Mason Palmer (2) carries the state championship trophy. (Photo by Cameron Carlson)
FARGO — Even the Firebirds themselves didn’t expect this type of run.
“It’s so surreal,” Devils Lake wide receiver Max Palmer said. “I mean, I cannot believe it. If you had told me at the start of the year we were gonna win the whole dang thing, I would have called you crazy. But I’m so happy.”
The Firebirds had been in the Dakota Bowl four times before this Friday. The first two were in 1989 and 2007. The most recent appearances were in 2009 and 2010, when they lost 31-30 and 24-21, respectively. Then, from 2012 through 2023, they only recorded one winning season.
Now, they’ve added a football plaque to the handful of basketball championships in school history.
“It means the world. I played them back in 1989; I don’t know if a lot of people know it or not,” Devils Lake fifth-year head coach Todd Lambrecht said. “We’ve had our other opportunities. It kind of fell short a little bit here and there. We’ve got an amazing bunch of guys. And I’m proud for our guys, I’m happy for our guys. They worked hard. And I’m extremely pleased for our community.”
This year’s Firebirds team, as quarterback Mason Palmer recalled, was predicted to go 1-7. And they didn’t exactly make the strongest first impression on their doubters. They lost 42-12 to Kindred in the season opener.
Funny enough, their two losses in the regular season came against the teams they ended up beating in the biggest games of the playoffs.
“After that Kindred game early, it really lit a spark under us,” Mason said. “And we just kept firing away and kept beating teams.”
Last year’s campaign was sort of the first act for this group of seniors as upperclassmen. It was a 5-5 season filled with ups, downs and injuries. They beat No. 2 Jamestown one week, then lost to unranked Wahpeton two weeks later.
After a first-round playoff loss to Minot North, Devils Lake still hadn’t gotten fully over the hump of becoming a state title contender.
“We knew we had some dogs on our team,” Mason said. “We’ve been playing together since we were young. In our junior high, I think we went undefeated from like seventh to freshman year. So we knew we had some talent there.”
The first turning point was a win over then-No. 3 Central Cass. That turned into a five-game winning streak — the longest such streak for the Firebirds since 2010.
They took care of business against Wahpeton, Fargo South, Jamestown and Bismarck St. Mary’s.
“We all meshed together so well,” wide receiver Will Heilman said. “Everyone works hard, and we look forward to coming to practice every day and getting better and making each other better.”
They lost to Minot North, like everyone else did, to end their winning streak. Even still, they made a near-comeback in the fourth quarter and lost by the smallest margin among any of Minot North’s opponents.
The biggest and most recent turning point, Max Palmer said, was beating Grand Forks Central 42-7 in the first round of the playoffs. It was then that he knew Devils Lake had a shot to win it all.
Added Heilman: “We were doubted, but we knew that we could do it if we all worked together.”
The Firebirds won the state championship by doing what would have been unthinkable for any team just a few weeks ago. They beat Kindred and Minot North in consecutive games. Those were the only undefeated teams in Division AA throughout the regular season, ranked No. 1 and 2 in the polls every week.
“It’s awesome. It’s unreal to think that we just [won],” Heilman said, moments after grabbing his champion plaque. “It’s a great group of guys, and they’re the people I want to do it with the most.”
Friday’s game got a little hairy towards the end. But a strong start fueled the Firebirds to their fate.
“When that buzzer went off,” Mason said, “it was just like, ‘Is this really happening?’”
As the Firebirds celebrated, they consistently cited their roots in getting them to this point.
It was all about the connections they formed growing up with the game of football.
“The brotherhood,” Max said. “We’re all best friends. We are all friends. No one’s an outsider in our group. We all love each other, and we play for each other. That’s a big thing.”
For the better part of a decade, Devils Lake didn’t have a ton of success in football. Until Friday afternoon, the program had never won a state championship. The Firebirds had never accomplished their ultimate goal on the gridiron.
Now the whole town just watched its players make history.
It gives an undeniable motive for people to be invested in Devils Lake football.
“It’s always a great thing for a program,” Lambrecht said. “I love it when kids come out and play football. I think football is one of the greatest team sports ever. You’ve got 11 guys on one side. They all have to do their jobs. And if a couple don’t do their jobs, bad things can happen.”
There were tons of hometown kids, all the way down to the younger levels, watching the championship game, whether in the Fargodome after school was canceled or at home on TV.
The 2025 Firebirds gave them something tangible to aspire to — and perhaps repeat someday.
“I love the fact that kids play football,” Lambrecht said. “I love it when I drive down the street, and I see kids playing football in the backyard or over on the practice field at the sports complex, playing football. I love to see it.”
