Renville Football Team Aims For State With Heavy Hearts
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Renville County West football team is having a season to remember. They are now just one win away from going to the state tournament.
"It's a great way to feel. We're right there. One win away," senior Brady Holwerda said.
It is pretty amazing considering that just two years ago, the Jaguars won just a single game. And a couple years before that, they had to forfeit half the season because they did not have enough players.
"We were pretty close to dissolving as a program, or at least playing a JV schedule," Head Coach Ryan Hebrink said.
But Hebrink watched his core of struggling seventh graders grow into the standout seniors they are today. Among that group of rising starts was Brandon Limones.
"No matter what the score was he was always smiling," senior Colin Thompson said. "Good or bad, he'd tell you 'good job.'"
Limones' father brought him from Mexico to Renville so he could have a better life. He came here knowing almost no English, but that did not stop him from making friends.
"Brought him home from practice every day, had an instant connection with him in eighth grade," Holwerda said.
He says Limones was not just a good friend; he was also a good teammate. After last season, Limones wrote down his goal for next year was to "go to state." It is a dream that his teammates will have to achieve without him.
Limones died suddenly from an undetected heart condition in March.
"My heart just dropped. Right away I felt it," Holwerda said. "Still doesn't seem like he's gone."
That is because, in many ways, he is still with them. The Jaguars dedicated their season to Limones, putting his initials and uniform number on their helmets.
The team has also brought Limones' No. 11 jersey to every game they have played this year. It has been right there on the sidelines. And you can bet that if they win their section final game on Saturday, Limones' jersey will also make a trip to state.
And that is what his teammates want; capping off a dream season by making Limones' dream come true.
"We feel it. We know he's with us," Holwerda said. "He's with us every day at practice. Every game, he's there."
Renville County West is 8 and 2 this year and will play Cleveland for a chance to advance to the nine-man state tournament on Saturday.
The team says they will likely have three busloads of fans making the trip to Cleveland.
RCW fans have been using "#TakeBrandonToState" on social media in Limones' honor.
