2023 MN High School Football season

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disco said:
Here's a question.
At least two games have been postponed to tomorrow that have been discussed here. What happens if the officials have already been assigned to other games. Whether youth, JV, small college etc?
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Factors like that go into the decision making process of games there were postponed vs finished Friday night after midnight vs just called where they were at
 

Some guy said:
Factors like that go into the decision making process of games there were postponed vs finished Friday night after midnight vs just called where they were at
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If they have a game scheduled, they go to the game they have scheduled. If it's a youth game and they can go from 3 to 2 officials they will likely stay on and finish the varsity game. My schools game was postponed on Friday and 5 new officials came and finished the 4th quarter on Saturday. Then one guys stayed and did the JV game with the two varsity coaches reffing with him.

It was a disaster at our school on Friday. They should have never started the 2nd half. You could see lightning and we were in a weather alert. The two schools to the west had already stopped and postponed their games at halftime of our game. The officials waited until the lighting flashed right over the field and everyone went running for cover. Pouring rain with people running in and out of moving cars (Homecoming Game). People trying to find their kids that can't drive. I get it as an official who has been in this spot. No one wants a delay, no one wants to come back, they have to work hard to coordinate officials. There was no planning at our school. No PA announcement of what to do if the game had to be stopped. No recognition of the HS rules for lightning.

College football games are called sooner and have better plans for 50,000 people. I remember going to Williams arena during a delay about 8 years ago. It's not hard. Schedule the game and have a plan in place. Coordinate with the other school to know that if our game gets stopped for lighting or power issues what the plan is. Announce it to the people in the stands.

St. Michael Albertville at Champlin was stopped for 3 hours and then they called it and finished last night because they had no plan for officials or when to play the game.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
College football games are called sooner and have better plans for 50,000 people. I remember going to Williams arena during a delay about 8 years ago. It's not hard. Schedule the game and have a plan in place. Coordinate with the other school to know that if our game gets stopped for lighting or power issues what the plan is. Announce it to the people in the stands.
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College stadiums usually have covered concourses where at least some percentage of fans would be able to take shelter. Since we aren't in Texas, high school stadiums here are one or two sets of metal bleachers and that's it.

Our PA announcer did a good job of announcing to the fans what to do. My kid actually came back to where I was just before they stopped it and said "maybe we should go now." We were able to get to the car and out of the lot really quickly and home just as it started to pour.
 

new AP HS football poll is out

First-place votes in parentheses, record, total points​

CLASS 6A
1. Eden Prairie (11), 5-0, 110
2. Lakeville South, 5-0, 99
3. Minnetonka, 5-0, 88
4. Lakeville North, 4-1, 74
5. Maple Grove, 4-1, 68
6. Stillwater, 4-1, 51 (#8 last week)
7. Centennial, 4-1, 38 (#9 last wk)
8. Shakopee, 3-2, 30 (#6 last wk)
9. Anoka, 4-1, 23 (#10 last wk)
10. Buffalo, 4-1, 13 (new)
Also receiving votes: Forest Lake 11.

CLASS 5A
1. Chanhassen (11), 5-0, 110 (#2 last wk)
2. Rogers, 5-0, 97 (#3 last wk)
3. Mankato West, 4-1, 83 (#1 last wk)
4. Alexandria, 5-0, 82 (#6 last wk)
5. Sauk Rapids-Rice, 5-0, 59 (#7 last wk)
6. St. Thomas Academy, 4-1, 49 (#9 last wk)
7. Andover, 4-1, 45 (#8 last wk)
8. Brainerd, 4-1, 35 (#4 last wk)
9. Robbinsdale Cooper, 4-1, 16 (#10 last wk)
10. Robbinsdale Armstrong, 4-1, 14 (#5 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Owatonna 12, Bloomington Jefferson 1.

