Aug. 20—STEELE, N.D. — Grady Larson's football career started like any other kid's.
"I started by playing catch in the backyard with my dad and watching Vikings and NDSU games. Then later (when I was five) I started playing flag football and tackle in Bismarck," Larson said.
Larson is entering his third year starting for Kidder County This fall will be his fourth year on the varsity roster.
Larson had multiple touchdown passes and ended up tying the school record for the most interceptions in a game on defense in his first official start at quarterback.
In just the 2025 season, Larson broke the Kidder County school record for the most interceptions in a career. He intercepted the ball 11 times last fall.
"It was an amazing experience being able to set multiple schools' records," Larson said. "In order to accomplish it, it required lots of hard work and dedication in the offseason (like) going to lifts and open fields (and) being a smart player."
Larson will be returning as the Wolves' starting quarterback and cornerback.
"Grady last year did a really good job of being the distributor of the football on offense," Kidder County head coach Connor Hill said. "This year, he'll have to take on more of that leading role where he's going to have to produce a lot of that offensive yardage himself. If he can do that, we'll be able to compete with some of those teams who like to throw the ball a little bit."
Larson and the Wolves began practices on Aug. 6. The team's first game is scheduled for Aug. 22 against Hettinger County in Mandan.
"Right now, we are just meeting once a week to run through some plays and run some routes," Hill said. "We went to Valley City's team camp at the beginning of June, and that went really well. We had some guys step up for us because we have to replace quite a few guys from last year."
Kidder County is looking to welcome back between 23 and 27 guys this season. The team lost seven seniors to graduation.
"We definitely lost many key players, but it'll be a great challenge for us," Larson said. "We're very young and will experience growing pains, but we'll definitely do our best to shock other teams and fans."
The Wolves recorded an 8-3 record last season. The team lost 56-6 to 9-man state runners-up LaMoure/Litchville-Marion in the state quarterfinals.
"We've got some confidence after last season, but our guys are aware that we lost our best defensive leader and leading tackler," Hill said. "Two others made up about 60% of our offensive yardage, and they both graduated. But they have realistic expectations. It's not going to be as easy this year. It is going to take a lot of extra work, and a lot of the guys are seeing that and taking that to heart."
Larson said he thinks some of the Wolves' strengths will be the size on the line, a decent passing game and an offense that will be challenging for other teams to figure out.
Some areas of improvement could be the overall speed of the athletes.
"We are not as fast or athletic (as last year), so we will have to find different ways to score," Larson said. "We will also just have to learn football more as we have many underclassmen that will be playing.
"I am very excited," he said. "I know it'll be an interesting but fun season. They'll be many people doubting us because we lost a lot from last season, but we'll be ready for any team that we'll face."
The Wolves will need to be ready based on the talent returning to the region.
"Linton is always kind of the favorite from our region," Hill said. "They are always fighting for that top spot. Napoleon didn't lose a whole lot to graduation and they've got a lot of good players coming back. Grant County is kind of like Linton, always fighting for a top spot."
Whether the team nabs a top spot or it proves to be a growing year, Hill's expectations are the same.
"They have to show up and commit to getting better and competing," Hill said. "They can teach me a little bit more patience. Last year's group was really quick to pick up on some of the concepts that we run offensively and defensively.
"This group, being all new starters, it is going to take some time to get to the point we were at last year where we can run some of the more technical plays on offense and defense," he said. "I am looking forward to seeing some of the growth. I am hoping those younger guys grow and become better football players. I also want to be successful for those older guys who have put in four years into the program, it would be really special for them to have a successful season like we did last year."
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