Father and son team up to help Two Harbors start strong in football

TWO HARBORS - Spencer Ross knew it was coming.
The Two Harbors junior had just put the ball on the ground in the Agates’ season-opener against Hermantown, and the Hawks used the 27-yard scoop-and-score to claim a 28-13 victory.
He sheepishly exited the field, expecting an earful from his father, Two Harbors assistant coach and athletic director Scott Ross.
“He got on me right when I got to the sidelines,” Spencer said before a sun-drenched practice Thursday.
The scolding didn’t stop there. Agates head coach Tom Nelson, who considers it nothing short of a crime to turn the ball over, had a few choice words, as well.
“We probably took turns on him,” Nelson joked as the Agates prepared for tonight’s key Section 7AAA affair at Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin.
Scott Ross, while maybe more mellow than he was during a 12-year stint as Two Harbors’ fiery girls basketball coach, would have reprimanded whoever the offending fumbler was, kin or not. In that regard, he’s an equal-opportunity critic.
Scott, who previously had served as Nelson’s offensive coordinator before stepping down to focus on his AD responsibilities, returned to the gridiron this fall. He’s been the athletic director for 10 years now, and is better prepared to juggle both roles. When Nelson asked him about coming back to work with the team’s quarterbacks and running backs, it was a no-brainer.
Scott missed the action. Football had been a part of his life as long as he can remember, including a productive prep career at Two Harbors, where he graduated in 1976.
“I didn’t want to come back just to coach my kid,” he said. “I wanted to come back because I missed coaching football.”
But, boy, his kid sure is fun to coach.
Spencer has keyed the Agates’ 4-1 start by accumulating 674 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 94 carries. At about 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, the former lineman isn’t overly intimidating, at least not at first glance. That stands in contrast to the guy Spencer emulated as a youngster - former Two Harbors standout Lucas Kempffer, who grew up across the alley from the Rosses and has been dating Spencer’s older sister, Sydney, for five or six years.
The strapping Kempffer, 6-2 and 200 pounds, rushed for 1,136 yards and 12 TDs as a senior in 2014.
Spencer is on a similar pace.
“He’s strong and he’s put together, but he’s not a real big kid,” Nelson said. “He’s more of a straight-line guy. He’s almost more of a power runner, which if you look at him you wouldn’t think that.”
His dad has spent many mornings opening up Two Harbors’ weight room. He often has company.
“Spencer as an eighth-grader would go, and he hasn’t missed too many days since then,” Scott said.
He’s one of four Agates with more than 200 rushing yards. Senior Ian Johnson has 411, while fellow junior Chad Nordean is at 354. Sophomore Ricky Brenna has totaled 212 yards on just 22 carries. It’s a loaded backfield for a club that has won four straight and figures to be in contention for a section title, along with GNK and Proctor.
Many kids would blanch at the thought of having their dad on the coaching staff. Spencer never objected. He says the two try to avoid talking shop at home. If they do, Spencer is a sponge.
“I try to take as much away as I can from him, just like I would any other coach,” he said.
And, despite the Week 1 post-fumble undressing, Spencer says Scott is equally quick with praise when he does something well. The latter far outstrips the former. He’s topped 100 yards in four straight games, including last week’s 189-yard, three-TD effort in a 27-19 win over Eveleth-Gilbert, ranked fifth in Class AA at the time.
Defensively, he has 27 tackles, including five for loss, and two sacks while alternating between linebacker and nose guard.
Spencer was asked to name the family’s best football player, himself or his dad. He deferred, mainly because he says Scott doesn’t talk much about his “glory days.” The elder Ross missed most of his senior campaign, in 1975, with a hip injury. The ex-running back didn’t hesitate when faced with the same question.
“Oh, he is, no doubt,” Scott said. “You take a look at our weight room in the mornings and see how many kids show up at 6:15. And not just football kids; kids of all sports - boys and girls. All these kids are so much stronger than we were.”
Scott says he tries to treat Spencer like any other player.
Nelson says that’s precisely how it goes.
“Scott doesn’t play favorites with him,” Nelson said. “He gets on him, he supports him, he encourages him, but I think if you came out and watched practice, or you took a game in, you wouldn’t realize that it was a father and son.”