Houston’s Football Brothers

Stepbrothers senior Maddox Rodriguez and sophomore Lee Klunder are having a great time playing football together on the Houston High School team this year. Both boys are running backs/fullbacks for the Houston nine-man team. (The team has two running backs in the backfield.)

Maddox and Lee both grew up in Houston and knew each other all along; they both started playing football as soon as they could – as fourth graders in community education. When Maddox’s mom, Carly, and Lee’s dad, Kasey, got married about three years ago, they became stepbrothers. Now they live together in the same house some of the time. Lee spends time at both his mom’s, Leigha Gergen’s house and the Klunder house. 

Lee and Maddox have a lot of mutual interests – they like to come out to the the school football field and throw a football around as well as fish, hunt, golf, lift weights, play video games, follow the Vikings and the Gophers and just hang out together. 

Although they sometimes disagree, it’s usually just about simple stuff according to Lee. They let each other know what they think and just accept the disagreement.

This year is special for them; it’s the first full year they have been able to play football together. Last year, Maddox broke his leg in the LeRoy game, the fourth game of the season. Like a proud big brother, Maddox declared that Lee did a good job taking his place on the team the rest of that year, especially as a freshman on varsity. While he played varsity as a freshman, Lee got a lot of good experience that has helped him this year. During his freshman year, Lee led the state in total yards and rushing yards for freshmen.

This year Lee is again currently leading the state in rushing yards for sophomore running backs. Maddox and Lee are also the leading scorers for their classes – Maddox for the class of 2025 and Lee for the class of 2027 in 9-man football according to MaxPreps stats. 

Between the two boys, as of this writing, Maddox has 127 carries for 923 yards and 10 TDs rushing.  Lee has 64 carries for 391 yards and 9 TDs rushing. The two account for 1,314 of the team’s total 1,749 yards rushing. 

Head Coach Cody Hungerholt commented on the duo, “They are two good football players – they are fast, physical, good natural runners of the football. You can see their relationship when they play. Being older, things come easier to Maddox; Lee busts his butt to get there.”

Houston’s record is 3-3 at this time. Lee quickly pointed out that their division is one of the better in the state. 

All their parents are strong supporters of the boys and Houston football. With a grin, Maddox declared, “Mom (Carly Klunder) is NOT shy about being proud of us!” Carly and Kasey Klunder are at all the games, cheering the boys on. 

Lee’s mom, Leigha Gergen, and her fiancé, Anthony Loken, play a big role in his life and make sure to get him to the places he needs to go.

Maddox’s dad, Steve Rodriguez, comes to the games to cheer the boys on as well! With a personal cheering squad like that, it’s no wonder the boys are having a great time playing football!

When football season is over, both boys intend to lift weights over the winter. In the spring, Lee plans on going out for track while Maddox is contemplating golf.

Future plans for Maddox might involve attending Western Wisconsin Technical College to study to become an electrician or a plumber or conceivably, an apprenticeship in those trades.

Lee dreams of playing college football for the Gophers, but would love to play for any college team. He hopes to study sports science and possibly open an ETS performance training gym. He’d like to specialize in working with athletes in small towns and help younger kids. 

When asked how they felt about playing successfully on the same team, Maddox replied, “It’s fun knowing you have a brother on the team. I didn’t get a chance to play with my older brother because of our age difference. He graduated before I got to high school.”

Lee responded, “It’s a privilege to be his (Maddox’s) shadow and to learn from what he does!”

Continue having fun playing together, Maddox and Lee, and have a great rest of the season!