2024 MN High School Football thread

[Gopherchase]

Our family had friends from Austin and they said it was common knowledge around the Big 9 in the fifties and sixties. Besides the Gophers high school football and basketball were the next big thing. Patrick Reusse even talked about this when talking about the boys basketball tournament. He said why do you think Austin goes the basketball tournament every year. Hormel he said. Edgerton's Cinderella year was complete when they beat Austin in 1960. Fact, fiction, or fable the lore is out there.

The recruiting is not true. I have my dad’s. 1961 state champion ship trophy in my office and he captained the squad in ‘62 and my uncles played through the early 70s. Most of the best players in Austin were middle-class kids that who were born and raised. It’s just like today in football it’s a numbers game back then they had 600 and something kids per class and they dominated; actually not just in football but also in baseball in basketball and pretty much everything else. Someone mentioned Rochester was tough when they had just one high school and that certainly was true. When I went through high school in the 80’s we had half as many kids per class but demographics and tradition were such that we still had elite football.

 

[State of Football]

I can’t imagine living in Austin, mn. I’ve spent too much time there and wish I didn’t.

I love the Gear Daddies though!

 

[Gopherchase]

I can’t imagine living in Austin, mn. I’ve spent too much time there and wish I didn’t.

I love the Gear Daddies though!

Best place in the world post World War II through about mid 90s to grow up. Even if you only visited there after that your comments sound like someone from Edina or some other cake eater locale and I feel for your complete lack of character.

 

[State of Football]

Best place in the world post World War II through about mid 90s to grow up. Even if you only visited there after that your comments sound like someone from Edina or some other cake eater locale and I feel for your complete lack of character.

You got me

 

[Slim Tubby]

That explains a lot

1983, baby...Bloomington Jefferson sports hasn't been the same ever since. You're all welcome.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

1983, baby...Bloomington Jefferson sports hasn't been the same ever since. You're all welcome.

What happened to Coon Rapids?

 

[Slim Tubby]

What happened to Coon Rapids?

I graduated.

 

[State of Football]

What happened to Coon Rapids?

They’ve remained the same since 1984

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I graduated.

So you lived in Coon Rapids and then graduated from Jefferson?

I only ask as my uncle taught at Jefferson and all my cousins went there as well, so that piqued my interest and my brother’s first house was in CR as well.
This was a scary Google ( from their website) -

Coon Rapids Senior High School is an above average, public school located in COON RAPIDS, MN. It has 2,167 students in grades 9-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 18 to 1. According to state test scores, 35% of students are at least proficient in math and 56% in reading.

Or

I’m conducting a Deep Dive on your alleged MN roots

 

[Slim Tubby]

They’ve remained the same since 1984

True...we seem to play like 60-year olds.

 

[Slim Tubby]

So you lived in Coon Rapids and then graduated from Jefferson?

I only ask as my uncle taught at Jefferson and all my cousins went there as well, so that piqued my interest

Or

I’m conducting a Deep Dive on your alleged MN roots

I graduated from Coon Rapids in 1987 hence our subsequent demise.

We beat a tough Jefferson team for the AA Title in 1983. The Boss would call this "Glory Days".

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

I graduated from Coon Rapids in 1987 hence our subsequent demise.

We beat a tough Jefferson team for the AA Title in 1983. The Boss would call this "Glory Days".

What sport?

 

[Slim Tubby]

What sport?

 

[Some guy]

What happened to coon rapids, IMO, is Champlin park and Andover all opened. Same thing that happened to anoka

 

[disco]

I can’t imagine living in Austin, mn. I’ve spent too much time there and wish I didn’t.

I love the Gear Daddies though!

Well, the Gear Daddies songs are largely about living in a depressing town, or about depressing people in said town so they don't really paint a great picture of Austin.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Best place in the world post World War II through about mid 90s to grow up. Even if you only visited there after that your comments sound like someone from Edina or some other cake eater locale and I feel for your complete lack of character.

There was definitely a south/south central MN vibe that is hard to explain if you didn't grow up in one of those small cities.

 

[Word]

What happened to coon rapids, IMO, is Champlin park and Andover all opened. Same thing that happened to anoka

Champlin area pre-Champlin Park mostly went to Anoka. Andover probably pulled more from Coon Rapids. Biggest change in Coon Rapids is just changing demographics. Lots of apartments and small, older (affordable) houses and the original owners have moved out and been replaced with families that don't make as much money. Same story as many suburbs over the years.

 

[Some guy]

Champlin area pre-Champlin Park mostly went to Anoka. Andover probably pulled more from Coon Rapids. Biggest change in Coon Rapids is just changing demographics. Lots of apartments and small, older (affordable) houses and the original owners have moved out and been replaced with families that don't make as much money. Same story as many suburbs over the years.

Boundaries don’t matter with open enrollment

Woodbury loses kids to East ridge
Osseo and park center lose kids to maple grove
Apple valley loses kids to Eastview


+ the reasons you explain are literally caused by people wanting to move into Andover and Champlin zones rather than coon rapids. That’s why lower income people moved into those older houses.

Yes, being in proximity to newer schools and growing communities contributes to the decline.

 

[Word]

Boundaries don’t matter with open enrollment

Woodbury loses kids to East ridge
Osseo and park center lose kids to maple grove
Apple valley loses kids to Eastview


+ the reasons you explain are literally caused by people wanting to move into Andover and Champlin zones rather than coon rapids. That’s why lower income people moved into those older houses.

