MANHATTAN — Hoisington High School Principal Meg Wilson and her husband Chuck lead a double life from their Great Bend home.
During the week, Meg is a team leader at Hoisington High, keeping track of every teacher and student at Hoisington. Chuck spends time commuting to Smith Center and Pratt for his banking work for The Peoples Bank.
But on the weekends, the Wilsons travel together to watch every Kansas State football game along with their daughter Jenna Wilson.
Braden Wilson, their son, is the starting fullback and lead blocker for Kansas State’s running game. The Wilsons’ journey starts in the heat of September with the final chapter written at an unknown bowl destination if all goes well.
Chuck generally takes care of making sure everyone has a ticket and reservations on the road while Meg coordinates extra activities and the pregame tailgate parties.
Kansas State has been the early-season surprise in the Big 12 after upsets over Miami, Fla. and No. 15 Baylor the past two weeks. 
“It’s always fun to go to places like Miami where you’ve never been, but home games are always better,” Meg said. “On the road, you get to see different stadiums. We’ve always been welcomed everywhere we’ve been. It’s always fun to see all that purple on the road. Home games give you the opportunity to see a lot of family and friends. You can get everything set up just like you want to for home games.”
Their special guests for the Baylor game featured Meg’s sister, Andrea Erickson and her husband Ken from Phoenix, Ariz. Ken and Andrea watched Braden play at UCLA in 2009, but they had never attended a football game together at Manhattan. Ken quickly proclaimed Manhattan the tailgate capital of college football.
“There are not a lot of places like Manhattan that have the parking facilities and space like Manhattan does,” he said. “It’s perfect for tailgating.”
Meg said since she’s grown up with football, she’s accustomed to the risk and threat of injury. But like every mom, she breathes a sigh of relief when all the players get through the game healthy.
“You’re always thankful when you get to the end of the game and everyone is OK,” she said. “Every play brings the risk of a game-ending or season-ending injury.”
She said Braden is appreciative for Chris Dawson’s work as K-State’s strength and conditioning coach. The former University of Oklahoma linebacker has worked for Oklahoma, the University of Kansas and the University of Minnesota.
“I know Braden feels like he’s in the best shape of his life,” Meg said. “He gives a lot of credit to coach Dawson.”
Chuck said his football weekends are a welcome relief from busy weeks with his work on securing and working with commercial and individual loans.
Chuck said he watches Braden with a discerning eye, watching his every step. Generally speaking, whatever direction Braden goes, the ball carrier is close behind. On Saturday, Braden’s block at the point of attack sprung Angelo Pease for a touchdown from the Wildcat formation.
“Of course, you’re always happy when Braden is in the game and usually that means Kansas State is running the ball pretty well,” Chuck said. “Their offense has done a better job as the season has gone along.”
No less an expert than Kansas State coach Bill Snyder has praised Braden Wilson as someone who sets a high standard. Snyder once said he wished he had 105 Braden Wilsons.
“Braden doesn’t change. Braden’s kind of like I am in that respect,” Snyder said. “He’s one of those guys going all out every time you see him. Every snap, he does it like it’s supposed to be done. You’d like to have 105 Braden Wilsons. That doesn’t mean other guys don’t work hard, but Braden sets the standard.”
Braden, a junior, never lost a high school football game at Smith Center, which won four consecutive state championships. Braden flew under the recruiting radar, but signed with Kansas State after K-State coaches realized they had uncovered another gem.