2024 MN High School Football thread

[GopherGrit]

I still wonder with the move to free lunch for all students, what this will do to reporting for free/reduced as it pertains to MSHSL enrollment numbers. I know it's been said that it will still somehow be reported, but I can't help but think it won't be accurate.

Replace it with percentage of students who live in a household making less than X$ per year? Wild guess, could be wrong.

 

[Maverick_52]

Will be at Wilson Field tonight in Blue Earth to check out maybe the best player in the state in Roman Voss of Jackson County Central. Gonna be an ugly game but I want to see this kid play.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Have now seen Lakeville North and Eagan up close and Eagan was way more impressive than North. I don't think Eagan can throw but their offense is really tough to stop and their QB is a heck of an athlete. Dude is shifty in space and very good at making defenders miss.

 

[State of Football]

Although I appreciate some good skepticism, this data relates to funding for schools. It's reported accurately for many reasons above and beyond athletics.

 

[Ope3]

Agree that it's really early. I don't think JM will sustain.

JM 35-28 over Apple Valley
Mank. East 57-0 over Apple Valley.

Having seen them now in person, Roch JM's improvement is definitely validated. They handled Northfield last night 28-6.

It was close at half, 7-6 but after the Rockets stopped the Raiders after getting the 2nd half kick they dominated. Could have been running time but JM had 2 TDs nullified by penalty.

While JM doesn't have a large roster, they are solid at the skilled positions. Although a Top 10 ranking in the State might be a bit overstated, they can probably manage an otherwise pretty soft section besides Owatonna. A Section Final appearance should be highly attainable.

Northfield is definitely in a down cycle.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Mankato East loses 7-6 to Chaska and West beat Waconia 17-14 on a last minute FG. Top 4 teams in that section are all 2-1. Chanhassen is 1-2 with losses to ElK River and Owatonna.


TG beats Hutch 21-20 in OT in 4A

Only 3-0 teams in 6A left.

Minnetonka
Shakopee
Maple Grove
Lakeville North

A bit surprising that MG only won 21-14 over Centennial. Anoka handled Blaine 27-14, with Blaine scoring on last play of the game.

It’s fun to see 6A pretty wide open. Cross over games will be interesting

Maple Grove and Minnetonka
Blaine and Shakopee
Centennial and Rosemount
Anoka and Wayzata

 

[disco]

Having seen them now in person, their improvement is definitely validated. They handled Northfield last night 28-6.

It was close at half, 7-6 but after the Rockets stopped the Raiders after getting the 2nd half kick they dominated. Could have been running time but JM had 2 TDs nullified by penalty.

While JM doesn't have a large roster, they are solid at the skilled positions. Although a Top 10 ranking in the State might be a bit overstated, they can probably manage an otherwise pretty soft section besides Owatonna. A Section Final appearance should be highly attainable.

Northfield is definitely in a down cycle.

AV is not good. They lost to St. Louis Park last night.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Scores from Friday night updated -- Minneota is still Minneota. Waseca surprised me - heck of a defensive effort to hold down Marshall. Caledonia falls to Chatfield.

A: Minneota (#1 in AP poll) vs BOLD (#3 in AP poll) -- Minneota 42, BOLD 14

3A: Waseca (#10 in 3A) at Marshall (#5 in 4A) -- Waseca 20, Marshall 14

going statewide - a few to watch. big game in 2A and a couple big games in 4A

9-man: Kittson County Central (2-0) at Fosston (2-0) -- Fosston 32, Kittson County Central 27
----Cromwell-Wright (2-0) at Bertha-Hewitt (2-0)-- Cromwell-Wright 33, Bertha-Hewitt 27

A: Deer River (2-0) at Barnum (2-0) -- Barnum 38, Deer River 13
---Blooming Prairie (2-0) at Wabasha-Kellogg (2-0) -- Blooming Prairie 49, Wabasha-Kellogg 23
---Ada-Borup (2-0) at #4 Mahnomen-Waubun (2-0) -- Mahnomen-Waubun 22, Ada-Borup 21
---KMS (2-0) at (#7) Browerville-Eagle Valley (2-0) *KMS is a 2A team -- Browerville 26, KMS 19

