The 10 Gopher football commits will be opening their senior season soon. Chaska lineman Bronson Dovich will play this Friday at Menomonie, while the other nine verbals will play next weekend.
Dovich helped lead the Hawks to an 11-1 mark last season, losing to Brainerd 20-19 in the state semifinals. The Hawks will play in the new Metro West Conference and will have five home games that Minnesota fans can watch the future Gopher. Chaska also has junior Matt Kegel, who has a recent Minnesota offer and wide receiver Sean Engel recent Gopher graduate and starting wideout Derrick.
Here is the Chaska schedule:
8/22 @ Menomonie
8/28 Forest Lake
9/5 Benilde-St. Margaret’s
9/12 Chanhassen
9/26 @ Bloomington Jefferson
10/2 Richfield
10/10 Bloomington Kennedy
10/15 Robbinsdale Cooper
Nick Connelly is hoping that a conference switch will lead to Red Wing’s first win since 2012. The Wingers, who were 0-9 last season, moved from the Missota to the Big Nine. They have a new head coach in former Gopher Rickey Foggie.
Here is the Red Wing schedule:
8/29 @ Northfield
9/5 Winona
9/12 Rochester Century
9/19 @ Mankato East
9/26 Mankato West
10/3 Austin
10/10 @ Faribault
10/15 @ Albert Lea
Most recent Gopher commit Quinn Oseland will lead Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin at Springfield in their season opener next Friday. They won the Illinois Class 5A title last season, finishing 14-0. The Cyclones will face Jacksonville, who is led by Oseland’s cousin and Illinois commit Gabe Megginson in Week 3. The Gophers had offered Megginson.
Offensive lineman Ted Stieber of Akron Hoban will face crosstown rival Akron Firestone in their season opener next Friday. The Knights finished 5-5 last season.
Linebacker Jaylen Wayers of Cooperas Cove will face A&M Consolidated next Friday. The Bulldawgs finished 6-5 last season.
Ray Buford of Southfield will open the season at St Mary Prep. They face Oak Park in Week 8. Oak Park, who travels to Eden Prairie on the 30th, finished 6-5 last year. Southfield finished 7-3, losing to Seaholm 17-16 in the first round of the playoffs.
Quarterback Demry Croft will lead Rockford Boylan against Auburn next Friday. Croft helped lead Boylan to a 12-1 mark last season, losing to eventual state champion Batavia in the Class 6A (Illinois’ largest class) 38-6 in the state semifinals. The 6-foot-6, 187-pound Croft started last year at wide receiver before switching positions with 2012 quarterback Brock Stull in the second quarter of Boylan’s second game. Croft ran for 685 yards and 12 touchdowns and passed for 1,879 yards and 16 touchdowns, with only four interceptions last season.
Twins Julian and Jacob Huff will have to do without older brother Jden, who is a freshman at St. Cloud State this season. The Raiders finished 10-1 last season, losing to Marist 21-7 in the second round of the Illinois State high school playoffs. They will face Hinsdale Central at home in their opener next Saturday.
Running back Jonathan Femi-Cole leads St. Andrew’s College, which is the largest all-boys boarding school and a top private school in Canada for boys in grades 5 to 12. They open their season September 20th versus Upper Canada College.
Gopher Hole will have updates throughout the season on all Minnesota football commits.