GRAND FORKS — What began on the youth football fields of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, has made its way to the turf in Grand Forks.

Quarterback Jerry Kaminski, now QB1 for the University of North Dakota, played a key role in bringing safety Sam Ostrenga to the Fighting Hawks thanks to a connection that stretches far beyond the huddle.

“We grew up together, so he knows a lot about me. I know a lot about him,” Kaminski said.

Kaminski and Ostrenga have been side by side since they were just five years old, lining up together in flag football and squaring off in neighborhood tackle football games. Kaminski’s house sat just two doors away from the Ostrenga family, and it didn’t take long for the trio of Jerry, Sam, and Sam’s older brother Addison to connect.

“All of us and the other kids in neigh

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