CLASS 4A
1. Becker (9), 5-0, 107
2. Orono (1), 5-0, 93
3. Byron, 5-0, 89
4. Detroit Lakes (1), 5-0, 77
5. Totino-Grace, 4-1, 58 (#7 last wk)
6. Princeton, 5-0, 53 (#10 last wk)
7. Rocori, 4-1, 49 (#9 last wk)
8. Hutchinson, 3-2, 39 (#6 last wk)
9. Mound Westonka, 4-1, 19 (#5 last wk)
10. Kasson-Mantorville, 4-1, 12 (new)
Also receiving votes: Chisago Lakes 7, Hermantown 4, North Branch 4, Duluth Denfeld 3.

CLASS 3A
1. Stewartville (6), 5-0, 105 (#2 last wk)
2. Esko (5), 5-0, 101 (#3 last wk)
3. Fairmont, 5-0, 87 (#4 last wk)
4. Annandale, 4-0, 69 (#5 last wk)
5. Litchfield, 4-1, 57 (#10 last wk)
6. Dassel-Cokato, 4-1, 46 (#1 last wk)
7. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 4-1, 44 (tied for #6 last wk)
8. Minneapolis North, 4-1, 38 (tied for #6 last wk)
9. Waseca, 4-1, 35 (#8 last wk)
10. Pequot Lakes, 4-1, 15 (#9 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Rockford 5, Rochester Lourdes 4.

CLASS 2A
1. Barnesville (7), 5-0, 103
2. Caledonia (3), 5-0, 97
3. Chatfield, 5-0, 87
4. Eden Valley-Watkins, 5-0, 73
5. Jackson County Central, 5-0, 64
6. St. Agnes (1), 5-0, 58
7. Barnum, 5-0, 43 (tied for #8 last wk)
8. Norwood Young America, 5-0, 33
9. Cannon Falls, 4-1, 19 (#10 last wk)
10. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, 5-0, 12 (new)
Also receiving votes: Osakis 8, Holdingford 4, Moose Lake-Willow River 2, Maple River 1.

CLASS 1A
1. Minneota (9), 5-0, 107
2. Fillmore Central (1), 5-0, 97 (#3 last wk)
3. Mahnomen/Waubun (1), 5-0, 91 (#5 last wk)
4. BOLD, 4-1, 52 (#8 last wk)
5. Sleepy Eye United, 5-0, 36 (new)
6. Springfield, 4-1, 35 (#2 last wk)
7. Ada-Borup-West, 4-1, 35 (#10 last wk)
8. Parkers Prairie, 5-0, 31 (new)
9. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 5-0, 28 (new)
10. Lester Prairie, 4-1, 26 (#6 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Kenyon-Wanamingo 22, Mayer Lutheran 19, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 12, Upsala/Swanville 6, Bethlehem Academy 3, Goodhue 3.

NINE-PLAYER
1. Mountain Iron-Buhl (10), 5-0, 109
2. Fertile-Beltrami (1), 5-0, 98 (#3 last wk)
3. Cherry, 5-0, 90 (#4 last wk)
4. Nevis, 5-0, 63 (tied for #5 last wk)
5. Ogilvie, 5-0, 60
6. Ottertail Central, 5-0, 43 (#8 last wk)
7. Leroy-Ostrander, 5-0, 41 (#9 last wk)
8. Edgerton, 4-0, 40 (#7 last wk)
9. Kingsland, 5-0, 25 (#10 last wk)
10. Spring Grove, 5-1, 20 (#2 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Hills-Beaver Creek 15, Stephen-Argyle 1.
 

Buffalo is ranked 10th in 6A. Weren't they one of the schools that plead for "relief scheduling?"
 


disco said:
Buffalo is ranked 10th in 6A. Weren't they one of the schools that plead for "relief scheduling?"
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Yes. And they aren’t the 10th best team.
Whoever put them in their top 10 doesn’t know anything about high school football.

