2025 Minnesota High School Football Thread

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GopherVictory said:
Agreed about having down classes at big schools.
I was talking to some of the Lakeville North parents at game against Farmington a couple weeks ago and they said North lost a lot of seniors. The roster looked very heavy with juniors.
Then just yesterday I heard that the North 10th grade team is doing really well. So maybe it's a single year blip.
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North is pretty good still!
0-3
Lost to 2-1 Blaine by 7
Lost to 3-0 farmington by 4
Lost to 2-1 south by 16 but it was really 8 because south punched in a touchdown late when north had to go for it on a 4th down deep in their own end late
 

Some guy said:
North is pretty good still!
0-3
Lost to 2-1 Blaine by 7
Lost to 3-0 farmington by 4
Lost to 2-1 south by 16 but it was really 8 because south punched in a touchdown late when north had to go for it on a 4th down deep in their own end late
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Sorry, but North still being good is a tough sell. I’d guess Blaine and Farmington finish around .500. The South game was close because of the rivalry.
 
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Mankato East finally beats Mankato West for the first time in 19 years during the regular season to win the jug. The score was 28-7. West did lose their star QB to injury in the 1st qtr. East beat West in the playoffs last year. I believe East is one of the best teams in 4A.
 

LeftofThaDial said:
Both Lakeville schools have smaller enrollments than Moorhead. Both Lakeville Schools head coaches have won a state title at their school. Some Guy did a great job summarizing why a down year can be really down in the 6A format.
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Doesn't that logic apply to every 6A school, though?

Again, any of these ... 400, 500, 600, or more kids per class ... boggles my mind that the cupboard could be bare in a year.

On the other hand, I don't really know what I'm talking about
 

GopherVictory said:
Agreed about having down classes at big schools.
I was talking to some of the Lakeville North parents at game against Farmington a couple weeks ago and they said North lost a lot of seniors. The roster looked very heavy with juniors.
Then just yesterday I heard that the North 10th grade team is doing really well. So maybe it's a single year blip.
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I can believe it.

Just wonder what happened with the class of 26 (seniors this year) ... did they quit football early because the class ahead of them was so dominate? Would be an interesting case study
 


MaxyJR1 said:
Large classes with quality talent usually cut the playing time and reps for the class behind them.


Lakeville North is starting sophomores on varsity so I expect them to be good in 26 and 27.
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So again, I can buy this ... but what ever happened to waiting for your time? If you can't be a starter by the time you're a junior ... you just quit the sport?
 

maroonfive said:
Mankato East finally beats Mankato West for the first time in 19 years during the regular season to win the jug. The score was 28-7. West did lose their star QB to injury in the 1st qtr. East beat West in the playoffs last year. I believe East is one of the best teams in 4A.
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Both Mankato East & West are currently in 5A (Section 2), not 4A.
 

GopherGrit said:
Doesn't that logic apply to every 6A school, though?

Again, any of these ... 400, 500, 600, or more kids per class ... boggles my mind that the cupboard could be bare in a year.

On the other hand, I don't really know what I'm talking about
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I’m not sure what you are getting at. Someone has to lose every week and schools have down classes. Clearly it’s not a big year for Lakeville North.
 

GopherGrit said:
So again, I can buy this ... but what ever happened to waiting for your time? If you can't be a starter by the time you're a junior ... you just quit the sport?
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I think he probably meant they lost a large Senior class from last year, meaning most of their starters were seniors. Even in big schools there are "down" classes that either don't have ton of kids out for football or they just aren't super talented. I doubt they were suggesting a bunch of seniors quit.

As far as sophomores, according to the Star Trib. roster, North only has three on varsity, which is not abnormal for a 6A school. Heck, Eden Prairie lists 8 sophomores on varsity.
 
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prespsguy said:
I think he probably meant they lost a large Senior class from last year, meaning most of their starters were seniors. Even in big schools there are "down" classes that either don't have ton of kids out for football or they just aren't super talented. I doubt they were suggesting a bunch of seniors quit.

