2024 MN High School Football thread

[short ornery norwegian]

6A:
(left side of bracket)
Minnetonka vs Blaine - Thurs 6pm Osseo HS
Lakeville North vs Anoka - Fri 7pm Farmington HS

(right side of bracket)
Maple Grove vs Edina - Thurs 7pm Park Center HS
Mounds View vs Shakopee - Fri 7pm Spring Lake Park HS

 

[FinnGopher]

Thanks SON. Anyone else shaking their head at the convoluted nature of the neutral sites?

Becker is playing Holy Angels so let's send both teams to Brainerd to play.

Elk River plays Monticello so let's send them to Forest Lake.

Byron is playing Marshall so let's have them play in Woodbury.

MSHSL sites make no sense.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

reminder on format:

For classes 9-player through 5A, each class will set the bracket for the Semi-Finals after the Quarter-Finals. One Semi will have the Highest-seeded remaining team from the North play the lowest-seeded remaining team from the South. The other Semi will have Highest Seeded South vs lowest-seeded North.

6A will stick to the assigned bracket.

Semis will be played at US Bank on Thurs-Sat, Nov 14-16

Thurs, 11-14
10:30am - 4A - Low South vs High North
1pm - 9-pl - Low South vs High North
4pm - 9-pl - Low North vs High South
7pm - 6A - winners of left-side bracket

Fri, 11-15
9am - 2A - Low South vs High North
11:30am - 4A - Low North vs High South
2pm - 5A - Low South vs High North
4:30pm - 2A - Low North vs High South
7:30pm - 6A - winners of right-side bracket

Sat, 11-16
9am - 1A - Low South vs High North
11:30am - 1A - Low North vs High South
2pm - 3A - Low South vs High North
4:30pm- 3A - Low North vs High South
7pm- 5A - Low North vs High South

 

[State of Football]

I don't know the solution as travel is inevitable. You need seats and turf.
Example:
No turf in Mankato. No lights at Gustavus. Those are the 4/5A sites in south central MN.

Maybe the north south split will be considered when reclassing.

Need schools with turf agreeing to host a game. Seeding is more difficult to identify who will be playing than

Thanks SON. Anyone else shaking their head at the convoluted nature of the neutral sites?

Becker is playing Holy Angels so let's send both teams to Brainerd to play.

Elk River plays Monticello so let's send them to Forest Lake.

Byron is playing Marshall so let's have them play in Woodbury.

MSHSL sites make no sense.

Sites are secured well in advance and you need HS with turf willing to host. Seeding makes it far less predictable. They had said as much when it was proposed. Look at 1A. A lot of travel

 

[short ornery norwegian]

FWIW - 9-player - Hills-Beaver Creek plays in Buffalo. That's 217 miles according to Google Maps.

northing like a nice 3-1/2 hour plus bus ride before a game.

 

[Some guy]

Thanks SON. Anyone else shaking their head at the convoluted nature of the neutral sites?

Becker is playing Holy Angels so let's send both teams to Brainerd to play.

Elk River plays Monticello so let's send them to Forest Lake.

Byron is playing Marshall so let's have them play in Woodbury.

MSHSL sites make no sense.

They need to pick sites after they know the teams. I get they need to know for logistics but….

 

[State of Football]

They need to pick sites after they know the teams. I get they need to know for logistics but….

They need more than 26 sites to choose from. School staffs aren’t going to commit and not be used. It sounds like many have their water turned off as well. You also have Alex, Blaine, Monticello and Becker playing and hosting. Have the high seed figure out where to play and forget playing on turf might be an option. Potentially not a good one though.

 

[disco]

They need more than 26 sites to choose from. School staffs aren’t going to commit and not be used. It sounds like many have their water turned off as well. You also have Alex, Blaine, Monticello and Becker playing and hosting. Have the high seed figure out where to play and forget playing on turf might be an option. Potentially not a good one though.

I don't think they'll abandon turf at this point. Anyone know when that rule went into effect?

 

[Word]

This is kind of a fake reason from what I’ve heard.
But admin like to repeat it

There was a Thursday game that got postponed to Friday this year because they couldn’t find Thursday officials

Don't know about football but is for sure an issue in soccer. Saw a varsity game get cancelled this year due to no refs. Every year numerous lower level games get played without a ref. Lower level games typically with only one ref even though there should be 3. Doesn't really depend on day of the week though.

 

[Some guy]

Don't know about football but is for sure an issue in soccer. Saw a varsity game get cancelled this year due to no refs. Every year numerous lower level games get played without a ref. Lower level games typically with only one ref even though there should be 3. Doesn't really depend on day of the week though.

Ref shortage is an issue for sure

Thursday games being a solution to ref shortage is a fake solution. At least in the metro

 

[Ope3]

Thanks SON. Anyone else shaking their head at the convoluted nature of the neutral sites?

Becker is playing Holy Angels so let's send both teams to Brainerd to play.

Elk River plays Monticello so let's send them to Forest Lake.

