MENASHA, Wis. — Inside Nathan Calder Stadium in Menasha, the familiar sounds of thumping shoulder pads can be heard once again.

What You Need To Know

  • Menasha will play a 7 game spring schedule

  • They last played in 2019 state championship

  • Team improved strength during downtime

  • Limited fans allowed at home games

Normally, that’s a sound reserved for August when high school football practice kicks off for the season until November when champions are crowned. Teams that opted for an alternate spring football season due to the Pandemic are heading back to the gridiron for a season unlike any other.

A recent Menasha football practice saw temperatures in the low 30’s with a brisk wind. Some unprepared Bluejays wished they’d dressed a bit warmer for the afternoon.

"It definitely feels like the end of the season, like playoff time but it’s nice knowing that it’s going to get warmer," said Christian Hahn, junior wide receiver.

Head coach Jeramie Korth looked right at home in a knit cap, pacing from one end of the field to the other. His team’s fall season ended after a few practices and one scrimmage. Now he’s getting them back on track.

"I’ve never had a redo before," joked Korth.

Senior offensive lineman and fullback Brenden Mueller worked his way up the ranks for playing time over the years, he was looking forward to his last season.

"It was really nice to get the pads back on, getting hit," said Mueller.

The team’s last game was in 2019 when they narrowly lost the division three state championship. This season will be different.

"We were told right from the start that there wasn’t going to be a state," said Mueller. "There wasn’t going to be a playoff or anything along those lines but if you look at how many kids are still out here right now, they’re here because they want to play the game."

Korth focused on giving his seniors one last chance to play.

"He kept us motivated by saying, I’m going to do everything I can for you guys," said Mueller. "I’m going to make sure that you seniors have at least somewhat of a season. I’m going to do what I can for you."

Korth didn’t let the bad situation get him or his players down.

"For us, we always preach the best possible outcome, control what you can control," said Korth.

One silver lining to the strange season, Korth and the rest of the coaching staff used their downtime to evaluate and improve their program.

"I was able kinda to go back and regroup," said Korth. "I changed a lot of things in the way, personally on how I want to implement our schemes and techniques and the things that we were doing."

They found ways to innovate, especially in the weight room.

"Some of the things that we came across were better than we’ve ever done before," said Korth. "We will train differently from here on out."

Hahn agrees that the team seems much stronger now.

"From the fall season to now, we’re a much better team," said Hahn. "I feel like we’ve used that time pretty well. We’re pretty developed now."

Mueller’s noticed the difference as well. 

"You can tell, everybody from the fall has really made a gain muscle-wise, just size-wise," said Mueller. "Everybody’s hitting harder. These juniors are hittin' pretty good too."

The Bluejays’ schedule is unlike any they’ve ever seen. Opponents include Racine Park, Racine Horlick, Eau Claire Memorial, Holmen, as well as a rematch from that 2019 state championship game with Deforest. They’ll host four games with limited fan attendance. Only three of their seven games will be on the road but they’ll average about 130 miles per trip. For these Bluejays, none of that seems to phase them.

"I just want to play football. That’s about it," said Mueller.