As far as sophomores, according to the Star Trib. roster, North only has three on varsity, which is not abnormal for a 6A school. Heck, Eden Prairie lists 8 sophomores on varsity.
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Lost a lot of seniors last year, I agree means lost a lot of senior starters from 24 team, sure.

Then you have the class one year underneath them, who get to start as senior this year. Where are all they?
 


prespsguy said:
Sorry, but North still being good is a tough sell. I’d guess Blaine and Farmington finish around .500. The South game was close because of the rivalry.
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The south game was close because they scored similar amounts of points!
This means they are similar!
 

GopherGrit said:
Lost a lot of seniors last year, I agree means lost a lot of senior starters from 24 team, sure.

Then you have the class one year underneath them, who get to start as senior this year. Where are all they?
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North’s bigger problem is they always have a bunch of great linemen, TEs, and LBs plus 1-3 skill guys who can score from distance, they simply lack the big play skill guys this year so scoring is much harder this year.

They’ve lost 3 close games. Haven’t scored more than 14
 



I’m just hearing a lot of excuses for Lakeville North. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, against Lakeville North. But the truth of the matter is they are 0-3 and they still have to play Prior Lake, Rosemount, Champlin Park, and Shakopee. They might get one win out of that. They’ve scored four touchdowns in three games. Eastview put up four on Farmington alone.

Another poster wrote that they start a lot of Juniors. Well, so do lots of teams. I heard on a podcast that Shakopee, who is likely to be the #1 seed in the section, starts 10 juniors.

I know some Lakeville North people and it just seems that a lot of people on the north side of town are having a hard time accepting the reality of where their program is right now. Bottom line is they have not beaten a ranked team in a very long time. They are not the elite program they once were.
Some guy said:
The south game was close because they scored similar amounts of points!
This means they are similar!
Click to expand...
 

prespsguy said:
I’m just hearing a lot of excuses for Lakeville North. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, against Lakeville North. But the truth of the matter is they are 0-3 and they still have to play Prior Lake, Rosemount, Champlin Park, and Shakopee. They might get one win out of that. They’ve scored four touchdowns in three games. Eastview put up four on Farmington alone.

Another poster wrote that they start a lot of Juniors. Well, so do lots of teams. I heard on a podcast that Shakopee, who is likely to be the #1 seed in the section, starts 10 juniors.

I know some Lakeville North people and it just seems that a lot of people on the north side of town are having a hard time accepting the reality of where their program is right now. Bottom line is they have not beaten a ranked team in a very long time. They are not the elite program they once were.
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Yup. They may go 0-8!
That doesn’t mean they’re significantly worse than Lakeville south!
Lakeville south may end up 2-6!
 

Some guy said:
The south game was close because they scored similar amounts of points!
This means they are similar!
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Some guy said:
Yup. They may go 0-8!
That doesn’t mean they’re significantly worse than Lakeville south!
Lakeville south may end up 2-6!
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You are right in that game they were very competitive, but if North goes 1-7/ 2-6 and South goes 7-1/ 6-2 isn't a reasonable conclusion that they are in fact, not similar in the collective assessment of a season? I realize it has not happened yet, but it sure looks like it may very well unfold that way. Perhaps I am overvaluing South?
 

prespsguy said:
You are right in that game they were very competitive, but if North goes 1-7/ 2-6 and South goes 7-1/ 6-2 isn't a reasonable conclusion that they are in fact, not similar in the collective assessment of a season? I realize it has not happened yet, but it sure looks like it may very well unfold that way. Perhaps I am overvaluing South?
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You are overvaluing everyone!
The difference between team number 6 in the state and team number 20 isn’t that big

If south goes 6-2 and north goes 1-7 playing their backup QB the rest of the year (their backup started vs south) then it indeed means that south is probably 25 spots better. It also means there isn’t much difference between a top 8 team and a top 25 team
 

Some guy said:
You are overvaluing everyone!
The difference between team number 6 in the state and team number 20 isn’t that big
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Perhaps, it does seem that outside of four or five at the top, there is a significant drop-off.
 

prespsguy said:
Perhaps, it does seem that outside of four or five at the top, there is a significant drop-off.
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Maple grove and Minnetonka and shakopee to me.