2A: International Falls (2-0) at Mesabi East (2-0) --International Falls 34, Mesabi East 26
---Pelican Rapids (2-0) at #2 Barnesville (2-0) -- Barnesville 38, Pelican Rapids 16
---Deer River (2-0) at Barnum (2-0) -- Barnum 38, Deer River 13
---Kimball Area (2-0) at Paynesville (2-0) -- Kimball Area 36, Paynesville 6
---#10 WEM (2-0) at Lester Prairie (2-0) -- Lester Prairie 26, WEM 20
--- #1 Caledonia (2-0) at #6 Chatfield (2-0) -- Chatfield 20, Caledonia 13

3A: #6 Pequot Lakes (2-0) at Two Harbors (2-0) -- Pequot Lakes 35, Two Harbors 14
---#8 St. Croix Lutheran (2-0) at #5 Holy Family Catholic (2-0) -- Holy Family 36, St. Croix 15

4A: Fergus Falls (2-0) at #6 Detroit Lakes (2-0) -- Fergus Falls 35, Detroit Lakes 21
---#4 Totino-Grace (2-0) at #1 Hutchinson (2-0) -- Totino-Grace 21, Hutchinson 20
---#2 Becker (2-0) at #9 Holy Angels (2-0) -- Becker 14, Holy Angels 0

 

[MNVCGUY]

Mankato East loses 7-6 to Chaska and West beat Waconia 17-14 on a last minute FG. Top 4 teams in that section are all 2-1. Chanhassen is 1-2 with losses to ElK River and Owatonna.


TG beats Hutch 21-20 in OT in 4A

Only 3-0 teams in 6A left.

Minnetonka
Shakopee
Maple Grove
Lakeville North

A bit surprising that MG only won 21-14 over Centennial. Anoka handled Blaine 27-14, with Blaine scoring on last play of the game.

It’s fun to see 6A pretty wide open. Cross over games will be interesting

Maple Grove and Minnetonka
Blaine and Shakopee
Centennial and Rosemount
Anoka and Wayzata

Definitely doesn't feel like there is a dominant team in 6A right now.

 

[State of Football]

Congratulations to Hopkins on beating Eastview. New coach at Hopkins is obviously doing great things. It’s only one win but they have basketball athletes playing football. Love the 6A schedule pitting teams of like ability matched up against each other.

 

[GopherPharmaBiz]

Congratulations to Hopkins on beating Eastview. New coach at Hopkins is obviously doing great things. It’s only one win but they have basketball athletes playing football. Love the 6A schedule pitting teams of like ability matched up against each other.

Thanks for calling this out. Last win for Hopkins was in November 2020. This was big for them. New coach likely helping and cool to see they brought in former Gopher QB Bryan Cupito as their OC (his daughter is a very good basketball player for them)

 

[State of Football]

Thanks for calling this out. Last win for Hopkins was in November 2020. This was big for them. New coach likely helping and cool to see they brought in former Gopher QB Bryan Cupito as their OC (his daughter is a very good basketball player for them)

Great to hear Cupito is involved and still living here. Sid would be proud

 

[swede2]

Will be at Wilson Field tonight in Blue Earth to check out maybe the best player in the state in Roman Voss of Jackson County Central. Gonna be an ugly game but I want to see this kid play.

How'd he look? PJ made him his first FBS offer but he's getting lots of interest far and wide.

JCC has a 6'7" almost 300 pounder, Weston Rowe, getting DI interest as well, including P4 game day invites. Athletic kid who excels on the basketball court as well. It's hard to judge guys playing on the line especially against inferior competition so I assume if you noticed him, he was wrecking the guy across the line from him.

 

[prespsguy]

Weekly 6A Picks:

Lakeville South @ Eagan
Lakeville North @ Farmington
Rosemount @ Rochester Mayo
Hopkins @ Burnsville
Osseo @ Blaine
Eastview @ Buffalo
St. Michael- Albertville @ Centennial
Coon Rapids @ Champlain Park
Anoka @ Maple Grove
Roseville @ Park of Cottage Grove
Minnetonka @ Prior Lake
Eden Prairie @ Shakopee
Mounds View @ Stillwater
Edina @ Wayzata
Forest Lake @ White Bear Lake
East Ridge @ Woodbury

 

[MaxyJR1]

State Rankings by Class

Two unanimous No. 1 teams, Stewartville in Class 3A and Minneota in Class 1A, emerge in the high school football state rankings

Elk River, ranked first in Class 5A, received all but one first-place vote, and Nevis remained atop Nine-Player. New in the top spot this week: Lakeville North in 6A, Becker in 4A and Barnesville in 2A.

www.startribune.com

6A
1. Lakeville North (7), 3-0, 115
2. Maple Grove (3), 3-0, 105
3. Minnetonka (2), 3-0, 102
4. Edina 2-1, 77
5. Shakopee 3-0, 76
6. Eden Prairie 2-1, 62
7. Eagan 2-1, 39
8, Anoka 2-1, 20
9. Lakeville South 1-2 19
10. Stillwater 2-1, 17
Others receiving votes: Mounds View 12, Blaine 7, Sr. Michael-Albertville 5, Farmington, Buffalo 2, Rosemount 2.

