2024 MN High School Football thread

Football state rankings​

First-place votes in parentheses, record, total points
CLASS 6A
1. Lakeville North (6), 4-0, 113
2. Maple Grove (4), 4-0, 107
3. Minnetonka (2), 4-0, 100
4. (tie) Shakopee, 4-0, 80
4. (tie) Edina, 3-1, 80
6. Eagan, 3-1, 55
7. Stillwater, 3-1, 42
8. Eden Prairie, 2-2, 33
9. Blaine, 3-1, 25
10. Anoka, 2-2, 8
Also receiving votes: Buffalo 7, Centennial 5, Lakeville South 3, St. Michael-Albertville 2.
CLASS 5A
1. Alexandria (9), 4-0, 117
2. Moorhead (2), 4-0, 106
3. Owatonna (1), 4-0, 91
4. Andover, 3-1, 78
5. Robbinsdale Armstrong, 4-0, 60
6. Elk River, 3-1, 59
7. Mankato West, 3-1, 53
8. Mankato East 3-1 29
9. St. Thomas Academy, 3-1, 16
10. Two Rivers, 4-0, 15
Also receiving votes: Minneapolis Washburn 9, Chanhassen 8, Rochester John Marshall 7, Chaska 6, Waconia 4, Monticello 1, Rogers 1
CLASS 4A
1. Becker (10), 4-0, 117
2. Totino-Grace (2), 4-0, 106
3. Orono, 4-0, 97
4. Duluth Denfeld, 4-0, 72
5. Providence Academy, 3-1, 67
6. Princeton, 4-0, 43
7. Byron, 3-1, 38
8. Hutchinson, 2-2, 23
9. Mound-Westonka, 3-1, 21
10. Rocori, 3-1, 15
Also receiving votes: North Branch 11, Detroit Lakes 10, Holy Angels 8, Kasson-Mantorville 8, Hill-Murray 5, St. Paul Johnson 5, Chisago Lakes 3, Marshall 3, Hermantown 1, New Ulm 1
CLASS 3A
1. Stewartville (12), 4-0, 120
2. Dassel-Cokato, 4-0, 104
3. Fairmont, 4-0, 84
4. Albany, 4-0, 78
5, Pequot Lakes, 4-0, 74
6. Holy Family, 4-0, 65
7. Waseca , 3-1, 41
8. Fergus Falls, 4-0, 35
9, (tie) Morris/Chokio-Alb., 4-0, 16
9. (tie) Pine Island, 3-1, 16
Also receiving votes: Pierz 11, Annandale 8, Luverne 8, Worthington 1
CLASS 2A
1. Barnesville (8), 4-0, 112
2. Eden Valley-Watkins, (1) 4-0, 103
3. Chatfield (3), 4-0, 98
4. Jackson County Central, 4-0, 82
5. Caledonia, 3-1, 54
6. Triton, 4-0, 49
7. Holdingford, 4-0, 44
8. Norwood Young America, 4-0, 36
9. Barnum, 4-0, 24
10. Cannon Falls, 3-1, 22
Also receiving votes: International Falls 15, Kimball Area 15, Pipestone Area 2, St. Agnes 1.
CLASS 1A
1. Minneota (12), 4-0, 120
2. Springfield, 4-0, 103
3. Mahnomen/Waubun, 4-0, 87
4. Goodhue, 4-0, 85
5. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 4-0, 66
6. Dawson-Boyd, 4-0, 51
7. Parkers Prairie, 4-0, 44
8. Upsala/Swanville, 4-0, 36
9. BOLD, 3-1, 33
10. Lester Prairie, 4-0, 10
Also receiving votes: Ada-Borup-West 9, Blooming Prairie 7, Fillmore Central 5, Browerville-Eagle Valley 2, Red Lake County 2.
NINE-PLAYER
1. Nevis (8), 4-0, 116
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (3), 4-0, 103
3. Fertile-Beltrami (1), 4-0, 86
4. Hills-Beaver Creek, 4-0, 78
5. Cherry, 4-0, 60
6. LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-P, 4-0, 59
7. Spring Grove, 4-0, 50
8. Goodridge/Grygla, 4-0, 35
9. Fosston, 4-0, 19
10. Hancock, 4-0, 13
Also receiving votes: Kingsland 8, Mountain Lake Area 7, Stephen-Argyle 7, Bertha-Hewitt 6, Cromwell-Wright 5, Verndale 5.
Are there any teams in 9-man that have lost this year?
 

