2024 MN High School Football thread

[prespsguy]

I really don't think people understand the advantages that they have. Couple examples.

Ability to get off work and get kids to practice
Ability to have quality parents that are willing to run around and carpool kids
Ability to pay

At our school we have about 55 8th graders playing football this year. There will be close to 80 kids on the 9th grade team next year. Kids will come for the magnet program with busing, kids will play that haven't played before or focused on other sports, practices are all after school and kids can get there. There is no weekend commitment. Until a kids can drive and has a car it's really hard to get around. Some kids live a few communities over and can't get rides to activities that don't line up after school.

Every year there are starters on out 9th grade football and basketball teams that no one has ever seen before.

This is exactly it. Kids from economically disadvantaged families often do not participate in youth sports or off-season training programs. Two factors are involved; cost and transportation. It's no coincidence that in the Twin Cities metro, the schools that are most successful in almost all sports are the ones with the highest enrollments and lowest rates of poverty.

This condition has only been exasperated in the last 20 years by the inflation of costs for youth sports as well as the culture of sports specialization and off-season expectations. In addition, kids who come from poverty are more likely to move several times during their schooling years as families are constantly looking to minimize housing costs. This transient nature excludes kids from the culture and connection to any sports programs a community may offer.

This is something the state legislature could have done a better job at addressing, but rest assured, the kids in Orono, Edina, North Oaks, and Tonka Bay are getting free school lunch.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Minnesota high school football state rankings (Tues, Oct 15)​

First-place votes in parentheses, record, total points
Class 6A
1. Maple Grove (11), 7-0, 110
2. Shakopee, 6-1, 95
3. Minnetonka, 6-1, 88
4. Edina, 5-2, 72
5. Lakeville North, 6-1, 68
6. Anoka, 5-2, 53
7. Eden Prairie, 4-3, 40
8. Blaine, 5-2, 26
9. Forest Lake, 5-2, 17
10. Eagan, 4-3, 15
Also receiving votes: Mounds View 12, East Ridge 3, Lakeville South 2

Class 5A
1. Moorhead (10), 7-0, 108
2. Owatonna (1), 7-0, 92
3. Alexandria, 6-1, 79
4. Andover, 6-1, 77
5. Robbinsdale Armstrong, 7-0, 74
6. Elk River, 6-1, 63
7. Two Rivers, 7-0, 36
8. Mankato West, 4-3, 29
9. Robbinsdale Cooper, 6-1, 18
10. Bemidji, 5-2, 14
Also receiving votes: Mankato East 10, Chanhassen 3, Monticello 1, St. Thomas Academy 1

Class 4A
1. Becker (10), 7-0, 109
2. Totino-Grace (1), 7-0, 100
3. Princeton, 7-0, 82
4. Byron, 6-1, 73
5. Orono, 6-1, 72
6. Providence Academy, 5-2, 45
7. Marshall, 6-1, 41
8. (tie) Hill-Murray, 6-1, 29
8. (tie) Rocori, 5-2, 29
10. Hermantown, 6-1, 21
Also receiving votes: Duluth Denfeld 2, Kasson-Mantorville 1, North Branch 1

Class 3A
1. Stewartville (11), 7-0, 110
2. Dassel-Cokato, 7-0, 99
3. Pequot Lakes, 7-0, 82
4. Albany, 7-0, 81
5. Waseca, 6-1, 58
6. Fergus Falls, 7-0, 51
7. Morris/Chokio-Alberta, 7-0, 45
8. Fairmont, 6-1, 41
9. Pine Island, 6-1, 20
10. Annandale, 6-1, 17
Also receiving votes: Two Harbors 1

Class 2A
1. Barnesville (9), 7-0, 107
2. Chatfield (2), 7-0, 99
3. Jackson County Central, 7-0, 86
4. Norwood Young America, 7-0, 72
5. Barnum, 7-0, 59
6. Kimball Area, 7-0, 58
7. Eden Valley-Watkins, 6-1, 34
8. Cannon Falls, 6-1, 30
9. Holdingford, 6-1, 22
10. Caledonia, 5-2, 16
Also receiving votes: Staples-Motley 9, Rush City 8, Triton 3, Moose Lake/Willow River 1.

