Bethlehem Academy’s Dillon, Viland sign to play Division II football

Side-by-side, Bethlehem Academy seniors Hudson Dillon and Elliott Viland made every football player’s dream of playing collegiately official when they simultaneously signed their National Letter of Intents to play at the Division II level.

But there’s a chance that the Cardinal teammates could be lining up against each other as opponents in the future as Dillon signed to play as a receiver with Minnesota State University-Mankato Mavericks and Viland signed to play as a defensive back with the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs

“I think the statistics are something like only 3% of high school athletes ever play at the collegiate level at any level,” Bethlehem Academy football head coach Jim Beckmann said during the signing. “Having two guys from this last year’s team go on to play Division II in a very strong [Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference] is pretty exciting for me as a coach to see these guys grow and mature.”

The Cardinal tandem had similar interests in both schools, but had their own reasons for selecting one school over the other as their respective school of choice.

In Dillon’s case, it was having the Mavericks show early interest in him, as well as the feel of the campus and the MSU coaching staff.

It was when the Cardinals had a team camp and 7-on-7 practices at MSU over the summer, where the Mavericks coaching staff noticed Dillon making plays as one of their top receivers. They brought Dillon back for a prospect camp and offered him a scholarship.

Dillon held off on making the initial commitment, but ultimately landed on the Maverick after visiting the campus and taking time to think about it.

“They were kind of the first team that gave me a chance,” Dillon said. “We had team camp there and I kind of balled out there. They reached out to me, invited me to the individual camp and they offered me a scholarship there. I waited awhile to make the decision, then I made the decision and I like it.”

In Viland’s case, it came down to position preference, as well as liking the SMSU coaching staff, the campus and already having some connections on the football team.

Viland preferred to play as a defensive back and the opportunity to play in the secondary worked out with the Mustangs. The Mavericks were in consideration, but the chance to play in the secondary didn’t work out.

He went to visit the SMSU campus during January and with everything else lining up with what he wanted, Viland was committed to the Mustangs.

“I wasn’t quite sure about it before I went and visited,” Viland said. “But I know a couple of guys that go there, I really like the coaches and I like the campus.”

As teammates on the Cardinals, Viland and Dillon helped lead Bethlehem Academy to a 7-3 overall record this fall, which included six regular season wins with the two losses coming by a combined eight points in a 26-20 overtime loss to Fillmore Central and a 42-40 loss to Blooming Prairie.

Viland, Dillon and the No. 2 seeded Cardinals blew out No. 7 Wabasha-Kellogg in the quarterfinals with a 52-14 victory before ending their seasons with a close loss to No. 3 Kenyon-Wanamingo in the semifinals.

Despite their high school football seasons already wrapped up, the Bethlehem Academy duo still have some goals left to achieve before they depart from Faribault.

“A lot of work (went into the signing),” Dillon said. “I probably started out as small, 130 pounds my freshman year and I just built growth throughout the years. I got my chance junior year and kind of shined. I tried to have a good senior year and I think I did.”

Dillon is a starting senior guard on a young BA boys basketball team and recently crossed off his basketball goal of surpassing the 1,000 career point mark. He’ll also be a core part of Faribault’s baseball lineup this spring and is just looking to win as many games as possible with the team as his career comes to a close.

Viland currently holds down the starting spot at 189 pounds for Faribault wrestling, who is getting ready for the upcoming Big 9 Conference and Section 1AAA tournaments. His goal of wrestling inside a packed Xcel Energy Center in the Class AAA state tournament hasn’t changed and as an already returning state qualifier, he’ll look to achieve that in the coming weeks.

Some things remains the same between Viland and Dillon’s signing to play college football and that’s the large amount of work that went into being able to have the chance to play at the next and having a great support system with teammates, coaches and family.

“The coaches, my teammates, everybody, I wouldn’t be nearly where I am without them,” Viland said. “They’ve been the best teammates and coaches I’ve ever had and I really appreciate them.”