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On the North Branch football field Zack Sundly nearly had it all.

He was the starting quarterback and a captain of the team. He broke records on what seemed like a weekly basis.

But one thing that eluded the Harris native his whole high school career were the abundant wins. His junior season, the team went 1-8. In his senior season in 2012, despite Sundly rushing for nearly 2,000 yards, the team still went 4-6 and were bounced early in sections.

During his three years at North Branch High School, the Vikings went 8-20.

“The losing never really took a toll on me. I loved going out there on the field with the guys,” Sundly said of his high school experience. “Regardless of winning or losing, I just loved doing it.”

When Sundly departed North Branch as the second leading rusher in school history, he went to St. John’s University with little expectation. His specialty as a quarterback was running, so he most likely knew a positional switch was in the cards.

But, St. John’s had a deep stable of running backs so defense was also a possibility. Whatever it was that the coaches wanted, would be what Sundly was willing to do.

St. John’s rose to national fame under Head Coach John Gagliardi, who holds the record for most college coaching victories.

But, in Gagliardi’s last years, St. John’s went from a national powerhouse, a team that had never lost more than three games in 12 years and had nine MIAC championships in that span, to a middle-of-the-conference-pack team.

In 2010, the Johnnies went 7-3. In 2011, they were 6-4. Things got worse in 2012, as St. John’s went 5-5, including 3-5 in the MIAC, their first losing season in the conference since 1967. That was Gagliardi’s last season, which paved the way for SJU alum Gary Fasching to take over.  That tough season never fazed Sundly. “I wasn’t looking at wins and losses in a college,” he said. “I talked with my principal [SJU alum Coleman McDonough], who told me St. John’s was some of the best years of his life. I loved the campus on my visit and I never looked back.”

When Sundly got to the program, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

At North Branch, he was the fastest and strongest guy. At St. John’s he was just another name on a crowded depth chart.

“My definition of ‘big’ changed,” he said, noting that lineman he thought were big in high school had nothing on the speed and size of the lineman on St. John’s.

But, that’s when he started to put in the extra work. He started to work out as much as he could at SJU. Since he didn’t know the playbooks right away, he sharpened his mental game along with the physical part.

In his freshman year, he made it clear to the coaches he was willing to do anything to get on the field. He didn’t mind if it was special teams. And sure enough, he was  part of the punt team, the kick return and the kickoff teams.

The Johnnies went 7-3 while Sundly played a bit part.

This year, however, after some transfers and injuries, Sundly said the coaches gave him a shot to start the season opener at fullback as the lead blocker for running back Sam Sura. “I haven’t let them take me off the field since,” he said with a smile.

On the season, Sundly has only 18 rushes for 79 yards, but he is SJU’s third-leading receiver with 16 catches for 186 yards. He’s tied for the team lead with three touchdown catches. When asked where those hands came from, he said, “Yea, who knew I had these when I was only playing quarterback?”
Still the receiving game isn’t his biggest contribution to the 8-1 Johnnies.

As a fullback, he’s teamed up with the offensive line to clear wide swaths of room for Sura, who leads Division III with 1,469 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Despite being teammates, the two have developed a friendly rivalry in their time at SJU. Sura is a South St. Paul alumni and his Packers have ended North Branch’s season two years in a row. “We know when we are playing each other. He usually razzes me since South St. Paul has been ranked higher each time, but we like to jaw back and forth about it,” Sundly said. “I always talk my boys up a bit.”

Sundly gained another former rival as a friend this season, also. Former Chisago Lakes quarterback Mitch Berg arrived at SJU as a freshman this year and his locker is right next to Sundly’s.  Although the two never played against each other on the field -- North Branch and Chisago Lakes didn’t play Sundly’s senior season, and Berg was a back up quarterback when the two squads played in Sundly’s junior year -- the county rivalry still runs deep with them.

“He’s a great guy. We’re able to talk a lot and ask questions about each others programs,” Sundly said. “We’ve gotten along really well, except for the week North Branch played Chisago Lakes.”

Sundly keeps tabs on how North Branch fares in the high school season, and the Vikings have finished with identical 3-6 records the past two years. Although the team still hasn’t found success in the win-loss column, Sundly had some words of advice for the kids throughout the program. “Guys just have to keep at it. When a group of guys starts working together and believing in each other and the system and trusting each other, good things can happen,” he said. “You really get out what you put in to this sport.”

St. John’s closes the regular season this week at St. Olaf’s (who is 1-8 on the year, 1-6 in the MIAC) in Northfield on Saturday at 1 p.m. A win for the 8-1 Johnnies would clinch the MIAC championship and a top 10 national ranking going into the playoffs.

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