2023 MN High School Football season

[Some guy]

Great games in week 1. Especially 5A. Kudos to the two year District Football Schedules and Districts.

I don’t know if you can say that as a blanket statement
Some really stupid things.

They did do a nice job in the big classes though

 

[State of Football]

I don’t know if you can say that as a blanket statement
Some really stupid things.

They did do a nice job in the big classes though

Looking at the entirety of the schedules, I like it. Randy Saver’s show had coaches interviews and the reviews were very positive. We’ll have to see how it plays out.

 

[Some guy]

Looking at the entirety of the schedules, I like it. Randy Saver’s show had coaches interviews and the reviews were very positive. We’ll have to see how it plays out.

There are some 3a and 4a schools with completely illogical travel schedules

I like it for 6a and 5a mostly

 

[Maverick_52]

Mankato West @ Andover should be a good showdown this week. Andover put up 55 against St. Thomas Academy last week, West beat Northfield 42-0. Both top 10 teams in 5A. Will be a great test for West to see where they stack up against a top metro team.

 

[Some guy]

6a games of interest to me this week:
Rosemount vs lakeville north - rosemount looked worse than I thought they would and lakeville north looked better in week 1
Both 1-0

Eden prairie vs Edina - Edina soph QB gets a big test. Eden prairie heavy favorite but interesting to me. Both 1-0.

Mayo 1-0 vs Eagan 0-1
Edina threw all over Eagan. Mayo wideout is legit. Can the new 6a team move to 2-0?

Prior lake vs shakopee
Good defense vs good offense. Both 1-0, huge game for seeding in the west metro.

 

[MplsGopher]

6A should not simply be the biggest 32.

It shouldn’t necessarily be “full” every year.

It should be only for schools/programs that are legitimately just too big and rich to have any business not being in that super elite upper class.

I don’t care if it’s only 20 teams.

Hopkins, Coon Rapids, Mayo, etc should not be forced into it just to fill out 32.

 

[GFBfan]

Mankato West @ Andover should be a good showdown this week. Andover put up 55 against St. Thomas Academy last week, West beat Northfield 42-0. Both top 10 teams in 5A. Will be a great test for West to see where they stack up against a top metro team.

More like a test for Andover to see if they can play with and or beat another 5A established dominant team.

 

[xyz1]

6A should not simply be the biggest 32.

It shouldn’t necessarily be “full” every year.

It should be only for schools/programs that are legitimately just too big and rich to have any business not being in that super elite upper class.

I don’t care if it’s only 20 teams.

Hopkins, Coon Rapids, etc should not be forced into it just to fill out 32.

Absolutely right - setting up a workable scheme is pretty complicated so I don't envy those who have the job, but there has to be a better way. It's hard to watch what Hopkins is going through, which isn't good for anyone on any side of the equation.

 

[Maverick_52]

More like a test for Andover to see if they can play with and or beat another 5A established dominant team.

I know Andover isn't a football power by any means but they have been good the last 3 years and almost knocked off state champ Elk River last year in the section final. I'm expecting a close game.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I know Andover isn't a football power by any means but they have been good the last 3 years and almost knocked off state champ Elk River last year in the section final. I'm expecting a close game.

They are now a 5A power. They went to state in 2021 and lost in the section final last year. They went 6-0 in 2020. They've beat Elk River 3 of last 4 times. They are good at most sports.

 

[disco]

They are now a 5A power. They went to state in 2021 and lost in the section final last year. They went 6-0 in 2020. They've beat Elk River 3 of last 4 times. They are good at most sports.

Yep. Follow the money. The wealthiest parts of the Anoka-Hennepin district are in the Andover area and they keep enrollment lower than the other schools. They are absolutely an athletic powerhouse.

Hopkins w/o open enrollment would be a lot wealthier district. But a whole lot of the families with wealth, resources, and talent, are open enrolling into Minnetonka, or going private. I literally know no families right now who live in the Hopkins boundaries and are sending their kids to Hopkins schools.

