Four Spuds, One Destination: Moorhead’s Golden Gopher Takeover

MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) – The pipeline from Moorhead to Minneapolis is getting crowded. At this point, you may as well call them the Minnesota Golden Spuds.

On Wednesday, May 13, Moorhead defensive back and wide receiver Zak Walker announced his commitment to continue his football career at the University of Minnesota, becoming the fourth Spud in the Class of 2027 to pledge to the Golden Gophers.

Walker joins quarterback Jett Feeney, running back Taye Reich and wide receiver David Mack — all four now headed to Minneapolis to suit up in the Big Ten.

“It’s great to keep the teamwork and friendships going on into college,” Walker said.

For Walker, the moment still feels surreal.

“It’s pretty crazy to think about,” he said. “I don’t think it’s set in yet because I’m not shell-shocked at the moment. But yeah, it’s a really crazy opportunity, and I’m blessed to receive it.”

Walker has become one of the state’s premier two-way athletes. According to the MNFootballhub, last season, he totaled 37 tackles defensively while also making 33 catches for 597 yards and seven touchdowns. He added a rushing touchdown as well. This spring on the track, Walker has turned heads with a blazing 10.57-second 100-meter dash and the top long jump mark in Minnesota at 24 feet, 8 inches.

And Gopher fans can expect confidence when he arrives on campus.

“I’m a physical and fast player,” Walker said. “I’m not afraid of contact, and I’m not afraid of a ball in the air. If the ball’s in the air, it’s 90-10 me.”

Walker is only the latest chapter in what has become an unprecedented recruiting run for Moorhead football.

Reich committed to Minnesota in February after a monster junior campaign that saw him rush 225 times for 1,416 yards and 16 touchdowns while adding 32 catches for 336 yards and another score through the air.

In March, Feeney and Mack followed suit.

Feeney emerged as one of Minnesota’s top quarterbacks, completing 74.7 percent of his passes with 27 touchdown passes against just two interceptions in eight games last season. He also added 215 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

Mack has been equally explosive on the outside, compiling 121 receptions for 1,607 yards and 26 touchdowns last season.

For Moorhead head coach Kevin Feeney, seeing all four players commit to the same Power Four program feels almost unbelievable — especially considering he saw the potential years ago.

“It’s wild, man. It’s wild,” Feeney said. “I think I go back to, you know, I did make a statement to their defensive coordinator at the time back when they were freshmen and he came in and just says, ‘Hey, do you guys have any prospects?’ And typically they were looking for juniors and I threw out four names of four freshmen.”

Feeney laughed recalling the interaction.

“I’m kind of thinking, I might be that guy where he’s walking out saying, ‘What is this guy thinking about?’”

Turns out, the Moorhead coach was right.

Having multiple Division I recruits on the same high school roster is already rare. Having four players commit to the same Power Four school is another level entirely.

College football reporter Randy Johnson says it’s almost unheard of in Minnesota prep football history.

“Every once in a while you get a couple from a school,” Johnson said. “I think you’ve got to go back — I was reading somewhere where Richfield had like three back in the early 60s. Cretin-Derham Hall had four back in 2008, including Michael Floyd, but they went to different schools. It’s pretty rare.”

“For Moorhead, wow, it’s impressive times for Moorhead athletics.”

The timing only adds to the excitement.

Last fall marked Moorhead’s first season competing in Minnesota’s largest class, Class 6A, and the Spuds immediately proved they belonged with a runner-up finish at state. Now, instead of being the new team on the block, Moorhead enters 2026 with a target squarely on its back.

“Pressure is a privilege,” Kevin Feeney said. “As a team, we are just saying: you got to continue to improve, we got to continue to develop depth. Those four are certainly going to be a big part of it, but they understand they need a lot of other bodies that are going to come out and play great football for us to reach our ultimate goal.”

The numbers behind Minnesota’s 2027 recruiting class make the story even more remarkable.

With Walker’s commitment, the Gophers now have 15 total commits in the 2027 cycle. Four of them — more than 26 percent of the class — come from Moorhead High School alone.

Add in Kindred standout Brooks Bakko, and one-third of Minnesota’s current recruiting class is from the Fargo-Moorhead area.

And while it’s still early in the recruiting cycle, the Gophers’ 2027 class currently ranks No. 12 nationally and sixth in the Big Ten according to 247Sports.

Not bad for a group of Spuds from northwest Minnesota.