Class 1A
1. Minneota (11), 7-0, 110
2. Springfield, 7-0, 95
3. Mahnomen/Waubun, 7-0, 87
4. Goodhue, 7-0, 81
5. Upsala/Swanville, 7-0, 65
6. BOLD, 6-1, 56
7. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 6-1, 31
8. Blooming Prairie, 6-1, 24
9. Fillmore Central, 6-1, 24
10. Red Lake County, 6-1, 11
Also receiving votes: Dawson-Boyd 7, West Central Area 5, Ada-Borup West 2, Adrian/Ellsworth 2, Deer River 2.

Nine-Player
1. Nevis (6), 7-0, 105
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (4), 7-0, 99
3. Fertile-Beltrami (1), 7-0, 89
4. Hills-Beaver Creek, 7-0, 79
5. LeRoy-Ostrander/LP, 7-0, 57
6. Spring Grove, 7-0, 55
7. Fosston, 7-0, 47
8. Hancock, 7-0, 38
9. Cherry, 6-1, 16
10. Goodridge/Grygla, 6-1, 7
Also receiving votes: Cromwell-Wright 5, Kingsland 4, Renville County West 1.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Changes in state rankings from last week (I'll try to get this right this time....)

6A: Maple Grove to #1. Forest Lake moves into top 10 (Buffalo out)

5A: Moorhead to #1. Mankato East out. (due to a tie, 11 teams were ranked last week)

4A: same 10 teams with a little juggling of order

3A: same 10 teams

2A: same 10 teams

1A: Red Lake County into top 10 (Ada-Borup West out)

9-pl: Goodridge-Grygla-Gatzke into top 10 (Stephen-Argyle out)

FWIW: undisputed #1's (received all the 1st-place votes in their class):
Maple Grove in 6A; Stewartville in 3A; Minneota in 1A.

9-person is the only class where 3 different teams received votes for 1st place.

 

[Ven]

The game between Princeton (#3 4A) and Dassel-Cokato (#2 3A) should be a pretty good game. Only one can stay undefeated.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Interesting that Forest Lake and Mounds View have the same record and Mounds View beat Forest Lake 31-7 and Forest Lake is ranked higher. Same for Minnetonka and Shakopee.

 

[disco]

Interesting that Forest Lake and Mounds View have the same record and Mounds View beat Forest Lake 31-7 and Forest Lake is ranked higher. Same for Minnetonka and Shakopee.

Same people voting for Buffalo to be ranked I suppose, because they don't know about the relief scheduling.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Games of interest (I focus on the smaller classes - the other regulars on this thread generally cover 5A and 6A.)

1A: #5 Upsala-Swanville (7-0) at West Central Area (6-1)
--Dawson-Boyd (6-1) at #1 Minneota (7-0)

2A: Pipestone Area (6-1) at #3 Jackson County Central (7-0)
--- #8 Cannon Falls (6-1) at #2 Chatfield (7-0)
--- (3A) Pine Island (6-1) at #10 Caledonia (5-2)
--- #9 Holdingford (6-1) at #7 Eden Valley-Watkins (6-1)

3A: #3 Pequot Lakes (7-0) at (4A) Grand Rapids (5-2)
--- #7 Morris/Chokio-Alberta (7-0) at #6 Fergus Falls (7-0)
--- #8 Fairmont (6-1) at #5 Waseca (6-1)
--- #2 Dassel-Cokato (7-0) at (#3 in 4A) Princeton (7-0)

4A: #10 Hermantown (6-1) at Duluth Denfeld (5-2)
--- #6 Providence Academy (5-2) at Kasson-Mantorville (5-2)
--- #8 Rocori (5-2) at #5 Orono (6-1)

--------------------
FWIW - seeding for most sections and classes will be done on Thursday. But - Class 6A plays a lot of games on Thursday, so their seeding won't be done until Friday.

(this is one of the times I really enjoy being retired. in my radio days, after calling a game Wednesday night, I would sit up until all hours checking for scores and trying to figure out potential section match-ups to determine what games the station would cover in the 1st round. Which meant a lot of refreshing the computer on the MN Scores-net site - and since everyone else in the state was doing the same thing, the site would often be running really slowly.......)

 

[MaxyJR1]

Games of interest (I focus on the smaller classes - the other regulars on this thread generally cover 5A and 6A.)