Eagan with the nice 2 pt win over Lakeville South and North with a 27-20 win over Farmington. Rosemount and Roch. Mayo were ppd. due to weather.

Eagan and North clash next Friday night at Lakeville North.
As a multi-decade resident and parent of two graduates, it's a little strange to see Eagan football do well. Aside from a couple of .500-ish years - and I mean a couple - they've been downright bad.

Just to add some color to the 2-point win over LS, Eagan had scored 21 unanswered to go up 35-27. LS scored with about 2 min left, went for two and failed, onside kicked and recovered (!), and was thwarted by an INT at the 7-yard line with 50 sec left. Heart stopper.

That was at home. At LN, I just don't think they'll have the same fortune.
 

As a multi-decade resident and parent of two graduates, it's a little strange to see Eagan football do well. Aside from a couple of .500-ish years - and I mean a couple - they've been downright bad.

Just to add some color to the 2-point win over LS, Eagan had scored 21 unanswered to go up 35-27. LS scored with about 2 min left, went for two and failed, onside kicked and recovered (!), and was thwarted by an INT at the 7-yard line with 50 sec left. Heart stopper.

That was at home. At LN, I just don't think they'll have the same fortune.
Hiring a competent coach matters. LN is banged up right now. 6A is wide open
 


Maybe, but the team I am close to is Rosemount and this is not a very good Rosemount team compared to previous years and yet they were right there with North who is supposedly the #1 team according to the rankings.
Maybe that just speaks to the fragility of Lakeville North's #1 ranking more than anything? From what I've seen, Shakopee, Minnetonka, and Edina are very, very good teams. They each field 22 solid football players. True, they may get banged up in the latter half of the season, and we will see if they can weather that, but right now I see them all as much better than just good. I honestly don't know much about Maple Grove as I have not seen them up close yet, but to have 11 Division-1 kids would imply the current state of the top 6A schools is as good as it's been in years. Mason West and Meyer Swinney at Edina are as elite a QB-WR combo as I can remember. I could be wrong (I often am, lol) but those four teams right now would all easily be contending for a state title five, ten, or 15 years ago.
 


Maybe that just speaks to the fragility of Lakeville North's #1 ranking more than anything? From what I've seen, Shakopee, Minnetonka, and Edina are very, very good teams. They each field 22 solid football players. True, they may get banged up in the latter half of the season, and we will see if they can weather that, but right now I see them all as much better than just good. I honestly don't know much about Maple Grove as I have not seen them up close yet, but to have 11 Division-1 kids would imply the current state of the top 6A schools is as good as it's been in years. Mason West and Meyer Swinney at Edina are as elite a QB-WR combo as I can remember. I could be wrong (I often am, lol) but those four teams right now would all easily be contending for a state title five, ten, or 15 years ago.
I think I would currently rate lakeville north 5th if I had a ranking.
1) maple grove
2) shakopee
3) minnetonka
4) Edina
5) North
6) Eagan
7) Stillwater
8) Blaine
9) Eden Prairie
10) Farmington

Would be my top 10


I think the 2017 season had maybe 15-20 teams that could be 5th this year.
 


Maybe that just speaks to the fragility of Lakeville North's #1 ranking more than anything? From what I've seen, Shakopee, Minnetonka, and Edina are very, very good teams. They each field 22 solid football players. True, they may get banged up in the latter half of the season, and we will see if they can weather that, but right now I see them all as much better than just good. I honestly don't know much about Maple Grove as I have not seen them up close yet, but to have 11 Division-1 kids would imply the current state of the top 6A schools is as good as it's been in years. Mason West and Meyer Swinney at Edina are as elite a QB-WR combo as I can remember. I could be wrong (I often am, lol) but those four teams right now would all easily be contending for a state title five, ten, or 15 years ago.
I would definitely agree that North at #1 is probably not correct this year as they are nothing special. Will be fun to see how it all plays out. Haven't seen the trio of Shakopee, Minnetonka or Edina in action yet this year but will get a look at Shakopee in a few weeks.
 