I've posted this before, but Minnetonka is the largest high school in the state per this biennium ranking. They're somewhere around 40% enrolled from outside the district. A lot of that is Hopkins.

 

[MplsGopher]

A considerable amount of Minnetonka city proper is Hopkins district. Why some youth stuff is called “Hopkins-Minnetonka” (or has been in the past).

Yes we know the info is shown on the listing, but still doesn’t matter: you pay big $$$ for a house to live in Tonka proper, you damn well expect to get Tonka schools.

This leaves Hopkins turning into Cooper.

 

[disco]

A considerable amount of Minnetonka city proper is Hopkins district. Why some youth stuff is called “Hopkins-Minnetonka” (or has been in the past).

Yes we know the info is shown on the listing, but still doesn’t matter: you pay big $$$ for a house to live in Tonka proper, you damn well expect to get Tonka schools.

This leaves Hopkins turning into Cooper.

I'm not going to bother explaining to you again how school districts work other than that they are separate units of government from cities/counties etc. If you can't get it, stop commenting.

I live in Minnetonka. I'm in the Wayzata district. It has nothing to do with the city you live in. Nothing.

 

[State of Football]

Absolutely right - setting up a workable scheme is pretty complicated so I don't envy those who have the job, but there has to be a better way. It's hard to watch what Hopkins is going through, which isn't good for anyone on any side of the equation.

It’s actually easier to create a scheduled with more teams to accommodate the varying levels. Teams like Hopkins will have 2 heavyweights with 6 more like opponents. When they had 28, it was difficult and the 5A schools don’t want schools more than twice their size. Hopkins, Burnsville and Roseville might still not win a game but Eagan, Anoka, and Forest Lake have made great strides. 5A schedule doesn’t provide much relief either at the top.

 

[Some guy]

They are now a 5A power. They went to state in 2021 and lost in the section final last year. They went 6-0 in 2020. They've beat Elk River 3 of last 4 times. They are good at most sports.

Both of those two will likely be 6a in 2025 if current growth trajectories continue.

 

[State of Football]

Yep. Follow the money. The wealthiest parts of the Anoka-Hennepin district are in the Andover area and they keep enrollment lower than the other schools. They are absolutely an athletic powerhouse.

Hopkins w/o open enrollment would be a lot wealthier district. But a whole lot of the families with wealth, resources, and talent, are open enrolling into Minnetonka, or going private. I literally know no families right now who live in the Hopkins boundaries and are sending their kids to Hopkins schools.

I've posted this before, but Minnetonka is the largest high school in the state per this biennium ranking. They're somewhere around 40% enrolled from outside the district. A lot of that is Hopkins.

Andover had won 1 hockey championship and that’s deemed a powerhouse? Perspective, Andover is no comparison to Wayzata, Minnetonka, Orono, North Oaks (Mounds View) Credit River (Lakeville South), Prior Lake socio-economically, Lake Elmo, etc . Their sections and conference allow them success but I wouldn’t view them as a power from the amount of DI athletes they produce…

 

[disco]

Andover also has had seven appearances in the state boys basketball tournament in just 20 years of existence.

 

[disco]

Both of those two will likely be 6a in 2025 if current growth trajectories continue.

I thought it was mentioned in this thread last year, that the AH district is keeping Andover's enrollment capped lower compared to the other four schools.

 

[Some guy]

I thought it was mentioned in this thread last year, that the AH district is keeping Andover's enrollment capped lower compared to the other four schools.

Andover was 34 and multiple schools in front of them are shrinking and growing in poverty

It is possible Andover avoids moving up because someone below them grows faster than them. But Hopkins, Burnsville, and maybe others will move down.
Andover was literally 5 kids away from being 6a right now. Mayo has 5 more kids than Andover. Moorhead has one more kid than Andover.

 

[MplsGopher]

None of those schools should be 6A.

