New turf fields are cropping up at high schools across the Northland. For Moose Lake/Willow River, their pride grows in every blade of grass at their home stadium. One manicured by groundskeeper Daryl Herzog.

“It’s not just me, it’s a family affair. I got an 80-year-old sister that comes out and helps, two brothers, nephews, daughters, granddaughters,” Daryl Herzog explained. “There’s a lot of pride there, a lot of history.”

Maintaining the grass utopia really does take a village, requiring almost three clippings a week.

“Not just cutting the grass. Last year we had to water it by pulling garden hoses around. This year we got the irrigation system in. Putting on the stripes, up until last year, we were going through 80 cans of spray paint to paint the field once. That’s whenever there’s a varsity game, they required us to paint it,” Herzog said.

When using aerosol it took 12 hours to paint the nearly mile worth of stripes. Then comes the pylon, cones, markers and flag setup.

“Then on game day, we got to open up all the towers for the announcers, for the video people on the other side, open the gates, let the crowd in.”

Groundskeeper may be his title, but Herzog wears many hats on game day: crowd manager, bus escort, and chaos organizer.

“It definitely takes someone who’s dedicated, because again, it’s so many hours that you have to really treat that like one of your family members to keep a field really good. And Daryl has always done that. He treats our field like a family member, and you can just see the love that goes into taking care of that field,” Rebels head coach Dave Louzek said.

Family truly is the root of Herzog’s passion project.

“It goes all the way back to the Willow River Wildcats in the 50s. Brothers played, and most of the people around here, their dads or brothers played there. But I’ve had five kids, all five of them played sports here. Seven brothers played football here.”

The history of Moose Lake and Willow River football also runs deep underneath the long standing stadium.

“A couple years ago we redid the field. We dug up one of the goal posts, and we found a goal post marker that was marked 1920.”

While Daryl Herzog’s name might not announced or displayed Friday nights, his role as groundskeeper is far from a thankless job.

“You would not believe how many coaches, referees, ballplayers take a special trip over to shake the hand that makes the field.”

“He does an amazing job, and we love playing at home,” Louzek added.

“We appreciate you for putting in all the time that you do and make sure everything’s nice. It’s just awesome having him around,” P.J. Frisch said, a senior offensive and defensive lineman for the Rebels.

“You get 65 kids coming out and cheering you on. It’s kind of like you already won the game,” Herzog said.

The Moose Lake/Willow River Rebels sit 3-1 on the season so far, and next visit Hinckley-Finlayson Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m.