Cael Kongshaug has potential to be big-time QB for Cedar Rapids Prairie football team

CEDAR RAPIDS - Love Wins.

That’s what’s tattooed on the inside of his forearm and serves as a credo for Cael Kongshaug’s life. Quite a grown-up sentiment for such a young man.

“There’s a longer story behind it, but my grandfather was a pastor,” the Cedar Rapids Prairie junior said.

Oluf Kongshaug was a native of Denmark who was a child during World War II when the country was occupied by Germany. He came to the United States on an exchange program, where he met his wife, settling in this country and becoming a Presbyterian minister.

He died in 2022.

“Among other things he tried to live his life by was just to love other people,” Cael Kongshaug said. “So I did (the tattoo) for him. It just kind of reflects how I was raised and what I want to be.”

Also what Kongshaug wants to be, and is becoming, is a good starting football quarterback. He is in his first year as a varsity starter and has led Prairie to a 2-0 record and a No. 5 ranking in Class 5A going into the Hawks’ game Friday night at home against Bettendorf.

The kid has the size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds), the arm and the smarts to be a dude. His grade point average is above 4.0.

“His ceiling is really high,” Prairie Coach Kyle Knock said. “He’s like number one in his class academically, so he’s really smart. Probably too smart at times to play the position. Sometimes the thinking comes in instead of just the playing. He’s got the physical ability, he’s got really good weapons ...

“I keep telling him ‘All you’ve got to do is be the point guard. You’ve just got to distribute it.’ Get them the ball and let them go do their stuff. But he knows when he makes a mistake. He’ll come off the field and tell me ‘That’s on me.’ So it’s just the more reps he gets, the better he’s going to be.”

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Kongshaug has completed 26 of 33 passes in two games for 405 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown an interception in each game, which goes back to Knock’s point about his inexperience and tendency to sometimes overthink things.

Just get the ball to your guys. Wide receivers Tae Alexander and Drew Bennis give Prairie speed and big-play ability at receiver, David Fason and Bennett Koch strong and tough targets at tight end.

“Absolutely. That’s kind of my job on a team like this,” Kongshaug said. “We’ve got weapons at receiver, weapons at tight end, weapons at running back, all over the field. And with a great O-line. So if I can continue to get them the ball, I think we can go a long way.”

Despite this being his first real varsity playing time, Kongshaug’s name has been out there as one to watch for awhile. He has made impressions at a variety of 7-on-7 leagues and camps and at college camps.

Kongshaug went to middle school in Cedar Rapids, then reclassified as a repeat eighth-grader at Clear Creek Amana. He went to Iowa City High as a freshman two years ago, then transferred to Prairie last school year.

“I would say after my freshman year, I have always had a couple of friends here: the Schwiegers, La’Marious Clark, who’s now at Ankeny,” Kongshaug said, referring to teammate Max Schwieger and his father, Ty, who is a Prairie assistant coach. “They just kind of told me about the program, kind of about the coaching staff and what they were trying to build here. I knew Coach Blue as well.”

That’d be Prairie defensive coordinator Mo Blue, who joined the program last season after a long stint as assistant and head coach at Cedar Rapids Washington.

“I kind of grew up with a ton of these guys,” Kongshaug said. “So after I heard about the program, I knew I definitely wanted to be a part of that.”

He has won the respect of his teammates, named one of Prairie’s captains this season. Again, that’s despite only being a junior and only throwing five passes last season.

“He is a natural leader,” Knock said. “He has (his teammates’) respect because of how he carries himself on the field, in school and in the weight room. He has gotten some Ivy League looks already, with Yale showing interest.

“I believe he can play at least at the Group of Five level and/or FCS.”

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