Oct. 3—GRAND FORKS — In the UND football team’s blowout win over Valparaiso two weeks ago, senior Simon Romfo scored on a 5-yard run behind the block of twin brother Grant Romfo midway through the third quarter at the Alerus Center.
The play sparked a sense of pride for Langdon, N.D., and the surrounding community. The Romfos are natives of Calvin (population 15), which is 30 miles northwest of Langdon in northeast North Dakota.
Even more than small town North Dakota kids finding success at the Division I level, though, the Romfos are reinventing themselves in their final season.
After spending the first four seasons of college at running back, Grant is playing tight end in 2025. In a close game at Montana earlier this season, Grant had a 17-yard catch-and-run down the sideline, stiff-arming a Griz defender to pick up a first down.
After four-plus years at quarterback at UND, Simon recently approached the coaching staff about changing to wide receiver. Simon was UND’s full-time starter at quarterback in 2024. This season, the Fighting Hawks have started sophomore Jerry Kaminski at quarterback.
After UND’s game against Valparaiso, where the Hawks used Simon at both wide receiver and quarterback, first-year head coach Eric Schmidt was asked about the change.
“I love Simon Romfo,” he said before explaining how the change came about and how UND teammates rally around him.
For Langdon natives, they saw this versatile athleticism a long time ago.
Cardinals head high school football coach Josh Krivarchka teaches elementary physical education, so he knew for a long time the Romfo twins would be coming up in his program.
“My first thought of them was those two are going to be good athletes some day,” said Krivarchka, who’s still the head coach of Langdon Area-Munich. “You never know what kids will turn into but they loved sports and competing at a young age.”
Jack Romfo, a UND student, former teammate and cousin to Simon and Grant, thinks the versatile athleticism is due to a love for all sports.
“As long as I’ve known them, they’ve been the best athletes on the field, court or diamond,” said Jack, a three-time all-state player in high school who’s two years younger than Simon and Grant. “I think it comes down to the fact that they loved it. They had tees in the garage in the winter. They were always playing sports and competing. No matter what they were doing. If it was Madden, they really want to win against you. Everything was a competition.”
Carter Tetrault, a UND student, two-time all-state pick and former Langdon teammate of the Romfos, wasn’t shocked to see the success of Simon and Grant at the Division I level.
“They’re the most athletic guys I’ve ever played with or seen,” Tetrault said.
A big reason UND coaches were open to a position change for Simon was his ability to inspire his teammates.
“Just pure leadership,” Tetrault said of the Romfos. “They showed up every day and motivated everybody, even the guys on the bench. Everyone rallied around them.”
Krivarchka recalls it’s not the first time Grant has played tight end and Simon has been at wide receiver. Those were their positions when they started for the Cardinals as freshmen in high school, a year in which Langdon lost to Hillsboro in the state championship.
At times, Krivarchka had to be creative in the ways he freed up space for Grant and Simon on offense.
“We put (Grant) in all kinds of different spots,” Krivarchka said. “He’d go in the backfield, split out to get him singled up or put him in motion. He was a special athlete, and we wanted to get him the football.
“Simon transformed our offense even to what it is today. His ability to move at our level … that’s how we want to replicate our offense today. We want a quarterback who can move. He was the first one who showed us that element.”
Whether it was former coach Bubba Schweigert or Schmidt — both North Dakota natives — coaches often credit a small-town toughness to the Romfo success.
“The minor nicks and bruises never bugged them,” Krivarchka said. “When Grant was in seventh grade and on our varsity baseball team, he came up and asked if he could have his ankle taped because it kind of bugged him. He took off his sock and it was black and blue from the bottom to the top. He never complained. That was toughness. A sprained ankle wasn’t going to stop them and that was just practice. You never hear them complain.”
The last two summers, the Romfos have returned to Langdon to put on a youth football camp.
“It was a little last-minute and they got 70 kids out there,” Krivarchka said. “Kids look up to them and think it’s pretty neat they’re there. They want their autograph.”
Jack remembers one of Simon’s first plays at Iowa State and thinking how the Langdon boys could get it done at the DI level.
“He looks quick and then gets hit hard by a big Iowa State player,” Jack said. “He gets right back up. That was the first college play I’d seen, and I remember feeling ‘Holy cow, he’s really made it and doesn’t look fazed.'”
Grant credits his Langdon upbringing for the Romfo brothers’ ability to adapt to new positions and situations in 2025.
“Just being a small-town kid, you play every position growing up,” Grant said. “Krivarchka did a good job having me play wide receiver, running back, tight end in high school. I was comfortable doing different things at the next level. He was creative. I’d play wildcat quarterback and throw Simon a bubble.”
It was a combination that led to a 49-1 record in high school. Those connected to those prep teams take pride in seeing that success parlay to the Fighting Hawks, especially the moment against Valparaiso.
“We had a bunch of people from back home at that game, so they thought that was exciting,” Grant said.
Who: No. 15 UND at Northern Iowa.
When: 4 p.m., Saturday.
Where: Cedar Falls, Iowa, UNI-Dome.
Stream: ESPN-Plus.
Radio: 96.1 FM