But it’s fine. Poll doesn’t mean anything.
It does speak to how stupid relief is. Wayzata and Edina have to go 2-6 so Buffalo can go 5-3. It’s only fair. The MSHSL is a joke.
Farmington has to be 0-5 so that Eastview can be 3-2 and Burnsville can be 3-2.
East ridge has to be 1-4 so park can be 3-2.

Props to the north for no one opting down.
Those 6 schools should be ashamed of themselves.
 

Some guy said:
Yes. And they aren’t the 10th best team.
Whoever put them in their top 10 doesn’t know anything about high school football.

But it’s fine. Poll doesn’t mean anything.
It does speak to how stupid relief is. Wayzata and Edina have to go 2-6 so Buffalo can go 5-3. It’s only fair. The MSHSL is a joke.
Farmington has to be 0-5 so that Eastview can be 3-2 and Burnsville can be 3-2.
East ridge has to be 1-4 so park can be 3-2.

Props to the north for no one opting down.
Those 6 schools should be ashamed of themselves.
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It’s the best 6A schedule yet. 32 teams created agreed to the schedule. Not sure what you do with Hopkins and Roseville. Maybe play JV for a couple of years?
 

State of Football said:
It’s the best 6A schedule yet. 32 teams created agreed to the schedule. Not sure what you do with Hopkins and Roseville. Maybe play JV for a couple of years?
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That’s like saying Portugal had the best fascist dictator
 

State of Football said:
It’s the best 6A schedule yet. 32 teams created agreed to the schedule. Not sure what you do with Hopkins and Roseville. Maybe play JV for a couple of years?
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Promotion and relegation would be better than this. But then someone would probably feel bad.

And Wayzata deserves their record. They've stunk it up.
 




Even if you realize as I do that polls like this are really just for fun and meaningless . . . Andover being ranked behind St Thomas, a team they led 52-15 four minutes into the second half, does leave one a bit puzzled.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
new AP HS football poll is out

First-place votes in parentheses, record, total points​

CLASS 6A
1. Eden Prairie (11), 5-0, 110
2. Lakeville South, 5-0, 99
3. Minnetonka, 5-0, 88
4. Lakeville North, 4-1, 74
5. Maple Grove, 4-1, 68
6. Stillwater, 4-1, 51 (#8 last week)
7. Centennial, 4-1, 38 (#9 last wk)
8. Shakopee, 3-2, 30 (#6 last wk)
9. Anoka, 4-1, 23 (#10 last wk)
10. Buffalo, 4-1, 13 (new)
Also receiving votes: Forest Lake 11.

CLASS 5A
1. Chanhassen (11), 5-0, 110 (#2 last wk)
2. Rogers, 5-0, 97 (#3 last wk)
3. Mankato West, 4-1, 83 (#1 last wk)
4. Alexandria, 5-0, 82 (#6 last wk)
5. Sauk Rapids-Rice, 5-0, 59 (#7 last wk)
6. St. Thomas Academy, 4-1, 49 (#9 last wk)
7. Andover, 4-1, 45 (#8 last wk)
8. Brainerd, 4-1, 35 (#4 last wk)
9. Robbinsdale Cooper, 4-1, 16 (#10 last wk)
10. Robbinsdale Armstrong, 4-1, 14 (#5 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Owatonna 12, Bloomington Jefferson 1.

CLASS 4A
1. Becker (9), 5-0, 107
2. Orono (1), 5-0, 93
3. Byron, 5-0, 89
4. Detroit Lakes (1), 5-0, 77
5. Totino-Grace, 4-1, 58 (#7 last wk)
6. Princeton, 5-0, 53 (#10 last wk)
7. Rocori, 4-1, 49 (#9 last wk)
8. Hutchinson, 3-2, 39 (#6 last wk)
9. Mound Westonka, 4-1, 19 (#5 last wk)
10. Kasson-Mantorville, 4-1, 12 (new)
Also receiving votes: Chisago Lakes 7, Hermantown 4, North Branch 4, Duluth Denfeld 3.