There is a very limited set of schools in the metro suburbs that should be.

 

[disco]

Andover was 34 and multiple schools in front of them are shrinking and growing in poverty

It is possible Andover avoids moving up because someone below them grows faster than them. But Hopkins, Burnsville, and maybe others will move down.
Andover was literally 5 kids away from being 6a right now. Mayo has 5 more kids than Andover. Moorhead has one more kid than Andover.

Got it. So even if enrollment is capped at current numbers, you could realistically see other schools shrink to the point Andover moves up without growing. That makes sense.

 

[disco]

Interesting note. If you eliminated open enrollment into Minnetonka, which is the largest high school in the state right now, it would still easily be a 6A school, slotting approximately between Anoka and Farmington at around 2000 students.

 

[MplsGopher]

Enrollment alone doesn’t mean you have lots of kids out for football, have a well funded and run youth feeder program with lots of kids, etc.

Those factors should matter in football.


ANYWAY, enough talk (for the 1000th time) about class politics and how much the MSHSL sucks.


Looking forward to someone getting the thread back on track.

 

[Some guy]

Got it. So even if enrollment is capped at current numbers, you could realistically see other schools shrink to the point Andover moves up without growing. That makes sense.

Yes. Although I think some schools near Andover are growing fast.particularly Rogers and elk River.

I would guess in the next calculation Burnsville and Hopkins will be down. And two of these teams below will be up. Possible coon rapids moves down too, but I think less likely.

Moorhead (33) is growing, not sure how fast
Rogers is growing (35)
Spring lake park not sure (36)
Brainerd is actually shrinking a little (37)
Not sure on Armstrong (38)
Elk River growing fast (39)

 

[disco]

Yes. Although I think some schools near Andover are growing fast.particularly Rogers and elk River.

I would guess in the next calculation Burnsville and Hopkins will be down. And two of these teams below will be up. Possible coon rapids moves down too, but I think less likely.

Moorhead (33) is growing, not sure how fast
Rogers is growing (35)
Spring lake park not sure (36)
Brainerd is actually shrinking a little (37)
Not sure on Armstrong (38)
Elk River growing fast (39)

Moorhead has always been weird in that it's a city of ~40,000 with one high school. I'd guess some kids go to one of the private schools in Fargo.

Rogers and ER can move boundaries around as needed, along with Zimmerman, though Zim is intentionally kept small.

Spring Lake Park is the strangest one to me. I've said before that when I was younger, they seemed to be going the way of Fridley and Columbia Heights - shrinking first/second ring suburbs. Until they started building the Lakes developments in Blaine, but in the SLP district, which attracted young families with money.

 

[Maverick_52]

Anyone have any insight on Minnetonka and how they will be this year? I know they have a good QB. Coach Esch is a great coach, he will win a state title there at some point.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Both of those two will likely be 6a in 2025 if current growth trajectories continue.

Andover is protected a bit by not having a freeway go through town. Cuts down on some of the development, but they continue to grow.

 

[Some guy]

Andover is protected a bit by not having a freeway go through town. Cuts down on some of the development, but they continue to grow.

And if they just grow by 3 kids, Moorhead grows by 1 kid and 10 more kids at Burnsville go on free and reduced lunch, they’re 6a

 

[disco]

And if they just grow by 3 kids, Moorhead grows by 1 kid and 10 more kids at Burnsville go on free and reduced lunch, they’re 6a

I know we discussed this before, but I don't recall the answer.

There is no free/reduced lunch program, because all lunch is free now (save your political comments people). How will they be able to use that going forward as a factor?

 

[State of Football]

I know we discussed this before, but I don't recall the answer.

There is no free/reduced lunch program, because all lunch is free now (save your political comments people). How will they be able to use that going forward as a factor?

The Department of Education still provides compensatory dollars based on their student populations. It will still work within the MSHSL Enrollment. At least for the next two years.