13 4-0 team in 9 person.

some of that is due to geography and scheduling. if you look at the 9-people Districts, they tend to be clustered in the corners and borders of the state - where the smaller schools are located. so the good teams from one District don't face the good teams from another District. and depending on the number of teams in a district, the schedule may dictate that good teams in the same district don't face each other.

in SE MN, LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle/Pacelli and Spring Grove are 4-0. they don't play each other in the regular season.

up north, Fertile-Beltrami and Fosston are 4-0. they don't meet in the regular season.

but there are other pending matchups of teams that are currently 4-0. Mt Lake Area and Hills-Beaver Creek will face off later in the year. #1 Nevis will face Cromwell-Wright. #2 Mountain Iron-Buhl will face #5 Cherry. #8 Goodridge-Grygla-Gatzke will face Stephen-Argyle.

so the number of undefeated teams will drop as the season continues.
 



Maybe, but the team I am close to is Rosemount and this is not a very good Rosemount team compared to previous years and yet they were right there with North who is supposedly the #1 team according to the rankings.
The North game was misleading. North made mistakes & Rosemount cashed-in, but by halftime North was back on top and had the momentum. The score looked close, but LN could have easily put up another TD at the end of the game, but decided to kneel on it.

This is a very down year for Rosemount. Not much top-end talent anywhere on the field. No depth. No special athletes.
 

The North game was misleading. North made mistakes & Rosemount cashed-in, but by halftime North was back on top and had the momentum. The score looked close, but LN could have easily put up another TD at the end of the game, but decided to kneel on it.

This is a very down year for Rosemount. Not much top-end talent anywhere on the field. No depth. No special athletes.
Rosemount led the game 21-17 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Agree 100% that this is a down Rosemount team but North is a paper tiger in that #1 spot. They are definitely a better team than Rosemount but I don't think they are the #1 team in the state and I won't be surprised if Eagan finds a way to beat them on Friday.

Don't get me wrong, North is good they just aren't #1 good.
 





That one and the Eagan @ Lakeville North could have big impacts on how 6A looks at the top of the rankings.
Eagan north is a bigger game as the winner is definitely the 1 seed in the south

Shakopee still has to play Edina. So there is a little less on the game (though if Tonka wins they’ll be the 1 in the west for sure)


Schedule is odd. For East, west, and south week 7 and 8 are both crossovers. 90% of seeding will be settled by a week from today in 3 of the 4 6a sections.
 

Eagan north is a bigger game as the winner is definitely the 1 seed in the south

Shakopee still has to play Edina. So there is a little less on the game (though if Tonka wins they’ll be the 1 in the west for sure)


Schedule is odd. For East, west, and south week 7 and 8 are both crossovers. 90% of seeding will be settled by a week from today in 3 of the 4 6a sections.
Suppose it makes things easier from a logistical standpoint in terms of teams knowing who they are playing and where in the first round.
 

Eagan north is a bigger game as the winner is definitely the 1 seed in the south

Shakopee still has to play Edina. So there is a little less on the game (though if Tonka wins they’ll be the 1 in the west for sure)


Schedule is odd. For East, west, and south week 7 and 8 are both crossovers. 90% of seeding will be settled by a week from today in 3 of the 4 6a sections.
Minnetonka still has to play Eden Prairie as well. I know the Eagles are down, but they are still a threat any given night. It would be interesting if Edina, Minnetonka and Shakopee each have one loss. I think cross-over games would come into play and if Tonka were to beat Maple Grove it would be a slam dunk for them.
 

Minnetonka still has to play Eden Prairie as well. I know the Eagles are down, but they are still a threat any given night. It would be interesting if Edina, Minnetonka and Shakopee each have one loss. I think cross-over games would come into play and if Tonka were to beat Maple Grove it would be a slam dunk for them.
Yeah that’s why I said 90 not 100
 

So I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to high school football.

But my son and I both got a bunch notifications from the local high school that powder is banned by MSHSL.

Did something happen?
 