1A: #5 Upsala-Swanville (7-0) at West Central Area (6-1)
--Dawson-Boyd (6-1) at #1 Minneota (7-0)

2A: Pipestone Area (6-1) at #3 Jackson County Central (7-0)
--- #8 Cannon Falls (6-1) at #2 Chatfield (7-0)
--- (3A) Pine Island (6-1) at #10 Caledonia (5-2)
--- #9 Holdingford (6-1) at #7 Eden Valley-Watkins (6-1)

3A: #3 Pequot Lakes (7-0) at (4A) Grand Rapids (5-2)
--- #7 Morris/Chokio-Alberta (7-0) at #6 Fergus Falls (7-0)
--- #8 Fairmont (6-1) at #5 Waseca (6-1)
--- #2 Dassel-Cokato (7-0) at (#3 in 4A) Princeton (7-0)

4A: #10 Hermantown (6-1) at Duluth Denfeld (5-2)
--- #6 Providence Academy (5-2) at Kasson-Mantorville (5-2)
--- #8 Rocori (5-2) at #5 Orono (6-1)

--------------------
FWIW - seeding for most sections and classes will be done on Thursday. But - Class 6A plays a lot of games on Thursday, so their seeding won't be done until Friday.

(this is one of the times I really enjoy being retired. in my radio days, after calling a game Wednesday night, I would sit up until all hours checking for scores and trying to figure out potential section match-ups to determine what games the station would cover in the 1st round. Which meant a lot of refreshing the computer on the MN Scores-net site - and since everyone else in the state was doing the same thing, the site would often be running really slowly.......)

Pipestone and JCC in same section so playing for #1 seed to likely host rematch. Likely the same for Waseca and Fairmont.

Section 7 4A looks really competitive with 4 teams at 5-2 or better and losses being within the section.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Surprising Records this year from decent programs:

Rosemount 1-6
Mahtomedi 1-6
Hutchinson 3-4

 

[swede2]

Not trying to call out you directly maroon, but you know you hear a lot in this state. Marvin Windows gave good players families jobs, Polaris gave families jobs, Hormel gave jobs to families etc.. we used to even hear down SE MN that McNelius in Dodge Center would give families of athletes jobs to get them to town.

But upon further investigation it was always “a guy my dad knew” or “my cousins neighbors friend knew a guy.” The concrete examples of this remain elusive. And as I have aged, I wonder more and more whether massive companies, some publicly traded, actually would waste the time and resources to improve the local high school athletic programs….

I didn't take maroon's post to imply that Hormel recruited families for athletics but for employment purposes. but I can see how you could have interpreted that. Perhaps @maroonfive can clarify his comments.

I've never heard of the phenomenon you are referring, either in fact or in legend. But to the extent there is any kind of scuttlebutt about companies recruiting families for high school athletics, well - I'm fond of the saying that "there's not always a lot to see in a small town but there's plenty to hear."

 

[WoodburyTim]

I didn't take maroon's post to imply that Hormel recruited families for athletics but for employment purposes. but I can see how you could have interpreted that. Perhaps @maroonfive can clarify his comments.

I've never heard of the phenomenon you are referring, either in fact or in legend. But to the extent there is any kind of scuttlebutt about companies recruiting families for high school athletics, well - I'm fond of the saying that "there's not always a lot to see in a small town but there's plenty to hear."

Yeah I may have misinterpreted it. But I can't tell you how times I have heard the Marvin Windows/Warroad hockey rumor. But like I said, it is usually never a firsthand account.

 

[disco]

Yeah I may have misinterpreted it. But I can't tell you how times I have heard the Marvin Windows/Warroad hockey rumor. But like I said, it is usually never a firsthand account.

