Receivers Cole Grupenhoff, Tate Bless both catching on for Bloomington North

Bloomington North’s new leading senior wide receivers are no strangers to a varsity lineup.

Heck, in Tate Bless’ case, it seems like he’s been on the Cougar sidelines since he could walk, spending Friday nights in the fall with his dad during a big chunk of Scott’s tenure as head coach. As a sophomore, Tate picked up long snapping, which brought him some early playing time.

“Yeah, it feels weird,” he said. “I’ve been here 17 years and it feels like I’ve been around North so long I was not really a freshman when I got here, I was a nine-year veteran.”

Cole Grupenhoff broke into the starting lineup for the North baseball team as a starting pitcher and outfielder as a freshman. As a sophomore, Grupenhoff started making his mark on the football field, too, with a tendency even then to make big plays with his speed, whether at receiver on special teams as a dangerous return man.

So playing under the lights is old hat, be it a helmet or fitted cap.

“I still get a little nervous because (football is) a different animal,” Grupenhoff said. “Because you can get laid out on occasion. Especially with punt return. I’ve never done that before. It’s kind of like catching a fly ball, almost, so it kind of feels natural to do that.

“After I did kick returns last season, it’s become one of my favorite things to do on the field now.”

Multi-sport athletes

Grupenhoff did not have a chance to pitch last high school season but the lefty sees his future on the mound and he had a strong showing this summer. He’s been a mainstay in the Cougar outfield along with classmates Drew Ogden and Graham Freund since they were freshmen.

“I can’t say like one (sport) more than the other, but I just know that my future more likely lies in baseball,” Grupenhoff said. “Just because of the pitching aspect of things.”

Bless, by his own admission, was a bit too skinny and slow for varsity football as a freshman. So he picked up lacrosse. He improved enough with the Cougars’ club team to get an invite to play with a travel squad over the summer.

“It helped a lot,” Bless said. “I’m significantly faster, which has helped me as a receiver. Lateral quickness and explosiveness and overall speed.”

Older brother Charlie was also a strong influence. The former Cougar was a linebacker and is now a senior playing at Butler.

"With my brother, he’s always been a great motivation,” Bless said. “He’s always pushed me way harder than anyone else. Because he knows he was skinny when he started and ended up getting big, so he’s always trying to make sure I’m working hard in the off-season.”

Multi-tasking

Bless stumbled into long-snapping after he was asked to do it during spring workouts his sophomore year.

“Dad said I was good at it,” Bless said. So he started rotating with Josh Hanna and took over full-time last year, snapping for extra points and punts, which require slightly different techniques and Bless has put in the time to perfect both.

“It got me on the field,” Bless said. “And it’s fun to just run down and make tackles. I would suggest it to any kid as a way to play varsity.”

Special teams were a big part of Grupenhoff’s game last year as he shared return duties with senior Jarno Hicks. It’s not exactly like camping under a high fly ball in center field but close enough to make it a perfect fit for his skill set.

“It’s definitely more difficult,” Grupenhoff said. “Especially compared to catching a reception from (quarterback) Dash (King). He’s trying to put it on the money. So you’ve got to adjust, especially on punts, they spin more awkwardly than kickoffs. It’s just a lot harder to catch, and you have dudes coming at you so you need to know if you need to fair catch it or not.”

Similar to a quarterback who throws a pick, there’s nowhere to hide after a bad snap or a muffed punt.

“Luckily, I had one bad snap last year and it was over Graham’s head,” Bless said. “But he ended up taking it 65 yards to the end zone. So I have faith in Graham. He’s an insane athlete.”

Off at the snap

Their roles as receivers are elevated this year with Hicks having graduated after a phenomenal senior season (72-869, 8 TDs). Tight end Aidan Steinfeldt and fellow senior Jack Leonard, who is also a pitcher for North, along with sophomore Jorian Brooks are now the main targets for returning junior quarterback Dash King, who completed 201 passes for 2,329 yards last season.

“Those are some crazy stats he put up,” said Bless, who caught 10 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns last year. “He’s 10 times better than last year.

“I think now that Jarno is gone, I’ve been getting a little more targets. Since I’ve been playing for three years, I’ve used the other guys who were here as inspirations to model myself after them. But it’s not too big a difference for me. It still feels the same.”

Grupenhoff caught 34 passes for 480 yards and six scores in 2023. He had a huge catch at the end of last Friday’s win over Mooresville as the Cougars looked to run the clock out on the 34-29 shootout. It’s just part of the chemistry they’ve developed. King makes them look good and their job is to return the favor.

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“I can see it even with Dorian,” Grupenhoff said. “It’s his first year playing with Dash. Over the summer they really found the time to get on the same page. Today (King) was just dropping dots into the bread basket.

“Tate’s touchdown the other night was just a perfect ball. Then, the last play of the game he just put it where it needed to be down below so I wouldn’t get hit by a safety. He’s really developed. Watching the film from last Mooresville game to this season, the difference is crazy.”

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Cole Grupenhoff, Tate Bless catching on for Bloomington North