Peyton Podany started playing football with many of his current Anoka teammates in elementary school. Then he stepped away from football for a couple of years. And he missed the fun.

"After just talking to some of my teammates after those years, it just sounded like they were having so much fun," Podany said. "I decided to go back to it eighth-grade year."

That was in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fall season started without varsity sports, so Anoka varsity head coach Bo Wasurick coached eighth-grade football through four games before a late, shortened preps season began.

Thursday's schedule

Friday's schedule

Extra time for a varsity coach with the Class of 2025 gave the Tornadoes a chance to "jump-start the program," Wasurick said. Those eighth-graders he coached are seniors now.

"We see the program headed in the right direction now," Wasurick said. "I don't think we're a team that's going to sneak up on anybody."

Podany begins his senior season as Anoka's starting quarterback. He'll look to lead the Tornadoes to another winning season following last year's 6-3 record.

He and his teammates suited up on the turf field behind the high school wearing practice jerseys that note the team's theme in recent years: EAT. That is: Effort. Attitude. Trust.

"Those are the things that we try to make sure we're doing all the time," Podany said. "Make sure we're giving 100 percent. And if we do all those things to the best of our abilities, then we're very confident."

A quarterback emerges

Podany also gives his effort, attitude and trust as Anoka's point guard on the basketball team. He doesn't necessarily favor one sport over the other; usually, it's whichever one is in season. But he has a bit of Anoka football success in his blood. His dad, Cory, was a fullback for the Tornadoes when they won the 1994 state championship.

Wasurick has enjoyed watching the younger Podany's growth.

"Peyton was always a basketball-first guy," Wasurick said. "I don't think he saw that football was a real opportunity for him. And then opportunities kind of presented themselves."

Podany was slated to be the backup quarterback his sophomore year but stepped in when Evan Freking was injured in Week 2. Then Podany won the job last season over Freking, a senior. Podany went from being thrown into the role quickly to owning his position as a leader and starting quarterback, Wasurick said.

Podany tossed the credit back to Freking.

"Us competing with each other every day just made each of us so much better," Podany said. "Not only just football players. But just finding ways to compete with each other but still recognize the fact that we're on the same team and we're trying to do what's best for our team to win."

Podany's humble nature doesn't go unnoticed by his coach.

"I think in recruiting, sometimes it hurts him because he's not the arrogant, out there, 'I'm the quarterback, look at me, I'll show you,' " Wasurick said. "But he's as competitive as anybody that I know."

In nine games last season, Podany went 169-for-303 passing for 2,194 yards and 20 touchdowns. His season-high 311 passing yards came in the first-round playoff loss to East Ridge.

The statistics indicate Podany's ability to lead. A teammate and his coach cite other strengths.

Senior wide receiver Trey Borchers: "He can be talkative when you need to be talkative, but he's gained so much respect from everybody that they all follow his direction."

Wasurick: "He doesn't get phased by little things. And then we do have really good playmakers around him."

Friends, teammates

Two of those are senior wide receivers Borchers and Afy Ibekwe. Borchers led the team last year with 40 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns. Ibekwe was right behind him with 37 catches for 549 yards and a team-leading seven touchdown receptions.

All three play both football and basketball. Wasurick said he rarely sees Podany without Ibekwe or Borchers; "they're always together." Wasurick said they're very accountable to each other and don't make it personal when a correction is in order.

"They can have those conversations and work out things," Wasurick said. "On the sideline, it really helps for them to work through issues really quick."

Whether on the football field or basketball court, Borchers and Podany find each other. "I don't know how to explain it," Borchers said.

"We just kind of clicked right away with each other," Borchers said. "We both used to play quarterback, and then I switched to receiver. I'm always in the right spot, and he trusts me to get to there."

Podany and his teammates don't just excel in athletics. Podany has a 4.07 GPA and is taking classes at Anoka-Ramsey Community College through PSEO. He'd like to major in business and has an offer from St. Thomas.

Being smart in the classroom "100 percent" carries over to the football field, especially at quarterback, where a lot is asked of Podany, Wasurick said. Brains abound elsewhere on the team. Borchers is a 4.0 student, and three of the team's defensive leaders carry that GPA as well.

"Across the board, we have really high-level kids," Wasurick said.

Those seniors played through the adversity of a 1-8 sophomore season, part of a rough stretch for Anoka. From 2012 to 2022, only the 2021 team finished with a winning record (6-4), and four of those years were one-win seasons, plus a 0-9 mark in 2017.

Podany credits Wasurick for developing players. Wasurick is in his sixth season leading Anoka's football program, following a dozen years coaching in Texas and three years at Jordan.

"I think that he's a great example for all of us to follow," Podany said. "And it's going to lead to some success this year."

Defining success

Anoka's football program is on the upswing, "definitely," Borchers said. A senior-heavy squad that's worked with Wasurick for more years than usual provides leadership for a run the Tornadoes hope goes deeper than one game into the postseason.

"We're holding each other accountable," Borchers said. "Making sure we're all working hard, competing."

Each year, Wasurick and his staff discuss greatness as a goal for their athletes, "and that's being the best version of yourself that you can be," the coach said. He's coached teams for which greatness meant going .500 and winning a playoff game.

For the 2024 Tornadoes, the talk is about winning all their home games and being the best football team in the Anoka-Hennepin school district, Wasurick said. Focusing on those goals, Wasurick said, should put Anoka in position to get a good seed in the playoffs.

Anoka opens its season Aug. 29 across the river at rival Champlin Park in the Battle for the Paddle. The winner takes home the first victory of the season and an oar traveling trophy.

At the end of the season, the Tornadoes would love to EAT up the experience of playing at U.S. Bank Stadium.

"I think we just need to have an edge to us that we haven't had these last few years," Podany said. "We need to be expecting to win every game. … We've just got to be the big dog. We've got to expect to win and not accept anything less."

Time to EAT.