If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought I had stumbled into a Blooming Prairie football reunion the other night when the Awesome Blossoms edged out Goodhue 21-20 to win the Section 1A title game after falling short in that game the previous two seasons.

There were plenty of faces in the crowd from players who had graduated from BP over the past couple of years, and every one of them had a smile when they took to the field after the Blossoms won. It was as if they were still part of the team.

Besides former players, BP had many adult supporters as well. The crowd was big, it was loud throughout the night and they never showed the faintest sign of quieting, even when the Blossoms trailed 14-7 at the half.

“This has not just been a dream of the players and the school, this has been a dream of the community,” said BP head coach Chad Gimbel, who showed more emotion after the win than I’ve seen him show in two previous seasons. “They stuck behind us the whole way. If you come to our away games a lot of times we outnumber the opposing team. They love Friday night football.”

The BP crowd will have to make one adjustment this week as they’ll have to contain their excitement Friday night and save it until Saturday afternoon, when the fifth-ranked Blossoms play No. 1 ranked New Ulm Cathedral with a trip to the metrodome on the line at 3 p.m. in RCTC Stadium in Rochester.

I’m expecting a lot of black and white in the crowd, and I fully expect it to be loud.