Quantcast
skip navigation

Bollinger wins coaching debut

By Amelia Rayno, Star Tribune, 09/02/11, 11:18AM CDT

Share

Sophomore Dusty Krueger made his coach look smart by forcing his way onto the field

Looking back to football tryouts, new Hill-Murray coach Brooks Bollinger remembers sophomore Dusty Krueger as the kid that wouldn’t go away.

Fresh off the freshman team, the running back wasn’t quite at the top of the list for opportunities and Bollinger values the JV learning experience.

But after several days, Bollinger couldn’t say no anymore.
“It got to the point where he kept showing up and kept showing up and finally we said, 'Hey, we gotta move this kid and get him on the field,’ ” the former Vikings quarterback said Friday after he won his coaching debut with a 42-14 victory over St. Paul Johnson.

They did, and Johnson probably had the same first impression of Krueger: this kid won’t go away. The sophomore was clutch in his first varsity performance, scoring two touchdowns, picking up a fumble and a blocked punt and helping push the Pioneers to a rout of the Governors.

“I had butterflies to start out, but I got some lucky ones that popped in my hands,” Krueger said.

Junior running back Sam Becker added three touchdowns in the first half for Hill-Murray. On Johnson’s first drive, the Governors lost 8 yards — and then they went interception, fumble, interception and blocked punt on ensuing four possessions.

Krueger snagged the fumble and recovered the blocked punt — he ran it in to the end zone, but the touchdown was called back after Hill-Murray was flagged for an illegal block. On the next blocked punt, in the next quarter, he got another shot, returning the ball 17 yards for the score. As the clock ran down, he iced the game with a TD run.

“He’s a sophomore and he’s a stud,” Bollinger said. “He just has that instinct, that knack for the ball, whether he’s on defense, he has a nose for the ball and special teams. And he’s just one of those guys you want out there.”
 

Becker first finds the bug again, then the end zone

After his freshman year, he was done with it.

"I was just sick of football," Hill-Murry junior Sam Becker said.

So he took a year off to concentrate on lacrosse and hockey.

But even though he'd turned away from it, Becker couldn't keep football out. Over the fall, he watched the NFL and found it hard not to get caught up. He started following the NBC show Friday Night Lights. The desire was creeping back.

When Hill-Murray announced they had hired former Vikings quarterback Brooks Bollinger, that was the final straw.

"That definitely influenced me," he said, grinning. "I don't know ... I just got the bug back. And I'm really glad I did."

So too, is Bollinger, who watched his new star running back take control of the offense and score three touchdowns while racking up 146 yards.

He’s definitely a talented kid with some speed," said Bollinger, who pinpointed Becker as a definite asset after a strong scrimmage performance. "I think between him and Dusty [Krueger] and Issac [Onsomu] – that’s three really good tailbacks. It’s a luxury."

A second chance is a luxury for Becker, who couldn't stop grinning as he ran into the the end zone over and over.

"It's an unreal feeling," he said. "I love it."

So ... we can expect him to stick around for a little while, then?

"Yes," he grinned. "I'm definitely not going to hang it up." 

 

Related Stories