’

The Eden Prairie Eagles football team closed the book on their preseason camp as they always do, with the annual four-team mega-scrimmage known as the Football Jamboree at Aerie Stadium. 

Hopkins did not make it to the event on Saturday, leaving three teams – Champlin Park, Chanhassen and the host squad – to run through a dress rehearsal for the upcoming campaign.

2023 marks a first for the Eagles and, most notably, for Mike Grant, who will be starting his 45th year as a head coach and 31st at the helm in Eden Prairie.

This will be the first football season of Grant’s life without his father, legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant.

The NFL Hall of Fame coach, who died last March at the age of 95, was an avid supporter of Eden Prairie football.

“Going back to fifth grade football, my dad was involved. And we talked a lot during football season about our team,” Grant said. “And he really was our biggest fan. So, it’ll be really strange, especially at the first game, that he’s not there to watch.”

The Eagles are coming off a 9-3 season in 2022, which included an appearance in the state semifinals, where they fell to state runner-up Rosemount.

As they embark on a new season, Eden Prairie will be impacted by the loss of a number of players through graduation.

“We’ve got a lot of new kids. We also have some veteran kids,” Grant said. “So it’s gonna come down to how well those new kids learn and do the things we need. That’s why this scrimmage is so important because now we’re going to see the things we didn’t do well, and we’ll be better on Thursday night.”

Thursday marks the season opener when the Eagles host Buffalo at Aerie Stadium. 

Eden Prairie brings back size and experience along the offensive line, with returning starters Will Sather at center and Ethan Sims at tackle leading up front.

The Eagles also have difference-makers returning on defense, most notably senior defensive lineman Mo Saine, who is already committed to play at the University of Minnesota next season.

“We have a lot of talent on the defensive side this year,” Saine said. “Like Dennis Rahouski. And we have our center, Will Sather. He’s playing nose tackle, too. And we have Dom (Heim) coming back, too.

“I feel like we all just feed off each other. We all make plays, we all help each other out.”

Sather played both ways as a junior last season and barely left the field during the state semifinal. He will contribute on both sides of the ball again this year, anchoring the offensive line as well as fortifying the defensive front.

You might call Sather a three-way player. He was elected as co-captain, a role he sees as an opportunity to help his teammates become better and stronger.

“It’s just being a leader and more than anything being a servant leader, too,” Sather said. “Not yelling at guys and all that stuff but leading by example and helping other guys be better.”

Sather and senior linebacker Shaun Peterson were selected by the seniors on the squad as co-captains by a near-unanimous vote, according to Grant.

“It’s just an honor to be recognized by my peers and by my coaches,” Peterson said. “It just means getting the guys fired up to go. Getting them in the weight room, ready to go during the summer, now moving into the season and just leading by example and showing them what we need to do to hopefully make it far.”

Offensively, senior David Ivey steps in as the Eagles’ starting quarterback to fill the vacancy left by Nick Fazi, who graduated in the spring. 

In 2022, Ivey took quality snaps for the Eagles. He led them to a section playoff victory over No. 8 Eastview while Fazi was injured, and took the reins in the second half to secure an impressive win against the highly-ranked Stillwater.

“It gives me the confidence to not be nervous, because I’ve had a little bit of experience that really helps me,” Ivey said. “I’m excited to be back with all the guys again playing, so it should be fun.”

With the summer heat and long practice days behind them, the Eagles welcome the start of the season and an opportunity to return to U.S. Bank Stadium in November to finish what they started last year.

“It’s another ride with these guys,” Sather said. “I’m excited to hopefully play a lot of football with them and go deep.”

But for Grant, it’s first things first, starting with the season opener on Thursday night.

“In two-a-days, it’s fun to see how the kids are, but now we’re just focused on Buffalo,” he said. “And everything is, ‘how do we beat Buffalo?’ Because you can’t sit and look at any game that we’re wired for. We’ve got to beat Buffalo.”

When the Eagles take the field to start the 2023 campaign, they’ll do so without their biggest booster watching, but for the coach and his team, the game plays on.

“It’s always on your mind. But you gotta keep going, right?” Grant said. “It’s like my dad would say, ‘Hey, ya gotta get over it.’ That would have been him, you gotta move on.”