Let's check out some interesting matchups tonight for the smaller classes:

9-person: #1 Nevis (4-0) at Cromwell-Wright (4-0)
-- Littlefork-Big Falls (3-1) at #5 Cherry (4-0)
--Kelliher-Northome (3-1) at #2 Mountain Iron-Buhl (4-0)

1A: #9 BOLD (3-1) at #6 Dawson-Boyd (4-0)
-- #3 Mahnomen-Waubun (4-0) at Red Lake County (4-0)
-- #10 Lester Prairie (4-0) at #8 in 2A Norwood-Young America (4-0)
--#8 Upsala-Swanville (4-0) at #5 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (4-0)

2A: #4 Jackson County Central (4-0) at Redwood Valley (3-1)
--#6 Triton (4-0) at #3 Chatfield (4-0)

3A: #1 Stewartville (4-0) at Lake City (3-1)
--#3 Fairmont (4-0) at New Ulm (4A) (3-1)
-- Litchfield (3-1) at #2 Dassel-Cokato (4-0)
-- #6 Holy Family Catholic (4-0) at #7 in 4A Byron (3-1)
-- #9 Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (4-0) at Detroit Lakes (4A) (3-1)

4A: #4 Duluth Denfeld (4-0) at North Branch (3-1)
-- #9 Mound Westonka (3-1) at #3 Orono (4-0)
-- #2 Totino-Grace (4-0) at Holy Angels (3-1)
 

Let's check out some interesting matchups tonight for the smaller classes:

9-person: #1 Nevis (4-0) at Cromwell-Wright (4-0)
-- Littlefork-Big Falls (3-1) at #5 Cherry (4-0)
--Kelliher-Northome (3-1) at #2 Mountain Iron-Buhl (4-0)

1A: #9 BOLD (3-1) at #6 Dawson-Boyd (4-0)
-- #3 Mahnomen-Waubun (4-0) at Red Lake County (4-0)
-- #10 Lester Prairie (4-0) at #8 in 2A Norwood-Young America (4-0)
--#8 Upsala-Swanville (4-0) at #5 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (4-0)

2A: #4 Jackson County Central (4-0) at Redwood Valley (3-1)
--#6 Triton (4-0) at #3 Chatfield (4-0)

3A: #1 Stewartville (4-0) at Lake City (3-1)
--#3 Fairmont (4-0) at New Ulm (4A) (3-1)
-- Litchfield (3-1) at #2 Dassel-Cokato (4-0)
-- #6 Holy Family Catholic (4-0) at #7 in 4A Byron (3-1)
-- #9 Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (4-0) at Detroit Lakes (4A) (3-1)

4A: #4 Duluth Denfeld (4-0) at North Branch (3-1)
-- #9 Mound Westonka (3-1) at #3 Orono (4-0)
-- #2 Totino-Grace (4-0) at Holy Angels (3-1)
I'm not sure that the Fairmont/New Ulm game will be very interesting. New Ulm football is greatly improved over where it was a decade or even five years ago, but it there's a big disparity between Fairmont and Marshall and New Ulm. New Ulm lost their starting QB for the season a couple of weeks ago and is starting a freshman QB. Last week, New Ulm lost to 1-3 Worthington 10-3 (after the bus broke down on the way to Worthington). It could be an ugly game for the Eagles.
 

I'm not sure that the Fairmont/New Ulm game will be very interesting. New Ulm football is greatly improved over where it was a decade or even five years ago, but it there's a big disparity between Fairmont and Marshall and New Ulm. New Ulm lost their starting QB for the season a couple of weeks ago and is starting a freshman QB. Last week, New Ulm lost to 1-3 Worthington 10-3 (after the bus broke down on the way to Worthington). It could be an ugly game for the Eagles.

I threw it on the list because it was a rated 3A team facing a 4A team. I admit I don't follow New Ulm closely since the New Ulm Journal put its website behind a paywall. I used to check the Journal all the time when the website was accessible, but I'm not going to subscribe just to read a couple of sports stories.
 

So I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to high school football.

But my son and I both got a bunch notifications from the local high school that powder is banned by MSHSL.

Did something happen?
For the first time tonight Rosemount is doing bag checks on entry to the stadium. Never had that setup prior to this.
 

So I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to high school football.

But my son and I both got a bunch notifications from the local high school that powder is banned by MSHSL.

Did something happen?
Powder? What kind of powder?
 