CLASS 3A
1. Stewartville (6), 5-0, 105 (#2 last wk)
2. Esko (5), 5-0, 101 (#3 last wk)
3. Fairmont, 5-0, 87 (#4 last wk)
4. Annandale, 4-0, 69 (#5 last wk)
5. Litchfield, 4-1, 57 (#10 last wk)
6. Dassel-Cokato, 4-1, 46 (#1 last wk)
7. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 4-1, 44 (tied for #6 last wk)
8. Minneapolis North, 4-1, 38 (tied for #6 last wk)
9. Waseca, 4-1, 35 (#8 last wk)
10. Pequot Lakes, 4-1, 15 (#9 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Rockford 5, Rochester Lourdes 4.

CLASS 2A
1. Barnesville (7), 5-0, 103
2. Caledonia (3), 5-0, 97
3. Chatfield, 5-0, 87
4. Eden Valley-Watkins, 5-0, 73
5. Jackson County Central, 5-0, 64
6. St. Agnes (1), 5-0, 58
7. Barnum, 5-0, 43 (tied for #8 last wk)
8. Norwood Young America, 5-0, 33
9. Cannon Falls, 4-1, 19 (#10 last wk)
10. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, 5-0, 12 (new)
Also receiving votes: Osakis 8, Holdingford 4, Moose Lake-Willow River 2, Maple River 1.

CLASS 1A
1. Minneota (9), 5-0, 107
2. Fillmore Central (1), 5-0, 97 (#3 last wk)
3. Mahnomen/Waubun (1), 5-0, 91 (#5 last wk)
4. BOLD, 4-1, 52 (#8 last wk)
5. Sleepy Eye United, 5-0, 36 (new)
6. Springfield, 4-1, 35 (#2 last wk)
7. Ada-Borup-West, 4-1, 35 (#10 last wk)
8. Parkers Prairie, 5-0, 31 (new)
9. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 5-0, 28 (new)
10. Lester Prairie, 4-1, 26 (#6 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Kenyon-Wanamingo 22, Mayer Lutheran 19, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 12, Upsala/Swanville 6, Bethlehem Academy 3, Goodhue 3.

NINE-PLAYER
1. Mountain Iron-Buhl (10), 5-0, 109
2. Fertile-Beltrami (1), 5-0, 98 (#3 last wk)
3. Cherry, 5-0, 90 (#4 last wk)
4. Nevis, 5-0, 63 (tied for #5 last wk)
5. Ogilvie, 5-0, 60
6. Ottertail Central, 5-0, 43 (#8 last wk)
7. Leroy-Ostrander, 5-0, 41 (#9 last wk)
8. Edgerton, 4-0, 40 (#7 last wk)
9. Kingsland, 5-0, 25 (#10 last wk)
10. Spring Grove, 5-1, 20 (#2 last wk)
Also receiving votes: Hills-Beaver Creek 15, Stephen-Argyle 1.
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Hey SON, thanks for doing this. Much appreciated since I refuse to subscribe to the Star rag.
 



a note on the poll.

as noted, the Strib took over the FB poll. It used to be run through the AP, but they gave it up.

here's the thing. the poll is normally based on votes from 12 media members. 12 - representing the entire state. but if you look at the 1st place votes this week, you'll see that only 11 people voted. so one of the 12 voters in the state - for whatever reason - did not submit their votes this week. that's 8.3% of the normal vote missing. which could potentially skew the results. (it's 10 pts for a 1st place vote, 9 pts for 2nd place and so forth.)

this poll is like a pinball machine - "for amusement purposes only." it depends on how much time and effort the voters put into it. actually, back in the day, I knew a guy who was a voter in the old poll. he took it very seriously - studied teams, records and scores before submitting his ballot. I would like to hope that all the voters take it seriously - but I have no way of knowing that.........
 