Byron is playing Marshall so let's have them play in Woodbury.

MSHSL sites make no sense.

This is precisely a drawback compared to how it was done previous to this year, with pre-assigned sections squaring off on a 2 year rotation.

Under the old system, could have a pre-determined neutral site more geography friendly to both sections.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I do not "know" this - but based on how the MSHSL operates - I think the "must play on turf" thing is seen as a 'fairness' issue. as in - Team A got to play on turf which provides better footing, while Team B had to play on a grass field. so the way the MSHSL thinks, the one way to be 'fair' to everyone is to mandate that all State Tournament games must be played on turf.

and to some extent, I understand it. this time of year when weather is often an issue, playing on turf generally provides a better surface and makes for a more competitive game. a number of sections in my area have gone to neutral-site games for section finals in order to play on turf fields.

 

[State of Football]

20 years ago Wayzata, Hopkins and Mounds View had turf. Now all of the top 32 enrollment schools have it.

 

[Ope3]

Thanks! Hope we aren't playing each other lol

Turns out my friends game is actually on Friday. So, I can say to you without any disclaimers, good luck to you on Thursday.

 

[WoodburyTim]

FWIW - 9-player - Hills-Beaver Creek plays in Buffalo. That's 217 miles according to Google Maps.

northing like a nice 3-1/2 hour plus bus ride before a game.

Those rich sons of bitches from Beaver Creek will charter a flight.

 

[disco]

20 years ago Wayzata, Hopkins and Mounds View had turf. Now all of the top 32 enrollment schools have it.

My son, if he continues to play through high school, will likely never play a game on a grass field.

 

[MaxyJR1]

FWIW - 9-player - Hills-Beaver Creek plays in Buffalo. That's 217 miles according to Google Maps.

northing like a nice 3-1/2 hour plus bus ride before a game.

It is the state tournament I guess so there is going to be travel.

 

[State of Football]

It is the state tournament I guess so there is going to be travel.

3 hours 26 minutes to USBank Stadium

 

[Ranger692]

I do not "know" this - but based on how the MSHSL operates - I think the "must play on turf" thing is seen as a 'fairness' issue. as in - Team A got to play on turf which provides better footing, while Team B had to play on a grass field. so the way the MSHSL thinks, the one way to be 'fair' to everyone is to mandate that all State Tournament games must be played on turf.

and to some extent, I understand it. this time of year when weather is often an issue, playing on turf generally provides a better surface and makes for a more competitive game. a number of sections in my area have gone to neutral-site games for section finals in order to play on turf fields.

I think of it from the host schools perspective also. Think if we have a week of wet weather leading up to a state tournament game your school is hosting. Now your playing surface has been basically ruined going into freeze up because of a game being played in the mud.

 

[Ranger692]

It is the state tournament I guess so there is going to be travel.

Again I think most teams, schools, coaches, family members don't care as much about the travel as they do the dates. 4 hour drives on Thursdays aren't the chore they are on Fridays.

Some of it could have been solved by not setting dates at sites months in advance but telling host schools that your game could be Thursday, Friday or Saturday depending on travel. If 2 schools are within an hour a Thursday game isn't nearly as bad as 3+ hour drive on a Friday or Saturday. I routinely drive 4 hours on Saturday to watch my son play college ball. Move that to Thursday and now I have a nightmare to deal with as far as the rest of my life goes.

MSHSL has to remember not all coaches are normal members of the school districts staff. MANY of our coaches in MN have Jobs that are outside of the district and have to deal with these oddities in scheduling... Just playing more of these games on Fridays cleans up a ton of extra nonsense

 

[MaxyJR1]

Again I think most teams, schools, coaches, family members don't care as much about the travel as they do the dates. 4 hour drives on Thursdays aren't the chore they are on Fridays.

Some of it could have been solved by not setting dates at sites months in adjacence but telling host schools that your game could be Thursday, Friday or Saturday depending on travel. If 2 schools are within an hour a Thursday game isn't nearly as bad as 3+ hour drive on a Friday or Saturday. I routinely drive 4 hours on Saturday to watch my son play college ball. Move that to Thursday and now I have a nightmare to deal with as far as the rest of my life goes.

MSHSL has to remember not all coaches are normal members of the school districts staff. MANY of our coaches in MN have Jobs that are outside of the district and have to deal with these oddities in scheduling... Just playing more of these games on Fridays cleans up a ton of extra nonsense

I agree. I think it will be addressed during the next round of reclassification and tweaked for next year. Definitely some location issues this year.

1A Examples:
Deer River and Mahnomen at Becker, 3 hours each. Bemidji is halfway between the two schools.

Goodhue and Springfield at Rochester Mayo. Owatonna maybe better, but not a ton of options. JWP or New Ulm.

Upsala and Parkers Prairie each driving nearly 4 hours for a game that should be at Alexandria

Minneota and Lester Prairie at Jordan could be at Willmar.

They need more locations in their pool of hosts

 

[Maverick_52]

I don't know the solution as travel is inevitable. You need seats and turf.
Example:
No turf in Mankato. No lights at Gustavus. Those are the 4/5A sites in south central MN.