5A
1. Elk River
2. Alexandria 3-0, 105
3. Moorhead (1), 3-0, 91
4. Owatonna 3-0, 85
5. Robbinsdale Armstrong 3-0, 64
6. Andover 2-1, 51
7. Rochester John Marshall 3-0, 36
8. Waconia 2-1, 31
9. Mankato West 2-1, 26
10. Mankato East 2-1, 15
Others receiving votes: Two Rivers 12, Chaska 10, Minneapolis Washburn 8, St. Thomas Academy 5, Sauk Rapids-Rice 2, Monticello 1.
CLASS 4A
1. Becker (9), 3-0, 116
2. Totino-Grace (3), 3-0, 105
3. Orono 3-0, 100
4. Hutchinson 2-1, 68
5. Mound Westonka (1), 3-0, 63
6. Duluth Denfeld 3-0, 36
7. Providence Academy 2-1, 30
8. Byron 2-1, 27
9. Princeton 3-0, 26
10. New Ulm 3-0, 24
Others receiving votes: Holy Angels 15, Kasson-Mantorville 10, Marshall 10, North Branch 10, Detroit Lakes 7, St. Paul Johnson 5, Chisago Lakes 4, Hermantown 1.
CLASS 3A
1. Stewartville (12), 3-0, 120
2. Dassel-Cokato 3-0, 103
3. Fairmont 3-0, 82
4. Albany 3-0, 80
5. Holy Family 3-0, 73
6. Pequot Lakes 3-0, 69
7. Pine Island 3-0, 34
8. Pierz 3-0, 31
9. Waseca 2-1, 30
8. Fergus Falls 3-0, 16
Others receiving votes: Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 10, Annandale 6, East Grand Forks 5, Esko 3, Luverne 3, St. Croix Lutheran 3.
CLASS 2A
1. Barnesville (6), 3-0, 107
2. Eden Valley-Watkins (2), 3-0, 101
3. Chatfield (4), 3-0, 99
4. Jackson Co. Central 3-0, 70
5. Cannon Falls 3-0, 69
6. Caledonia 2-1, 47
7. Triton 3-0, 43
8. Holdingford 3-0, 42
9. Norwood Young America 3-0, 36
10. Barnum 3-0, 11
Others receiving votes: International Falls 10, Kimball Area 6, Randolph 6, St. Agnes 3 Lester Prairie 2, Staples-Motley 2.
CLASS 1A
1. Minneota (12), 3-0, 120
2. Springfield 3-0, 90
3. Mahnomen/Waubun 3-0, 88
4. Goodhue 3-0, 82
5. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 3-0, 56
6. (tie) Parkers Prairie 3-0, 41
6. (tie) Dawson-Boyd 3-0, 41
8. Browerville/Eagle Valley 3-0, 40
9. BOLD 2-1, 36
10. Upsala/Swanville 3-0, 20
Others receiving votes: Blooming Prairie 17; Ada-Borup West 6, Fillmore Central 5, Lester Prairie 3, Red Lake County 3.
NINE-PLAYER
1. Nevis (7), 3-0, 115
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (4), 3-0, 106
3. Fertile-Beltrami (1), 3-0, 93
4. Hills-Beaver Creek 3-0, 78
5. Cherry 3-0, 58
6. Verndale 3-0, 50
7. Leroy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli 3-0, 47
8. Spring Grove 3-0, 38
9. Goodridge/Grygla 3-0, 29
10. Fosston 3-0, 10
Others receiving votes: Hancock 9, Mountain Lake Area 6, Stephen-Argyle 5, Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 4, Kingsland 4, Cromwell-Wright 3, Ogilvie 3, Houston 2.

Also first QRF rankings are out.

