HAYFIELD – Will the last person to leave Hayfield tonight please turn out the lights?.

Friday, March 23, 2001

HAYFIELD – Will the last person to leave Hayfield tonight please turn out the lights?

This entire community has a serious case of Vikings mania.

The Hayfield High School boys basketball team is in the state Class AA tournament.

Tipoff is 9 tonight at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul when the Vikings (22-5) take on Glencoe-Silver Lake (24-3).

On Saturday, they play in the championship game … wait a minute. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. First things first for coach Chris Pack and the Vikings.

Hoops hysteria has gripped the Dodge County community. There’s a banner along Highway 30 leading into the community, every storefront is decorated with fans’ best wishes and the Hayfield Herald’s weekly edition has become an instant classic. Fans are buying copies of the edition for keepsakes.

Walter "Grant" Nelson remembers a time 33 years ago when the last Hayfield High team went to the state tournament.

"It was a great time back then," Nelson said, "but these boys are the best. They’re good because they work together and they’re so unselfish."

Nelson is the "official" Vikings bus driver and he was behind the wheel Thursday afternoon when the Hayfield Volunteer Fire Department escorted the team on its way to St. Paul.

That came after a send-off stopped everything at Hayfield Public Schools.

With Superintendent Larry Shay leading the parade, the players and their coach walked through the cafeteria, elementary school and high school. They were greeted with high fives, pats on the back, hugs and every other form of atta-boys wherever they went.

The team showed it cares for one of its own and each member autographed a souvenir Vikings’ T-shirt for Mike Johnson, a 1999 graduate who is suffering from cancer.

Then, satisfied that all the coolers of soft drinks were safely stowed in the bus along with their other gear, the players, all wearing the official Minnesota League state tournament T-shirts, boarded the bus en route to their hoop dreams.

Every move the players made was being recorded on camera by Peter Evans, who could be called the official team photographer.

Evans, a sophomore, had help from Todd Kiefer, the Hayfield Elementary School principal.

"It’s amazing what something like this can do for a school and a whole community," Kiefer said. "I don’t know if these players realize it or not, but they’re heroes to the elementary school kids. They idolize them."

But, who doesn’t idolize Jon Severson, Korey Holtan, Aaron Tempel and the rest of the Vikings team?

Everybody, it seems.

More than 2,000 fans attended last Tuesday night’s amazing state quarterfinals victory over heavily favored DeLa Salle.

There will be at least that many in St. Paul tonight, according to Shay, who praised the community’s support of the team.

Official Vikings T-shirts were hot-sellers in the administrative offices. Nobody in their right mind will be wearing anything but the blue and gold colors.

Aaron Godbout will be there. The senior is the Vikings’ official mascot. He’ll be wearing the helmet and bearskin costume he has throughout the season.

A football and track athlete himself, Godbout said, "It’s hot inside this costume, but I love it."

Kristen Tufte, a cheerleader, was the mascot last season, but says of Godbout, "He’s very good."

So, what does a cheerleader and a mascot think of the Vikings’ chances at victory tonight?

"I can absolutely assure you the Vikings are going to win," Tufte said, punctuating her excitement with a shriek of joy.

As for Victor E. Viking: "They’re a bunch of great guys. The whole year has been so exciting and we don’t want it to end now."

"If you would have told me this would have happened when the season started, I could never have imagined it," the mascot said.

Call Lee Bonorden at 434-2232 or e-mail him at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.