MONTICELLO, Minn. — Head coach Andy Pierskalla has been waiting for this day for a long time.
"Considering we had to take an extra day to get ready, I think we're just ready to see another team at this point," he said.
The head coach of the Monticello Magic football team isn't complaining, though – he's just excited to see his team in action.
"Big kids, small kids, fast kids, slow kids, strong kids, everybody's got a spot," he said. Though this team is different – and also very similar.
"You always get one or two, maybe some cousins," Pierskalla said, laughing. "Never anything like that."
"Sometimes you have to tell them to keep their hands to themselves, just like at home," he added.
14 players – seven sets – are brothers, the highest Pierskalla or any of the players can remember ever seeing.
"It's a good feeling to be out on the field hitting people together," senior Ethan Willmert, standing with his brother Brooks, said.
"It's your brother out there, and that's obviously awesome to have him on the field," William Kuhn said about his brother Ethan. Practices are admittedly a bit better when you have someone to commute with.
"It's been nice, it's been easy to bring both of us to the same practice," Andrew Matuska said, standing next to his brother, Cameron. "So that makes it better."
For many of the pairs, this is just another game for them – after all, they grew up with these guys. Some say they're proud to be there with their family.
"It's awesome, I mean, this kid is my best friend," Brock Holthaus said of his brother Cale. "I got no choice but to be his best friend."
Of course, the parents will tell you how much this means to them.
"It's pretty neat, it's unique," Angie Schlangen, president of the football booster club, with two boys on the team, said. "Watching them work so hard, and then being able to be together on the same team is really, really cool for a mom."
Some teams work all year to become brothers. Others already have a head start.
"Last year I got to hand off his first varsity touchdown, and this year watching him be that full-time two-back, it feels great watching him succeed," Brock Holthaus said.