Football

www.minnesota-scores.net

 

[MaxyJR1]

Weekly 6A Picks:

Lakeville South @ Eagan
Lakeville North @ Farmington
Rosemount @ Rochester Mayo
Hopkins @ Burnsville
Osseo @ Blaine
Eastview @ Buffalo
St. Michael- Albertville @ Centennial
Coon Rapids @ Champlain Park
Anoka @ Maple Grove
Roseville @ Park of Cottage Grove
Minnetonka @ Prior Lake
Eden Prairie @ Shakopee
Mounds View @ Stillwater
Edina @ Wayzata
Forest Lake @ White Bear Lake
East Ridge @ Woodbury

I'll take Stillwater and Lakeville South.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

just for fun - differences in QRF vs AP rankings - some of the biggest discrepancies seem to be in the smaller classes.

6A: Lakeville South - 9 in AP - 16 in QRF
-- Stillwater - 10 in AP - 6 in QRF
-- Eagan - 7 in AP - 11 in QRF

5A: Andover - 6 in AP - 14 in QRF
-- Washburn - NR in AP - 7 in QRF
-- Mankato East - 10 in AP - 20 in QRF

4A: St. Paul Johnson - NR in AP - tied 2 in QRF
-- Byron - 8 in AP - 13 in QRF

3A: Pequot Lakes - 6 in AP - 2 in QRF
-- Fergus Falls - 10 in AP - 3 in QRF
-- Fairmont - 3 in AP - 9 in QRF

2A: Kimball Area - NR in AP - 2 in QRF
-- Jackson County Central - 4 in AP - 14 in QRF
-- Caledonia - 6 in AP - 20 in QRF
-- Triton - 7 in AP - 16 in QRF

1A: Minneota - 1 in AP - 7 in QRF
-- Mahnomen-Waubun - 3 in AP - 12 in QRF
-- Browerville/Eagle Valley - 8 in AP - 2 in QRF
-- Goodhue - 4 in AP - 1 in QRF

9-pl - Nevis - 1 in AP - tie 5th in QRF
-- Mountain Iron-Buhl - 2 in AP - tied 15 in QRF
-- Hills-Beaver Creek - 4 in AP - tied 9 in QRF
--Goodridge/Grygla - 9 in AP - tied 1 in QRF
-- Fosston - 10 in AP - tied 1 in QRF

 

[GophersInIowa]

one thing I noted - there are 4 schools that each received a 1st-place vote, but did not finish in the top 10 in their class:
Park of Cottage Grove in 6A, Blooming Prairie & Fillmore Central in 1A, and Hancock in 9-man.

According to the Strib, each voter picks a top 10 in each class. No. 1-ranked teams get 10 points, No. 2s get 9, etc.

So in 6A, Park got the one 1st-place vote - and no other votes from the other 11 people voting in the poll. that's......interesting.

in 9-man, six different teams each got at least one vote for 1st place.

early in the year, and some classes with no consensus - but in 3A, Stewartville received every 1st-place vote.

in case anyone is wondering - here are the voters:

Jim Paulsen, MN Star-Tribune; Randy Shaver, Talk North; Gary Giombetti, Mesabi Daily News; Ron Haggstrom, Minnesota Star Tribune; Jamey Malcomb, Duluth News Tribune; Joe Brown, West Central Tribune; Brian Jerzak, PrepRedZone; Steve Thomson, WCCO Radio; Chad Courrier, Mankato Free Press; David La Vaque, Minnesota Star Tribune; Pat Ruff, Rochester Post Bulletin; Jace Frederick, St. Paul Pioneer Press.

by my count that's 6 metro voters (could be 7 - don't know where PrepRedZone is headquartered)
other voters from Virginia, Duluth, Willmar, Mankato and Rochester.

Surprising at 6A. Not surprising at the low levels. A writer from Duluth isn't going to know much about Fillmore or Hancock, or really any of the small schools in those areas.

 

[Some guy]

just for fun - differences in QRF vs AP rankings - some of the biggest discrepancies seem to be in the smaller classes.

6A: Lakeville South - 9 in AP - 16 in QRF
-- Stillwater - 10 in AP - 6 in QRF
-- Eagan - 7 in AP - 11 in QRF

5A: Andover - 6 in AP - 14 in QRF
-- Washburn - NR in AP - 7 in QRF
-- Mankato East - 10 in AP - 20 in QRF

4A: St. Paul Johnson - NR in AP - tied 2 in QRF
-- Byron - 8 in AP - 13 in QRF

3A: Pequot Lakes - 6 in AP - 2 in QRF
-- Fergus Falls - 10 in AP - 3 in QRF
-- Fairmont - 3 in AP - 9 in QRF