Not sure who 4 is.
I think team number 25 could beat team number 4 on a given night this year.
 

Some guy said:
Maple grove and Minnetonka and shakopee to me.

Not sure who 4 is.
I think team number 25 could beat team number 4 on a given night this year.
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I'd go with Eden Prairie or Centennial and I really don't think #25 would stay within four scores of either of them to be honest.
 

prespsguy said:
I'd go with Eden Prairie or Centennial and I really don't think #25 would stay within four scores of either of them to be honest.
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#25 just lost by 16 to a potential #4 in the north south game you were just talking about!
And 25 was playing with a backup QB and 2 of souths scores were on short fields
 

Some guy said:
You are overvaluing everyone!
The difference between team number 6 in the state and team number 20 isn’t that big

If south goes 6-2 and north goes 1-7 playing their backup QB the rest of the year (their backup started vs south) then it indeed means that south is probably 25 spots better. It also means there isn’t much difference between a top 8 team and a top 25 team
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I don’t have any knowledge of LN or LS yet this year, so I can’t speak to that game. But the 0-3 for LN based on their other 2 losses and those teams’ other games tells me they are struggling.
And in 6A, the difference between the #6 team and the #20 is wide, pretty much every year. Figure the 6 is the 3rd best 2 seed in the playoffs and the 20 is the weakest 5 seed… never say never, but that’s a pretty safe bet.
 

Some guy said:
#25 just lost by 16 to a potential #4 in the north south game you were just talking about!
And 25 was playing with a backup QB and 2 of souths scores were on short fields
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I understand what you are saying, but there is something very emotional about the North-South game that motivates the underdog every time they play. This is a very heated rivalry, a factor not involved if Eden Praire were to play say, Woodbury for a random example.
 

prespsguy said:
I'd go with Eden Prairie or Centennial and I really don't think #25 would stay within four scores of either of them to be honest.
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I agree with this. EP and Centennial are for sure in the conversation for top 5 right now. Also, #25 in 6A is a 7 seed. Not many of those have won a game since they started the format.
 

prespsguy said:
I’m just hearing a lot of excuses for Lakeville North. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, against Lakeville North. But the truth of the matter is they are 0-3 and they still have to play Prior Lake, Rosemount, Champlin Park, and Shakopee. They might get one win out of that. They’ve scored four touchdowns in three games. Eastview put up four on Farmington alone.

Another poster wrote that they start a lot of Juniors. Well, so do lots of teams. I heard on a podcast that Shakopee, who is likely to be the #1 seed in the section, starts 10 juniors.

I know some Lakeville North people and it just seems that a lot of people on the north side of town are having a hard time accepting the reality of where their program is right now. Bottom line is they have not beaten a ranked team in a very long time. They are not the elite program they once were.
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The program sends their kids to Wisconsin and now they play like them.
 



Hucklebearer said:
I don’t have any knowledge of LN or LS yet this year, so I can’t speak to that game. But the 0-3 for LN based on their other 2 losses and those teams’ other games tells me they are struggling.
And in 6A, the difference between the #6 team and the #20 is wide, pretty much every year. Figure the 6 is the 3rd best 2 seed in the playoffs and the 20 is the weakest 5 seed… never say never, but that’s a pretty safe bet.
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Strongly disagree
A 7 beat a two just a couple years ago.
6 beats a 3 almost every year

Depending on the year there are 4-8 teams that are really bad. But most years the difference between 20 and 9 isn’t much.
25 could beat 5 in a one off
 

It’s all about matchups at the top level. Teams like Forest Lake and Centennial probably matchup better against EP and Shakopee than Edina if they want to get into the top few teams. It will come down to matchups and who draws who in the crossover games, teams like Champlin Park, Osseo and Moorhead come playoff time won’t be talked about as much but can for sure make the final 8
 

maroonfive said:
Mankato East finally beats Mankato West for the first time in 19 years during the regular season to win the jug. The score was 28-7. West did lose their star QB to injury in the 1st qtr. East beat West in the playoffs last year. I believe East is one of the best teams in 4A.
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West isn't very good but has a 9th grade team that is kicking the snot out if its peers. It'll recover.
 

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