Agreed. That rumor has been around for a LONG time.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

a note of some interest from SW MN:

change in plans for Section Finals on Fri, Nov 1:

the Section 3AA Championship game was scheduled for 2:00pm at SMSU (Southwest Minnesota State University) in Marshall. that game has been moved to 7:00pm at Trojan field in Worthington.

reason - Marshall HS is the likely #1 seed in Sect 2AAAA. as High Seed, Marshall would host the Section Finals (assuming it reaches the section finals) and Marshall plays its home games on the SMSU field.

so the new schedule for Nov 1 at SMSU - all Section Finals
Section 3A: 10:00am
Sect 3(9-player): 12:30pm
Section 5A: 3:00pm
(stadium will be cleared after 5A game)
Section 2AAAA - 7pm

and Section 3AA - at Worthington at 7pm

this raises the question of whether Section Finals should be neutral-site games or have high seed host. for the smaller classes, I like the neutral sites - play the games on a quality (turf) field with more seating and amenities for spectators. (now, the press box at SMSU is another story - they put it on the 10-yard line.....)

 

[MaxyJR1]

a note of some interest from SW MN:

change in plans for Section Finals on Fri, Nov 1:

the Section 3AA Championship game was scheduled for 2:00pm at SMSU (Southwest Minnesota State University) in Marshall. that game has been moved to 7:00pm at Trojan field in Worthington.

reason - Marshall HS is the likely #1 seed in Sect 2AAAA. as High Seed, Marshall would host the Section Finals (assuming it reaches the section finals) and Marshall plays its home games on the SMSU field.

so the new schedule for Nov 1 at SMSU - all Section Finals
Section 3A: 10:00am
Sect 3(9-player): 12:30pm
Section 5A: 3:00pm
(stadium will be cleared after 5A game)
Section 2AAAA - 7pm

and Section 3AA - at Worthington at 7pm

this raises the question of whether Section Finals should be neutral-site games or have high seed host. for the smaller classes, I like the neutral sites - play the games on a quality (turf) field with more seating and amenities for spectators. (now, the press box at SMSU is another story - they put it on the 10-yard line.....)

I love the day of football at SMSU. If facility is adequate then I think the top seed deserves to play at home.

 

[State of Football]

Yeah I may have misinterpreted it. But I can't tell you how times I have heard the Marvin Windows/Warroad hockey rumor. But like I said, it is usually never a firsthand account.

Careful, girls hockey coach (a Marvin) just won a lawsuit against someone spreading rumors

 

[short ornery norwegian]

scores ---

1A: #5 Upsala-Swanville (7-0) at West Central Area (6-1)--Upsala-Swanville 37, W Central Area 14
--Dawson-Boyd (6-1) at #1 Minneota (7-0)-- Minneota 54, Dawson-Boyd 0

2A: Pipestone Area (6-1) at #3 Jackson County Central (7-0)-- JCC 45, Pipestone 6
--- #8 Cannon Falls (6-1) at #2 Chatfield (7-0)-- Chatfield 40, Cannon Falls 8
--- (3A) Pine Island (6-1) at #10 Caledonia (5-2)--Caledonia 40, Pine Island 0
--- #9 Holdingford (6-1) at #7 Eden Valley-Watkins (6-1)-- Eden Valley Watkins 24, Holdingford 6

3A: #3 Pequot Lakes (7-0) at (4A) Grand Rapids (5-2)--Pequot Lakes 46, Grand Rapids 17
--- #7 Morris/Chokio-Alberta (7-0) at #6 Fergus Falls (7-0)--Fergus Falls 43, Morris/C-A 20
--- #8 Fairmont (6-1) at #5 Waseca (6-1)--Waseca 20, Fairmont 19
--- #2 Dassel-Cokato (7-0) at (#3 in 4A) Princeton (7-0)--Princeton 23, Dassel-Cokato 13

4A: #10 Hermantown (6-1) at Duluth Denfeld (5-2)--Hermantown 31, Duluth Denfeld 19
--- #6 Providence Academy (5-2) at Kasson-Mantorville (5-2)--Providence Academy 14, K-M 7
--- #8 Rocori (5-2) at #5 Orono (6-1)--Rocori 22, Orono 20

 

[MaxyJR1]

Armstrong 57-56 over Andover

Wayzata 30-28 over Anoka

JCC crushed Pipestone signaling they like will be going to state barring a huge upset.