2A: Kimball Area - NR in AP - 2 in QRF
-- Jackson County Central - 4 in AP - 14 in QRF
-- Caledonia - 6 in AP - 20 in QRF
-- Triton - 7 in AP - 16 in QRF

1A: Minneota - 1 in AP - 7 in QRF
-- Mahnomen-Waubun - 3 in AP - 12 in QRF
-- Browerville/Eagle Valley - 8 in AP - 2 in QRF
-- Goodhue - 4 in AP - 1 in QRF

9-pl - Nevis - 1 in AP - tie 5th in QRF
-- Mountain Iron-Buhl - 2 in AP - tied 15 in QRF
-- Hills-Beaver Creek - 4 in AP - tied 9 in QRF
--Goodridge/Grygla - 9 in AP - tied 1 in QRF
-- Fosston - 10 in AP - tied 1 in QRF

QRF is a bit broken in 6a due to the inflation of the maroon division teams aka “relief”

So teams who have played Buffalo will have inflated QRF by the end, as will Buffalo.

 

[Some guy]

I'll take Stillwater and Lakeville South.

I predicted the south metro circle of party. Someone has to beat north, may as well be farmington this week.

Also think mayo can hang with rosemount. Would pick Rosemount but if mayo gets an early lead watch out.

 

[Maverick_52]

How'd he look? PJ made him his first FBS offer but he's getting lots of interest far and wide.

JCC has a 6'7" almost 300 pounder, Weston Rowe, getting DI interest as well, including P4 game day invites. Athletic kid who excels on the basketball court as well. It's hard to judge guys playing on the line especially against inferior competition so I assume if you noticed him, he was wrecking the guy across the line from him.

He reminds me of a more athletic Maxx Williams. I think he will play TE at the next level too. Looks like a man amongst boys playing 2A. Would be a huge get for PJ but he's gonna have a lot of competition. Heading into his junior season he had 8 Power 5 offers. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa. Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, Illinois and Cal. That # should grow a lot in the next year.

 

[dog mustard]

He reminds me of a more athletic Maxx Williams. I think he will play TE at the next level too. Looks like a man amongst boys playing 2A. Would be a huge get for PJ but he's gonna have a lot of competition. Heading into his junior season he had 8 Power 5 offers. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa. Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, Illinois and Cal. That # should grow a lot in the next year.

Definitely seems warm on Iowa unfortunately

 

[swede2]

Definitely seems warm on Iowa unfortunately

How so?

 

[dog mustard]

How so?

Heard rumblings from a different topic a while back and this from the other day now. Hopefully I’m wrong

 

[BleedGopher]

This is a great story:


Go Gophers!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Heard rumblings from a different topic a while back and this from the other day now. Hopefully I’m wrong

It will be a big surprise if Roman doesn’t end up at Iowa.

Go Gophers!!

 

[MNVCGUY]

I'll take Stillwater and Lakeville South.

Don't sleep on Eagan....they may surprise some people this year. I know they dropped their opener to Edina but will be interesting to see how they do against the Lakeville schools over the next two weeks.

North sitting in the #1 spot really underscores how wide open 6A is this year because North is good but they aren't #1 good.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Recruits these day send out the same tweet after every visit - "Had a great time. Thanks for the invitation. Look forward to learning more about your school."

it's like a form letter. I don't put any meaning on it.

I think what matters more to a kid like Voss is how each school sees him fitting into their system and what position they see him playing. If TE is truly where he sees himself in college, then a school like Iowa makes sense because of its track record for turning out really good TE's. But if he doesn't see himself as a TE in college, then maybe Iowa doesn't make as much sense.

 

[prespsguy]

Recruits these day send out the same tweet after every visit - "Had a great time. Thanks for the invitation. Look forward to learning more about your school."

it's like a form letter. I don't put any meaning on it.

I think what matters more to a kid like Voss is how each school sees him fitting into their system and what position they see him playing. If TE is truly where he sees himself in college, then a school like Iowa makes sense because of its track record for turning out really good TE's. But if he doesn't see himself as a TE in college, then maybe Iowa doesn't make as much sense.

Followed by: "After an amazing conversation/visit with Coach_____ I am extremely blessed to receive an offer from _________ University. I cannot thank you enough for the amazing opportunity. @# my mom @# my dad @# my HS coaches @# my HS teammates.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Replace it with percentage of students who live in a household making less than X$ per year? Wild guess, could be wrong.

They still report the number of students who would be eligible for free and reduced lunch to the feds for the portion of the lunch that would be covered by the feds.