Shrine Bowl North Team builds trust, camaraderie leading up to Saturday’s game

KEARNEY, NE — Preparing for the Nebraska Shrine Bowl game can be a challenge.

There’s 12 practices across six days. Over that time, 45 players and six coaches on each team need to learn a new playbook and learn about each other. R.J. Bayer from Howells-Dodge says that’s the fun part.

“We all get along pretty well," Bayer said. "We’re all pretty much jokesters so we all joke around during practice but we take it to the highest level we can and we practice as well as we can.”

Wide receiver Adam Van Cleave of Columbus Lakeview says his job is to build a rapport with the North Team quarterbacks… and it’s going well.

“You know, learning routes, learning concepts, building the connection with him, knowing where he’s going to be all the time for quarterbacks, and it’s always a big trust thing,” Van Cleave said.

Many players are also getting a Nebraska geography lesson learning where everyone is from. Kamden Dusatko, Parker Krusemark and Coach David Stoddard are putting the northeast Nebraska town of Stanton on the football map.

“Coming from a community of 1300 people, people are like, ‘where’s Stanton, like where’s that? I’ve never heard of that.’ It’s kind of nice to come out with all the best players in the state of Nebraska, come out and represent, especially with two players and a coach,” Dusatko said.

As far as getting through the busy schedule, Dusatko has a tip for that.

“Learn to take a lot of naps. Take naps as soon as you can," Dusatko said. "But no, hanging out with the guys is great, meeting a lot of new people from all over the state is amazing.”

The North Team will meet the South Team on Saturday at Cope Stadium on UNK’s campus. Van Cleave says the goals for the game are pretty simple.

“Win. That’s always the goal," Van Cleave said. "Have some fun, cherish my last football game ever and do it for the Shriners.”

Kickoff is at 6:00 central time and you can watch on News Channel Nebraska.