UPDATE: Willmar Cardinals call in help to dry off Hodapp Field

Nov. 5---- Thefootball team called in the big guns to get Hodapp Field ready for Friday night.More appropriately, big blades.Because of heavy rain in the region, therented a helicopter to help dry Hodapp Field between 1:30 and 2 p.m. Thursday.The move is in preparation for top-seeded Willmar to host second-seeded Marshall in the Section 2AAAA football championship game at 7 p.m. Friday. The Cardinals are trying to go to state for the first time since 2018.The booster club reached out to Scott's Helicopter Service out of Le Sueur, in southern Minnesota, to fly over Hodapp Field and facilitate wind to help dry the field, according to a statement from 100 Yard Club President Tony Amon. The plan was coordinated with the school district, the city of Willmar and Willmar Police and Fire departments.The cost of the helicopter is being covered by the booster club. No school district or city money will be used. Amon did not disclose the cost of the helicopter rental.Cardinals football coach Jon Konold reached out to the booster club on Tuesday about hiring a helicopter pilot. That day, Willmar moved its practice to the inflated dome field at St. John's University in Collegeville. Willmar has received 1.7 inches of rain since Monday, according to weatherunderground.com."After seeing all the rain on Monday and Tuesday, I reached out to our booster club president to get their thoughts on it and how they felt about it," Konold said.Willmar previously used a helicopter to dry off Hodapp Field before the regular-season finale in 2013."As you play on it, the water's gonna come up," Konold said of the experience in 2013. "But it dried the surface quite a bit and it firmed it up. We knew we had luck with it. (The helicopter company) has done it on different facilities like golf courses and other football fields."Konold added, "I just feel fortunate that our booster club is willing to try to help the kids on both sides to have a fair playing surface that is safe for the kids to play on. It gets to be so wet and the grass is so thin now this time of year, it sometimes gets to the point where it's not safe for the players to be playing. We want to make sure that each team has an equal opportunity to have a fair match."Section 2AAAA strays from the pack in that the section finals are played at a team site rather than a neutral site. Konold did not want to lose that final home game over the weather."Our boys have played all year to earn this spot and I wasn't going to be involved in any discussion to take that away from them," Konold said. "Our administration 100% supported that and the booster club supported that. I think it's important for our guys and our seniors to play their last game (at Hodapp)."