ADAMS — It had been two years since Southland grad Collin Mueller had put on football pads in a full contact game, but he couldn’t resist the call back to football when he heard from the Med City Freeze over the winter.

Mueller, who graduated from Southland in 2016, was following the team on Facebook when the squad’s head coach Tyler Grapp contacted him and him asked him if he wanted to show up to a few tryout practices. Mueller decided to give it a go and he made the team’s roster for this season as an offensive tackle.

The Freeze have a record of 1-6 overall in their first season as a nine-man team and Mueller is enjoying being back on the gridiron.

“It’s definitely a challenge to get back to playing again, but I was excited to do it,” Mueller said. “I try to train as much as I can. Getting back into it was hard, because there’s always a phase where you’re sore.”

Mueller played some intramural football while attending college in Minnesota State in Mankato over the past two years, but he is now set to transfer to South Central Community College in Mankato, where he is looking to get into the HVAC program. Before he gets stuck into the daily grind of the working world, Mueller is hoping to play some more football. He’s even hoping he can play for the Freeze next season.

“When the season’s over with and school starts again I definitely plan on getting back in the weight room, because I’m hoping to play again next year,” Mueller said. “It gives me something to do. I’m getting in shape and hanging out with more people that enjoy playing football. They’re very motivated to do it. Most of them have families and to schedule around that and be flexible to play is pretty awesome. I know they’re in love with the game and  a lot of them played college football around here. They know what they’re doing.”

Mueller said the Freeze have been a little bit short on the depth chart this season and the team has struggled winning games. But he’s still glad he’s back playing the game he grew up playing in Southland.

“We’re in one of the toughest semi-pro teams in the US or at least the Midwest. We have a lot of tough competition and we’ve played a lot of top teams,” Mueller said. “It’s been pretty fun. Even though we’re not winning as much as we’d like, I don’t really mind. Winning is definitely better, but I just like playing the game.”

LeRoy-Ostrander grad Zach Royston is also a member of the Freeze.

The Freeze will play the Northland Bulls at UW-River Falls 4 p.m. Saturday and they will play the Minneapolis Warriors in Burnsville at 5p.m. on July 21 to close out their season.