Success in the North Border football program came down to taking things personally.
Jeff Carpenter was concerned a season ago that his program was slipping into mediocrity. After going 1-8 in the 2009 season, North Border opened 2010 by losing four straight games.
But the turnaround was sudden. North Border went 7-1 to close last season, finishing with a 7-5 mark. This season the Eagles are off to a 7-1 start, the lone loss a narrow 20-14 margin to unbeaten Cavalier. North Border has clinched a second consecutive berth in the North Dakota 9-man state playoffs.
At the start of last season, "I think everybody was looking at each other and wondering what we had to do to get a win," running back-linebacker Garret Fraser said. "The coaches could only tell us so much; they couldn't go out on the field and do things for us. Finally, Mr. Carpenter told us to buy in or buy out to the program.
"After that, practices got a lot more intense. We started riding each other -- make the plays now in practice so we wouldn't be messing things up on Friday nights. We knew losing wasn't a good feeling. We all got sick of it. And when we finally started winning, we wanted to work harder."
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Losing is an attitude, Fraser said. So is winning. Carpenter had to find a way to develop the latter. He saw ability last season in a roster dominated by non-seniors. Practices didn't change from when the team was going 1-12. Neither did offensive and defensive game plans.
But intangibles did change.
"This is the least I've ever had to deal with a team as far as leadership," said Carpenter, who is in his 28th season as a head high school football coach. "Last year, these kids figured it out. Their season would only be as good as they made it.
"Kids like Garret, Alek (Berg) and Brett (Schurman), those are great leaders. They've set an example to a point where other kids feel like they have to follow."
Grinding it out
Carpenter has been flexible and willing to adapt his team's style to the personnel.
For several seasons, the Eagles relied heavily on the passing game. Year in and year out, quarterbacks like Brock Setness, Tanner Carpenter and Richard Dalzell were throwing for more than 1,000 yards.
Now, however, the Eagles run a double wing and grind out yardage.
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"We're pretty basic," Fraser said. "Everybody knows what we're going to do. We like to run it at people. We're not real big. But if our linemen can give us a little gap, we feel we can explode through it."
The offense has balance. Through the first seven games, Berg paces the rushing game with 514 yards, followed by Fraser (418), Beau Brown (382) and quarterback Tyler Stockton (333). Stockton has completed 20 of 50 passes for 606 yards.
"Running is a better fit for us," Carpenter said. "Garret, Beau and Alek are all effective runners. They can hit teams with both speed and power. And our running game helps our passing game.
"Tyler is an efficient passer. Next year, we could change our style again. We lose our backs, but we'll have our quarterback and our receivers all coming back."
In the meantime, the Eagles are appreciating winning.
"I don't think I pictured a turnaround this great," Fraser said. "It's not something you look for. We were just hoping for a win here or there. You can't imagine this kind of turnaround.
"You have to pinch yourself sometimes to believe it's really happened."