Maybe the north south split will be considered when reclassing.

I don't know how Mankato doesn't have a turf field. The fact that JWP with an enrollment of 211 has one and East or West doesn't is pretty bad. Almost every other school in the Big 9 has had a turf field for 10 plus years it seems like.

 

[State of Football]

I don't know how Mankato doesn't have a turf field. The fact that JWP with an enrollment of 211 has one and East or West doesn't is pretty bad. Almost every other school in the Big 9 has had a turf field for 10 plus years it seems like.

Their community said no in their last bond referendum.

 

[State of Football]

Again I think most teams, schools, coaches, family members don't care as much about the travel as they do the dates. 4 hour drives on Thursdays aren't the chore they are on Fridays.

Some of it could have been solved by not setting dates at sites months in advance but telling host schools that your game could be Thursday, Friday or Saturday depending on travel. If 2 schools are within an hour a Thursday game isn't nearly as bad as 3+ hour drive on a Friday or Saturday. I routinely drive 4 hours on Saturday to watch my son play college ball. Move that to Thursday and now I have a nightmare to deal with as far as the rest of my life goes.

MSHSL has to remember not all coaches are normal members of the school districts staff. MANY of our coaches in MN have Jobs that are outside of the district and have to deal with these oddities in scheduling... Just playing more of these games on Fridays cleans up a ton of extra nonsense

And then have a day less of rest or practice for teams playing on Thursday? That sounds like a school: coach issue. You’ll have to do so at USBank anyways. You can’t only have Friday/saturday games with not knowing teams hosting who are in the tournament.

 

[MaxyJR1]

4A:
(1S) Totino-Grace vs (4S) Hill-Murray - Thurs 5:30pm Blaine HS
(2N) Hermantown vs (3N) Orono - Thurs 6pm Alexandria HS
(2S) Byron vs (3S) Marshall - Thurs 6pm East Ridge HS
(1N) Becker vs (4N) Holy Angels - Thurs 7pm Brainerd HS

Former Kill assistant Rob Reeves is the Hill Murray HC and his kid is the QB.

 

[Ope3]

I don't know how Mankato doesn't have a turf field. The fact that JWP with an enrollment of 211 has one and East or West doesn't is pretty bad. Almost every other school in the Big 9 has had a turf field for 10 plus years it seems like.

Several Big 9 schools still play on natural grass in addition to Mankato East & West:

Northfield
Faribault
Rochester Century
Rochester John Marshall

I'm not sure about Austin, Albert Lea & Red Wing because they are no longer in the same district, but all had grass the last time I was at each.

I think the only 2 with artificial turf are Mayo & Owatonna, and the Huskies new stadium is only 1 year old.

EDIT Update - Albert Lea, Austin & Winona (Paul Giel Field) have artificial turf to go along with Mayo and Owatonna (new stadium 1 year ago), just from some internet research, so about 50-50 from the Big 9 (5 of 12). Red Wing looks like still grass.

 

[MaxyJR1]

5A:
(2N) Robbinsdale Armstrong vs (3N) Alexandria - Sat 11am Monticello HS
(2S) Chanhassen vs (3S) St. Thomas Academy - Sat Noon Osseo HS
(1S) Owatonna vs (4S) Cretin-Derham Hall - Sat 1pm Eastview HS
(1N) Elk River vs (4N) Monticello - Sat 4pm Forest Lake HS

Armstrong and Alexandria the must watch here.

 

[MaxyJR1]

3A:
(1N) Fergus Falls vs (4N) Albany - Fri 6pm Alexandria HS
(1S) Stewartville vs (4S) Holy Family Catholic - Sat Noon Totino-Grace HS
(2S) Dassel-Cokato vs (3S) Fairmont - Sat 3pm Mpls Washburn HS
(2N) Pequot Lakes vs (3N) Annandale - Sat 7pm Rocori HS

Stewartville the top dog here. We'll see if anyone can trip them up.

 

[MaxyJR1]

1A:
(1N) Upsala-Swanville vs (4N) Parkers Prairie - Thurs 6pm Rock Ridge HS
(2S) Goodhue vs (3S) Springfield - Thurs 7pm Rochester Mayo HS
(2N) Mahnomen-Waubun vs (3N) Deer River - Fri 7pm Becker HS
(1S) Minneota vs (4S) Lester Prairie - Fri 5:30pm Jordan HS

South is loaded so good thing they cross over for semi-finals.

 

[MaxyJR1]

2A:
(2N) Barnesville vs (3N) Staples-Motley - Thurs 7pm St Cloud Tech HS
(1S) Chatfield vs (4S) Triton - Thurs 7pm Hastings HS
(1N) Kimball Area vs (4N) Moose Lake-Willow River - Fri 7pm Brainerd HS
(2S) Jackson County Central vs (3S) Norwood-Young America - Fri 7pm Orono HS

Again liking the cross over for the semi-finals here.