Alexandria loses second in a row. 44-34 to Elk River

Hutchinson finishes 3-5

Rocori knocks off Orono

 

[short ornery norwegian]

and just for fun: teams that went 8-0 in regular season:

9-pl: Spring Grove, LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle/Pacelli, Hills-Beaver Creek, Hancock, Nevis, Fertile-Beltrami, Fosston, Mt Iron-Buhl

1A: Goodhue, Springfield, Upsala-Swanville, Minneota, Mahnomen-Waubun

2A: Chatfield, J-C-C, Rush City, Norwood-Young America, Kimball Area, Staples-Motley, Barnum, Barnesville

3A: Stewartville, Albany, Pequot Lakes, Fergus Falls

4A: Totino-Grace, Becker, Princeton

5A: Owatonna, Two Rivers, Robbinsdale Armstrong, Moorhead

6A: Maple Grove 7-0 with game Thursday vs 6-1 Minnetonka

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Armstrong 57-56 over Andover

Wayzata 30-28 over Anoka

JCC crushed Pipestone signaling they like will be going to state barring a huge upset.

Alexandria loses second in a row. 44-34 to Elk River

Hutchinson finishes 3-5

Rocori knocks off Orono

I watched a bit of the JCC/Pipestone game. JCC actually got off to a slow start on offense. Then they turned it into the Roman Voss show. Voss runs for a TD. he catches a pass for a TD. he runs for a TD......you get the idea. Pipestone got its TD on a long pass, but that was it for what I saw. JCC had a safety when the Pipestone QB was called for intentional grounding on a pass from the end zone. for the season, JCC outscores its opponents 423-42.

 

[disco]

Not sure if he’s FBS or FCS level. They have 6-7 guys going to the Dakota schools and a few juniors visiting those schools as well.

One had a full ride offer (four year guaranteed too) to play D2, and chose a partial to run track at St. Thomas. I don't think I would have turned down graduating college with no debt.

 

[60's Guy]

Armstrong vs Andover
Over 100 points in this one ....

 

[GophersInIowa]

and just for fun: teams that went 8-0 in regular season:

9-pl: Spring Grove, LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle/Pacelli, Hills-Beaver Creek, Hancock, Nevis, Fertile-Beltrami, Fosston, Mt Iron-Buhl

This will never happen but for 9-man I think it would be better to have the top 4 teams in each section make the playoffs and then anyone that doesn't make it in the regular playoffs plays in a separate state consolation bracket. And then add a 9th regular season game.

The difference between the top and bottom teams is massive in 9-man. So we're probably going to see 8-0 Nevis play Carlton/Wrenshall in the 1st round. CW is 0-8, didn't score a single point all season and already lost a game 94-0.

9-man has more 8-0 and 0-8 teams than any of the other smaller classes.

 

[GopherPharmaBiz]

Edina 56-0 over Hopkins last night. Meyer Swinney looked outstanding. I think he had 3 TD receptions in the first quarter alone

 

[GophersInIowa]

Edina 56-0 over Hopkins last night. Meyer Swinney looked outstanding. I think he had 3 TD receptions in the first quarter alone

Did the Gophers not even offer him?

 

[Unregistered User]

Did the Gophers not even offer him?

No reason to. He wants to play with his brother at Cal.

 

[dog mustard]

Anyone know where and when the section seeding will be done?

 

[Ranger692]

Anyone know where and when the section seeding will be done?

Its done already if you look at the Minnesota scores website.

Several anomalies I saw while sifting through. A couple teams with more wins in the section actually finished with lower seeds do to the QRF tie breaker margin...

I get it with 2 team tied for same record have a tie breaker as #1 being head to head, but if a team is within the margin but also has less wins, especially in the section I find it a little strange a team with a worse record finishes with a better seed.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Its done already if you look at the Minnesota scores website.

Several anomalies I saw while sifting through. A couple teams with more wins in the section actually finished with lower seeds do to the QRF tie breaker margin...

I get it with 2 team tied for same record have a tie breaker as #1 being head to head, but if a team is within the margin but also has less wins, especially in the section I find it a little strange a team with a worse record finishes with a better seed.

Some sections choose to go strictly by QRF

 

[MaxyJR1]

Looks like the North district is going to go 1-7 in crossover games. Maple Grove over Minnetonka as only win.

Maple Grove 31-21over Minnetonka
Wayzata 30-28 over Anoka
Shakopee 29-20 over Blaine
Mounds View over STMA 37-0
WBL over Osseo 21-17
South over Champlin 20-13
Farmington over Coon Rapids 48-6

Tonight
Centennial at Rosemount