New Look Kindred Vikings Look to Continue Success
A NEW HEAD COACH AND QUARTERBACK WILL LEAD THE KINDRED VIKINGS THIS SEASON.
KINDRED, N.D. (KVRR) —
At Kindred, the expectation on the football field is winning. This season there are new faces to lead the Vikings to that goal. Former Assistant, now Head Coach Eric Burgad is ready to take on the new role.
“I kind of put that out of my mind that I was ever going to be a head coach,” said Burgad. “Coach Crane and I developed such a good working relationship and I thought we were going to be doing this together until we were 60 years old, but you know, an opportunity came for him and it just it felt like the right fit.”
Though a new man is behind all the decisions on the football field, Burgad says kindred football will always have the same identity.
“We always want to play a certain brand of football on the offensive side of the ball and on the defensive side too,” said Burgad. “And that’s that’s physical football.”
Burgad is not the only new face on the field. The Vikings also turn to Jake Starcevic at quarterback, a transfer from Thompson.
“Oh, it’s been awesome, everyone here is very welcoming,” said Starcevic. “It’s a great community to be in, a good football community too and [I have] been learning a lot of new stuff. Every coach’s perspective is going to be different and seeing different things, different coverages, different things on offense… it’s just been great.”
Kindred finished last season going 10-1. A big reason for their success is their University of Minnesota commit, Riley Sunram.
“It’s nice because I can always count on him,” said Junior Linebacker Hunter Bindas. “I know he’s gonna make the block or on defense, I know he’ll make a play [and] take up some blockers so I can go make a play. He always has my back.”
“It’s tough to put into words,” said Burgad. “Riley has earned everything that he has right now. The entire state… if you follow football, you know who he is and that’s not by accident.”
For Sunram, he is looking forward to one last ride with his guys.
“I’m just out here to enjoy it and coach everyone else I can,” said Sunram, who enters his senior season. “My D-end group mainly, but just trying to get everything out of it this last year and just enjoy it to my best and have fun.”
Kindred opens the season versus their rival Central Cass who knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago.
“Yeah, there is always just a little bit more competitiveness in that game,” said Bindas. “We’re just gonna go out, focus on the game and just do our best to do what we can.”
“Every rivalry game is fun,” said Sunram. “You know, just just all the fans there. It’s it’s pretty awesome to me because you can just kind of pause the game for a second look at all the fans and just kind of like feel the moment a little bit. You just get that adrenaline… it’s fun.
