Cook County Football – Building Muscle, Momentum and Mentality

When the Cook Coun­ty community recognized a need to support its stu­dent-athletes, local busi­nesses and individuals stepped up. The football coaches, along with the school’s activities director, organized a fundraiser to upgrade the weight room and equipment.

“At the time we had min­imal things in our weight room, and it wasn’t really set up to allow more than 5-6 students to get a work­out at a time,” said Mike Theismann, who is in his third year as an assistant coach for the Cook Coun­ty Vikings football team. “There was some equip­ment that was faulty, and it didn’t really allow us to do the kind of training we wanted to do.”

Thanks to the communi­ty’s generosity, they raised around $40,000 to renovate the weight room and pur­chase new equipment. Now, track and field athletes, along with the basketball and volleyball teams and others, are enjoying the up­grade as well.

“It’s been a really good thing around here,” said Mike, who also teaches ju­nior and senior high phys­ical education, as well as outdoor education for ele­mentary students. The new equipment has enabled him to introduce a conditioning class. The football team has developed a more focused offseason and in-season lift­ing program.

“They really dedicated the summer to weightlift­ing, and it’s improved them drastically as athletes and players. They’re seeing the dividends from that right now,” said head coach Ste­ven Anderson, who is in his third year as head coach af­ter two years as an assistant coach. He also teaches ju­nior high math.

If you do the math, this year’s team is smaller than in the past, with 18 players from 8th through 12th grade. There is a strong number of seniors this year with seven on the team. There are two juniors, six sophomores, three freshmen, and one who is in 8th grade.

“We’re down in terms of numbers,” Mike said. “In years past, we’ve kind of been floating around 23- 28. We’ve got a good crew of kids though,” he added. “Right now, everyone is seeing significant varsity minutes, for the most part.”

Mike explained that play­ers practiced weekly over the summer and partici­pated in weight training, while also juggling work and other sports commit­ments. Several players were involved in baseball or bas­ketball, and many attended football camps at different universities, both in-state and out-of-state.

“In my three seasons here, I think this is probably the most dedication we’ve seen in the off-season from the team,” Mike said.

Steven echoed that sen­timent, saying, “I think that’s what sets our team apart from others right now. We’ve had some decent buy-in in the off-season from a couple key players. In years past, we’ve had players who weren’t really in tune with the season as much, but I think that this year is in tune with the playbook, knowing what the calls are both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. So, I think that understanding of the game is at its highest here in my entire tenure.”

Two standout seniors, Hunter Rex and Cade Smith, plan to continue their foot­ball careers at the next lev­el. While neither has signed a letter of intent yet, both have received offers from Division III schools.

“They’ve got a really pos­itive outlook on the sport,” said Steven. “I think they really put the time in.”

The team currently has no academic violations, and many student-athletes are consistently taking AP classes. Not only are they excelling athletically and academically, but they are also active in the communi­ty. After long practices, sev­eral players volunteer their time to coach 5th through 8th graders, helping them develop football skills.

“We have our youth jam­boree for Pony League foot­ball, which is coming up here in the last weekend of September, where our guys will be volunteering their time, too,” said Steven. “It’s a great way for our younger athletes and those 4th and 5th grade levels to be able to see our kids out there help­ing. It’s really cool for them to see the varsity athletes.”

(That event is scheduled for September 28th, from 9 AM to 2 PM at Cook Coun­ty School. The communi­ty is welcome to come and support!)

The team is also a key part of the annual Fisherman’s Picnic, participating in the parade, running the dunk tank, and working the bin­go tent. They’ve even been known to drop everything to help move furniture for community members.

“It really helps with gar­nering community support,” Mike said. “Seeing our guys out there in the public.”

Just as the team sets an example out in public, this season’s captains set an ex­ample within the team.

“We’ve got three great captains this year in Hunt­er Rex, Cade Smith, and Rowan Rude,” said Steven. “They’re lead-by-example leaders, and those are the kinds of things we want to echo throughout the pro­gram, showing by example. That kind of allows us to put a little more ownership on them—that it’s their team, as well. It’s not just the coaches’ team, it’s not just the school’s team, it’s the players’ team. So, we want to keep building and mov­ing forward with our kids in the future, too.”

The coaches also empha­size setting expectations for players both on and off the field. The team is held to high standards when it comes to school attendance, academic focus, and prac­tice participation.

“If the kids aren’t hearing that every day, and there is not that expectation, that can really degrade how serious­ly they take school. Football is kind of an award,” Mike said. “For a lot of kids, ath­letics is a way to get them to take school more seriously. Especially at those ages in junior high and early high school, when they’re still going through a lot of ma­turity things and trying to figure out where they are in the world.”

Steven added, “I think it’s one of the best ways to de­velop young men, in terms of attributes that are import­ant to them. That compe­tition that football brings, the brotherhood it fosters— it’s a huge skill-builder for future challenges. Over­coming adversity, mental toughness, physical endur­ance—all of these are key for their growth into quality young men.”

The Vikings have already faced some tough competi­tion this season, including a matchup against one of the state’s top-ranked teams, Mountain Iron/Buhl.

“That was a tough game. We had some injuries right before the game and during the game that set us back,” Mike said.

After a big win against Bigfork, the team looked ahead to a game against Lit­tlefork-Big Falls.

“We beat them two years ago and lost to them last year,” Mike said. “So, we’re really looking forward to that game.”

Unfortunately, the Vi­kings had an unlucky Friday the 13th and were not able to secure a win, falling 20- 13 on their home field.

“The biggest thing our team needs to overcome is adversity and strive for perfection,” Steven said. “Every down can be won, and that’s really the mental­ity we want to have in our kids—that they’re playing tough both mentally and physically.”

The coaches encourage the community to come sup­port the team during their upcoming home games. On September 20th, the Vi­kings will face Cherry at 6 PM. On October 4th, they’ll play Cass Lake-Bena at 4 PM, and on October 16th, they’ll take on North Woods at 5 PM.

Good luck to the Vikings football team in the games ahead!