Yes, being in proximity to newer schools and growing communities contributes to the decline.

I misunderstood your first post. I thought you were saying the boundary changes pulled Coon Rapids kids into Champlin Park.

If Coon Rapids kids are open enrolling it's more likely at Blaine, Andover, or Spring Lake Park though.

 

[disco]

Boundaries don’t matter with open enrollment

Woodbury loses kids to East ridge
Osseo and park center lose kids to maple grove
Apple valley loses kids to Eastview


+ the reasons you explain are literally caused by people wanting to move into Andover and Champlin zones rather than coon rapids. That’s why lower income people moved into those older houses.

Yes, being in proximity to newer schools and growing communities contributes to the decline.

Open enrollment is only a thing between school districts. Someone from Hopkins for example enrolling into Minnetonka. Open enrollment from outside a district can only be closed if the schools are deemed to be full. Wayzata is a case of this.

Intra-district school choice is an entirely different matter and is up to the district. From what I know, the Osseo district does NOT allow kids outside the attendance boundary to enroll into Maple Grove, and the Anoka-Hennepin district does NOT allow kids outside the attendance boundary to enroll into Andover. Those two obviously being the wealthiest of the multiple high schools in each district. Not positive, but I think the same is true for Armstrong and Cooper.

I've written about this before, but as the Maple Grove side of the district continues to grow, they're going to end up having to shift attendance boundaries where families who thought their kids would go to MG will shift to Osseo, and Osseo families to Park Center, and that's going to be a very ugly discussion.

 

[Some guy]

I misunderstood your first post. I thought you were saying the boundary changes pulled Coon Rapids kids into Champlin Park.

If Coon Rapids kids are open enrolling it's more likely at Blaine, Andover, or Spring Lake Park though.

im not really talking about now

Im talking about when coon rapids became a permanent bottom feeder

 

[Some guy]

Open enrollment is only a thing between school districts. Someone from Hopkins for example enrolling into Minnetonka. Open enrollment from outside a district can only be closed if the schools are deemed to be full. Wayzata is a case of this.

Intra-district school choice is an entirely different matter and is up to the district. From what I know, the Osseo district does NOT allow kids outside the attendance boundary to enroll into Maple Grove, and the Anoka-Hennepin district does NOT allow kids outside the attendance boundary to enroll into Andover. Those two obviously being the wealthiest of the multiple high schools in each district. Not positive, but I think the same is true for Armstrong and Cooper.

I've written about this before, but as the Maple Grove side of the district continues to grow, they're going to end up having to shift attendance boundaries where families who thought their kids would go to MG will shift to Osseo, and Osseo families to Park Center, and that's going to be a very ugly discussion.

I am using the two terms interchangeably

Open enrollment and intra-district transfers are both hurting schools like osseo, coon rapids, apple valley, irondale, etc

 

[prespsguy]

im not really talking about now

Im talking about when coon rapids became a permanent bottom feeder

Coon Rapids made it to the 5A State Semis in 2019.

 

[Some guy]

Coon Rapids made it to the 5A State Semis in 2019.

Yeah and they shouldn’t have been in 5a

They sucked so bad they got a special waiver to move down.
And because they went down we had a 6a school in the state semifinals of 5a and they haven’t granted a waiver since.

Everyone in the state hates coon rapids for that.

There are probably quite a few schools in 6a who could make a run in 5a every few years if you let them play down.

 

[prespsguy]

Yeah and they shouldn’t have been in 5a

They sucked so bad they got a special waiver to move down.
And because they went down we had a 6a school in the state semifinals of 5a and they haven’t granted a waiver since.

Everyone in the state hates coon rapids for that.

There are probably quite a few schools in 6a who could make a run in 5a every few years if you let them play down.

I don't disagree with that.

 

[BilldGopher]

Any good up-and-coming WRs out there that PJ could rent a helicopter for a quick visit? Just thinking out of the box...

 

[Some guy]

Any good up-and-coming WRs out there that PJ could rent a helicopter for a quick visit? Just thinking out of the box...

Edina WR seems to be legit. A lot of rumors about him though.
Kid from coon rapids last year I would’ve loved to have been a gopher. I think he went to Iowa State.

 

[State of Football]

Yeah and they shouldn’t have been in 5a

They sucked so bad they got a special waiver to move down.
And because they went down we had a 6a school in the state semifinals of 5a and they haven’t granted a waiver since.

Everyone in the state hates coon rapids for that.

There are probably quite a few schools in 6a who could make a run in 5a every few years if you let them play down.

Agreed and they had a nice group of athletes. I heard even their superintendent was whining about poor Coon Rapids. Maybe talk to Eagan and Forest Lake. They chose to worry about getting their programs better.

 

[MaxyJR1]

I am using the two terms interchangeably

Open enrollment and intra-district transfers are both hurting schools like osseo, coon rapids, apple valley, irondale, etc

You can’t transfer in Anoka Hennepin unless going for specialty programs. Coon Rapids issues are mostly just demographic changes.

Blaine is full and you can only open enroll for CEMS program.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Agreed and they had a nice group of athletes. I heard even their superintendent was whining about poor Coon Rapids. Maybe talk to Eagan and Forest Lake. They chose to worry about getting their programs better.

Fully developed communities are at a severe disadvantage to non fully developed communities.