I threw it on the list because it was a rated 3A team facing a 4A team. I admit I don't follow New Ulm closely since the New Ulm Journal put its website behind a paywall. I used to check the Journal all the time when the website was accessible, but I'm not going to subscribe just to read a couple of sports stories.
47-6 Fairmont
 

47-6 Fairmont
Coach Lieser is doing a great job in New Ulm and getting kids to buy in and stay out for FB where guys of my generation like to talk about when they quit FB as some kind of badge of honor. New Ulm was always a baseball town but had been in the doldrums for a number of years now; and a hockey town although it's always been been the case that NU could beat up on SW MN hockey teams only to lose by a YD and FG to metro teams in the playoffs. NU FB (and BB) has had a renaissance the last few years under stable, quality coaching and some real high caliber kids.
 

Wayzata over Eden Prairie
Forest Lake over Stillwater

Is Coon Rapids the worst team in 6A now? Hopkins is leading Park Cottage Grove hoping to win their third in a row.

Edit - and Hopkins wins 57-50 in a game in which apparently no defense was played whatsoever.
 
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and the scoreboard says:

9-person: #1 Nevis (4-0) at Cromwell-Wright (4-0)--Nevis 48, Cromwell-Wright 8
-- Littlefork-Big Falls (3-1) at #5 Cherry (4-0)--Cherry 41, Littlefork-Big Falls 0
--Kelliher-Northome (3-1) at #2 Mountain Iron-Buhl (4-0)-- Mt Iron-Buhl 87, Northome-Kelliher 0

1A: #9 BOLD (3-1) at #6 Dawson-Boyd (4-0)-- BOLD 58, Dawson-Boyd 26
--#3 Mahnomen-Waubun(4-0) at Red Lake County(4-0)--Mahnomen-Waubun 13, Red Lake Cty 12
-- #10 Lester Prairie (4-0) at #8 in 2A Norwood-Young America (4-0)--
Norwood-Young America 48, Lester Prairie 7
--#8 Upsala-Swanville (4-0) at #5 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (4-0)--
Upsala-Swanville 28, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 8

2A: #4 Jackson County Central (4-0) at Redwood Valley (3-1)-- JCC 46, Redwood Valley 7
--#6 Triton (4-0) at #3 Chatfield (4-0) --Chatfield 33, Triton 6

3A: #1 Stewartville (4-0) at Lake City (3-1)-- Stewartville 57, Lake City 7
--#3 Fairmont (4-0) at New Ulm (4A) (3-1)--Fairmont 47, New Ulm 6
-- Litchfield (3-1) at #2 Dassel-Cokato (4-0)-- Dassel-Cokato 28, Litchfield 14
-- #6 Holy Family Catholic (4-0) at #7 in 4A Byron (3-1)--Byron 41, Holy Family Catholic 24
-- #9 Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (4-0) at Detroit Lakes (4A) (3-1)-- Morris Area/C-A 28, Detroit Lakes 10

4A: #4 Duluth Denfeld (4-0) at North Branch (3-1)-- North Branch 47, Duluth Denfeld 12
-- #9 Mound Westonka (3-1) at #3 Orono (4-0)-- Orono 40, Mound Westonka 8
-- #2 Totino-Grace (4-0) at Holy Angels (3-1)-- Totino Grace 28, Holy Angels 12
-- #1 Becker 49, #8 Hutchinson 6 (Becker improves to 5-0, Hutch drops to 2-3)
 

Wayzata over Eden Prairie
Forest Lake over Stillwater

Is Coon Rapids the worst team in 6A now? Hopkins is leading Park Cottage Grove hoping to win their third in a row.

Edit - and Hopkins wins 57-50 in a game in which apparently no defense was played whatsoever.
Guessing Burnsville might give Coon Rapids a run for worst team. Apparently the Eastview/Burnsville pillow fight was basically unwatchable the football was so bad.

107 combined points......maybe they just had the offenses run against air.
 

and just for Fun - Windom defeated Russell-Tyler-Ruthton tonight 28-27 - in Windom's Homecoming Game.

Windom led 17-14 after 3 quarters.
RTR scores TD with 8:24 left in game, leads 21-17.
Windom kicks FG with 6:30 left, makes it RTR 21-20.
RTR scores on 26-yd TD Pass with 2:46 left but misses on 2pt-conversion; RTR leads 27-20
Windom drives 70 yds and scores on TD pass with 0:26 left, then hits a pass for 2pt conversion.
Windom wins 28-27.

side note - on final 2pt conversion, Windom was called for false start, so ran play from 8-yd line and converted.
 




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