Photos by Samantha Davis. Senior Parker Bradley carries in the trophy at the Minneota Vikings welcome home ceremony at the high school Friday evening after they won the Class A state championship at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for the third straight year. Below: The Minneota crowd applauds the team upon walking into the gymnasium. Below: The Minneota football team applauds Ryan Meagher (sitting) for the three records he broke in the championship. Below: Minneota head coach Chad Johnston speaks to the crowd at the welcome home ceremony Friday evening.

MINNEOTA — Pulling into Minneota High School just a short six hours after the No. 1 Minneota football team claimed its third straight Class A state championship title and 10th in program history, the school billboard was already prompted with switching screens of ‘STATE CHAMPS’ and ‘CONGRATS VIKINGS.’

Sirens filled the streets of downtown Minneota as the player’s bus arrived back from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, as they got an escort back into town from local first responders to kick off celebrations for the threepeat.

“When you look back at what this group has accomplished … That’s kind of crazy,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said. “They put themselves in part of an elite group now, and they put themselves in the record books. It’s very impressive, I’m very proud of these kids.”

In the third consecutive state title matchup between Minneota and Springfield, the Vikings claimed a 70-20 win behind three touchdowns in each of the first, second and fourth quarters.

The sidewalks outside the school were crowded with families and supporters, before moving into the gymnasium for a ceremony. The new 2024 state championship plaque joined good company, and sat alongside the 2023, 2022 and 2021 runners-up trophies on a table.

“Being able to come back to a town like this with the community and support we have, it’s pretty great knowing that everyone stands by us,” senior quarterback Brody Larson said. “Not a lot of teams get to experience this, let alone three times. It just feels like a sense of welcomeness and togetherness being able to come back to this.”

Despite the notable accomplishment, this didn’t mark the first time Minneota has won three state titles straight. The Vikings did the same in 1986, ’87 and ’88.

“It’s so surreal. Fortunately, to pull a threepeat off in the ’80s, and I was a high school kid in South Dakota back in that time, so I had nothing to do with that at all, but that type of [repeat] is very impressive,” Johnston said. “We consider ourselves fortunate to be in that position.”

For the seniors, they have played on the championship turf each of their four seasons. For some of them, the 2021 loss to Mayer-Lutheran stayed as a source of motivation during these last three visits.

“I remember going to the finals game freshman year and losing it. So, the next year we wanted it, and obviously the year after that we wanted it,” senior Ryan Meagher said, as supporters continued to congratulate him. “Everybody hopes they make it there … But, to do it three times, with this group especially, is definitely a great accomplishment.”

The reason several people wanted to make it a point to commemorate Meagher was because he broke a handful of records in just 48 minutes of game play to end his high school career.

“Going into this game, Ryan needed 98 yards to break the all-time career rushing record for Minneota … He needed three touchdowns to break the [most points] record,” Johnston said. “He also got the single[-game] touchdown record with the Prep Bowl, which he also tied last year.”

Meagher broke all three records, powered behind six touchdowns and 290 rushing yards.

“It’s a good feeling … I wasn’t thinking about it going into the game,” Meagher said. “I was just focused on winning the football game, and everything took care of itself. The [offensive] line did a really good job.”

Several of the players commented on the full-circle moment, because they grew up dreaming of wanting to play for Minneota by watching the team’s success that came before them.

“If you watched the [2014,’15, ’17] runs they’ve made and all those before us, that motivated us to do that and to be a part of this program. It’s just moving,” senior captain Parker Bradley said. “That was a big motivator for me when I was young.”

Larson also echoed that playing for the Minneota football team comes with a winning atmosphere that players must try to carry on.

“We knew as freshmen the shoes we were going to have to fill. We knew what the program was, and what it took to win,” Larson said. “Our freshman year, we went to state and that really helped us to realize, ‘Hey, this is what we need to do to win, and we want to get back here,’ … These next three years, we were able to figure it out and get back there. So, I think the underclassmen now are in good hands with what they’ve learned.”

Now at the top and leaving with a plethora of titles and trophies, the Vikings’ upperclassmen feel as if they leave the program with a good footprint and a successful foundation for the next generations to come after them.

“You can see it. When we were at our send-off, you could see the little kids and how happy they were,” Bradley said. “They were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the big kids and the football players.’ That’s what I like to do. I want to influence them to play.”

Johnston also feels confident that the winning tradition will continue, if done with a hard work ethic.

“Success breeds success,” Johnston said. “Our biggest job as coaches is to get them to understand this doesn’t come easy. The younger kids are all going to think that hopefully they can play for a championship, but you have to work hard for it … Our goal is to stay as successful as we can be.”

Johnston also completed a milestone with the win. Of the team’s 10 championships, he is responsible for seven of them.

“I’m pretty humbled by that. Obviously for our program and everything else, it is a great feeling,” Johnston said. “Just as much as kids dream of being a state champion team, those coaches dream of taking their teams to the state championship … To say that I’ve been able to do this for seven championships … It takes a lot of hard work out of my coaching staff, the kids, everybody, but it is pretty fortunate to be in this position.”

Through the trophies, the long hours and late nights, some of the players commented that an everlasting memory in the journeys they’ve been on, will be about who they did it all with.

“It’s a lot of brotherhood,” Bradley said. “Honestly, it’s very emotional. I’m just so grateful and blessed to be a part of this. And not only [proud of what] we’ve built, but what previous Minneota teams have built.”