The only true "poll" to decide #1 in a class is at the end of the season after the State Championships.
 

disco said:
And Wayzata deserves their record. They've stunk it up.
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I have a colleague who has a stepson on the Wayzata JV team. He's not much of a football guy, but blames most of Wayzata's problems on the lack of even modest QB play and says that, until EP, they had been ahead in every game. Do you see it that way or are there other contributing problems? (I know they don't typically throw very much.)
 
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2nd Degree Gopher said:
I have a colleague who has a stepson on the Wayzata JV team. He's not much of a football guy, but blames most of Wayzata's problems on the lack of even modest QB play and says that, until EP, they had been ahead in every game. Do you see it that way or are there other contributing problems? (I know they don't typically throw very much.)
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I think he's pretty accurate with that assessment. The QB play hasn't been good. But that's not the only issue. It's fundamentally sloppy play in general.

I think that's right about having a lead in every game except EP. EP is on a whole different level from Wayzata right now.
 

Chan and Rogers should be promoted to 6A and the two worst should get to be relegated down.

It’s not like they’re suddenly going to win a bunch in 5A either.

Only ones who won’t like it are Chan and Rogers folks. Too bad
 

disco said:
I think he's pretty accurate with that assessment. The QB play hasn't been good. But that's not the only issue. It's fundamentally sloppy play in general.

I think that's right about having a lead in every game except EP. EP is on a whole different level from Wayzata right now.
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Thanks for your insight.
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
Thanks for your insight.
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To give a couple examples. Fumbling through the end zone when you're about to score.
Or getting an intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

Dumb stuff like that. Last year they lost a game when the QB mistakenly took a knee instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock for a FG try.
 

GophersInIowa said:
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Anyone have background on this game? Box score really seems to be the tale of 3 quarters and 1 quarter. I hope that it wasn't Hill Murray pulling all their players and North St. Paul keeping their starters in.

I coached for 10 years and have been on both sides of it. I found winning by a wide margin is just as hard as losing by a wide margin. When your winning you want to be conscious of not running the score up, getting all the players in, but when the new players get in they want to score also. When do you pull your players... what is to early? what is to late?
 

MNfootballfan said:
Anyone have background on this game? Box score really seems to be the tale of 3 quarters and 1 quarter. I hope that it wasn't Hill Murray pulling all their players and North St. Paul keeping their starters in.
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I guess I'd be surprised if NSP didn't keep their starters in. My junior year in HS, our varsity team was pretty bad. Lots of big losses. The backups/JV (of which I was one) never went in even if we were being blown out. Never.

Fast Forward a year. My senior year, we were a really good team. Lost the section final to the eventual undefeated state champ. Blew out a bunch of teams by multiple scores. When we were up big, the starters (of which I was one at that point) would usually get pulled and the backups-JV would get to play some.

hen your winning you want to be conscious of not running the score up, getting all the players in, but when the new players get in they want to score also.
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That's always a tough one. You can't really tell kids not to try. Especially if they don't get a lot of playing time.
 

Some guy said:
Yes. And they aren’t the 10th best team.
Whoever put them in their top 10 doesn’t know anything about high school football.

But it’s fine. Poll doesn’t mean anything.
It does speak to how stupid relief is. Wayzata and Edina have to go 2-6 so Buffalo can go 5-3. It’s only fair. The MSHSL is a joke.
Farmington has to be 0-5 so that Eastview can be 3-2 and Burnsville can be 3-2.
East ridge has to be 1-4 so park can be 3-2.

Props to the north for no one opting down.
Those 6 schools should be ashamed of themselves.
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Maple Grove lost to Champlin Park and has pretty much rolled everyone else on their schedule. Coon Rapids beat Champlin Park. With more section play and less cross-over of metro, 6A is a bit harder to rank. (Most Cross over games are in the last 3 weeks of the season) IMO it's Eden Prairie and the rest of 6A. Games are fun as there are only 4 teams in 6A giving up less than 14.0 points per game. Really is about match-ups.

