Moorhead running back Taye Reich appeared imposing during pregame warmups for the Maple Grove game last Friday. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound, Gophers commit looked like he would be an absolute load to tackle in the Class 6A game.

But once Reich went under the bleachers and toward the visiting locker room, he started puking. Not once or twice, but three deep heaves into the landscaping rocks.

“That means we’re ready,” Moorhead head coach Kevin Feeney told the Pioneer Press.

For Reich, losing his lunch is considered a routine stirring of nervous energy, something the senior has done since the seventh grade, Feeney said. And this one was a game worthy of butterflies, as No. 1-ranked Moorhead visited then-No. 6 Maple Grove.

The Spuds were the big-school runners up to Edina last year, while the respected yet rebuilding Crimson have a .871 winning percentage in the 2020s and state championships in 2022 and 2024.

Moorhead boasts four players — quarterback Jett Feeney, receiver David Mack, receiver/cornerback Zak Walker and Reich — committed to the Gophers’ 2027 recruiting class. Each has a three-star recruiting rating; combined they are a rarity.

It’s believed the Gophers haven’t had three or more recruits from the same Minnesota high school since Richfield in 1982, according to 247Sports recruiting analyst Ryan Burns. A Minnesota school hasn’t produced four pledges to schools in the now-Power Four conferences since Cretin-Derham Hall in 2008, Burns added.

And Moorhead’s foursome is more incomparable because none are linemen, the position groups that Minnesota produces the most.

“It’s a crazy blessing; God putting all these people at Moorhead,” Mack said.

The star-studded Spuds granted the Pioneer Press behind-the-scenes access to see how the future U players go about their business in a Week 5 game along their quest for a state championship.

Just before kickoff, Reich’s upset stomach had calmed down in time for Kevin Feeney’s pregame pep talk.

“What (Maple Grove has) been doing in Minnesota 6A football for a number of years now has been total domination,” Feeney told his team. “ … But I will tell you this, some of those guys ain’t wearing their uniforms. They’re gone. They’ve got to play for who they are (now), and I want to see who we are.

“Every time we get an opportunity to play in the metro, we have to send a message!”

After a back-and-forth first half, Maple Grove led 21-20, but Moorhead took advantage of turnovers in the second half to score 20 unanswered points in a 40-21 win.

Feeney completed 80% of his passes (25 for 31) for 426 yards and five touchdowns. Mack was in a class of his own, racking up 15 receptions for a gaudy 303 yards and four TDs. Walker sliced through the defense for three receptions for 53 yards and one TD and forced a key fumble on defense. Reich ran 21 times for 120 yards and one score.

The Spuds (5-0) love to spread out opposing defenses with four- and five-receiver formations. When all four future Gophers are on the field, they call it a “track” formation.

“The four of us on offense is insane,” Mack said. “If you try to stop one thing, another thing is going to open up.”

To start the game, Feeney and Mack connected on a 29-yard touchdown toss. But the 6-foot-2 QB was stoic afterward, immediately going to the metal bench to watch film on a flatscreen TV and tablet.

When Feeney fumbled deep in Maple Grover territory on the next possession, he, too, calmly went back to his spot on the bench for more video. He would do this all game long; and Feeney’s father, Kevin, and assistants would soon join the group of players for debriefs.

“(Jett) has such a good grasp of what we’re trying to do and the space that we’re trying to attack,” Kevin said. “It’s really good dialogue on the sideline for us on what he’s seeing, what he likes, what he doesn’t like. That’s validated with what we watched on film.”

On the next series, Mack settled in on a deep dig route in between Maple Grove’s linebackers and safeties. Feeney fit his pass into the tight pocket.

“There’s not a whole lot of quarterbacks that can do that,” Maple Grove head coach Adam Spurrell said.

Reich finished that drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. On the next series, Reich threw up again; this time in the backfield just before the snap, but he still picked up the Crimson’s blitz.

“Taye loves football,” Mack said. “It’s kind of nerves and excitement. I’m used to seeing it now, but he just has a crazy love for the game. It’s funny.”

Later on that drive, Moorhead’s initial play broke down and Jett rolled right. A Spuds assistant coach shouted for Jett to “check it down!” Instead, he chucked it to the back of the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown to Mack.

“We’ve been best friends since fifth grade,” Mack said. “We go way back. We’ve spent so much time together on and off the field. That is what makes our chemistry so great, if it’s golf or pickleball. Then we put in the extra hours on the (football) field.”

Kevin Feeney later said that was the first time this season his team had been challenged in a first half. He shared that sentiment with his players in the locker room at the break.

“We had a little bit of adversity show up, and we got to see what we’re made of when things aren’t just all roses and candy,” Kevin told the team. “… Let’s get out there and finish this thing!”

In the third quarter, Jett hit Mack on a tunnel screen and he shook a defensive back for a 24-yard touchdown. Mack was talking smack as he crossed the goal line.

“David is just slippery,” Spurrell said.

Moorhead made it 34-21 with Zak Walker’s 16-yard touchdown catch from Jett; Walker has a strikingly quick burst.

“It’s his athletic ability,” Spurrell said. “Knowing how fast he is and knowing how far he can jump, you can definitely see why the Gophers are excited about him that way.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Jett and Mack also combined for a 68-yard bomb on which Mack twisted Crimson defenders in circles.

The Moorhead-to-Dinkytown future for these four Spuds has intrigued outsiders. Moorhead athletics director Dean Haugo said a half dozen unfamiliar fans were in the visiting stands for the Maple Grove game. Their maroon-and-gold gear gave away the source of their curiosity.

“They are A-plus kids,” Haugo said about the foursome.

After the win, the lights were turned off in Moorhead’s locker room and the staged celebration included a lot of call-and-response segments, including an “Ole!” chant as if it were an international soccer match.

“You guys stayed in the fight,” Kevin told his team when the lights came back on and the players quieted down. “In the freaking fourth quarter you threw the knockout blow. … Let’s keep this freaking steam (engine) rolling, guys.”

Reich seemed just fine as he shouted, “Let’s go!”

Source: Yahoo Sports