For one Minnesota family, the matchup between the Minnesota Gophers and Iowa Hawkeyes over the weekend was much more than just a game.

Twelve-year-old Bentley Erickson from Brainerd, Minnesota, was the Hawkeyes’ “Kid Captain” of Saturday’s game.

Bentley was born in Iowa with a range of complex medical conditions. He spent the first four months of his life at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, which overlooks the Hawkeyes’ Kinnick Stadium. He had 10 surgeries there.

His family eventually moved to the Twin Cities to be closer to his doctors at Gillette Children’s.

On Saturday, Bentley was on the field and even in the locker room as his two favorite football teams faced off.

“So many people gave him high-fives and cheered him on as we walked through the stands,” said his mom, Kris Erickson. “We’ve spent so much time inside the walls of a hospital. It was so surreal to be on the outside for once.”

The most profound moment was during what is a tradition at Iowa home games: The fans at Kinnick Stadium always wave to the patients and their families at the children’s hospital overlooking the field. Bentley had been there, so it was especially meaningful to be on the field.

“I can’t tell you how many times we spent alone thinking, ’How are we ever going to do this?’ And for that one day … I felt like the whole world was on our side,” Erickson said.

Bentley has been a patient at Gillette Children’s since 2015, but his condition has stabilized to the point he no longer needs to live close to the hospital. He is able to do a lot of his therapy remotely from Brainerd and still makes regular trips to the Twin Cities to see his doctors in person.