If only section play counts for seeding the #1 Seeds are going to be E.P. Maple Grove, Lakeville South, and Stillwater unless there is a significant upset. These teams all hold tie-breaker of closes teams in standings. SOME GUY: Do you know how 6A seeding will work?
 

Big matchup tomorrow night. EP at Minnetonka. All of EP's OL road graders are healthy so Tonka has to bring their A game to be competitive. Weather shouldn't be a factor.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
Maple Grove lost to Champlin Park and has pretty much rolled everyone else on their schedule. Coon Rapids beat Champlin Park. With more section play and less cross-over of metro, 6A is a bit harder to rank. (Most Cross over games are in the last 3 weeks of the season) IMO it's Eden Prairie and the rest of 6A. Games are fun as there are only 4 teams in 6A giving up less than 14.0 points per game. Really is about match-ups.

If only section play counts for seeding the #1 Seeds are going to be E.P. Maple Grove, Lakeville South, and Stillwater unless there is a significant upset. These teams all hold tie-breaker of closes teams in standings. SOME GUY: Do you know how 6A seeding will work?
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The 6 who opted for relief are automatically seeded below any non relief teams

So Eastview is 7, Burnsville 8. Based on head to head
Buffalo 7, Hopkins 8 based on head to head
Park 7, Roseville 8 based on head to head

The rest is coaches vote. Which will largely be section record over overall record IMo.

I agree it’s EP and then the rest. Maybe tonka could beat EP but I don’t think so. Especially not with injuries
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Maple Grove lost to Champlin Park and has pretty much rolled everyone else on their schedule. Coon Rapids beat Champlin Park. With more section play and less cross-over of metro, 6A is a bit harder to rank. (Most Cross over games are in the last 3 weeks of the season) IMO it's Eden Prairie and the rest of 6A. Games are fun as there are only 4 teams in 6A giving up less than 14.0 points per game. Really is about match-ups.

If only section play counts for seeding the #1 Seeds are going to be E.P. Maple Grove, Lakeville South, and Stillwater unless there is a significant upset. These teams all hold tie-breaker of closes teams in standings. SOME GUY: Do you know how 6A seeding will work?
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They seed 1-8 by section but the bracket cross sections over in the first round. At least one 6 seed will win
 


the MSHSL - showing their typical spineless approach:

instead of making a real decision on seeding, they cop out and say "we'll let each sport decide for themselves."

again - here's the skinny on what they decided:

starting with the '24-'25 school year, each team sport (including Football) can choose 1 of 3 options for seeding state tournaments:
1. seed 1-8
2. seed 1-5 with random draw for last 3 teams
3. no seeding - with matchups determined by sections (1 vs 3, 2 vs 4 and so on)

the option that is chosen will be in effect for 4 years.

so, you now have a system where one sport may seed 1-8 and a different sport may seed 1-5.

the MSHSL chose by not making a choice and dumping it on the individual sports to decide.

sports with multiple classes must use the same seeding option for all classes. sports that have boys and girls must use same seeding option for both sexes.

-----

AND - the Football advisory committee requested approval for this season to seed the Semi-Final round 1-4 in each class. the Board voted "No" because that would go against their new seeding policy - which doesn't go into effect for another year.

------

another issue - Boys Volleyball will be a sanctioned sport starting in '24-'25. The MSHSL decided to make it a Spring Sport. The Spring Sports coaches were strongly opposed. But the VB coaches didn't want Boys and Girls VB in the same season, because some of those coaches will now be able to coach both Boys and Girls.
 

Gopher 461 said:
Big matchup tomorrow night. EP at Minnetonka. All of EP's OL road graders are healthy so Tonka has to bring their A game to be competitive. Weather shouldn't be a factor.
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Is Minnetonka starting QB still hurt?
 

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