Section 1 Dominates Week 2 State Football Rankings
The Associated Press released the rankings Wednesday night, and there was some movement after some unexpected finishes i.e LeRoy-Ostrander over Spring Grove, Stewartville over Rochester Lourdes, etc.
It will be really interesting to see how everything unfolds as Week 3 comes around.
NINE-MAN
1. Grand Meadow
2. Mountain Lake
3. Cromwell
4. Mountain Iron-Buhl
5. Verndale
6. Stephen-Argyle
7. Hills-Beaver Creek
8. Leroy-Ostrander
9. Spring Grove
10. Southland
Others Receiving Votes: Edgerton, Win-E-Mac, Nicollet, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo, Fertile-Beltrami, Kittson County Central, McGregor, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's
Nine-Man has been dominated by teams from Southeast Minnesota for a while now, with six of the last state champions coming from this section. Grand Meadow looks to be the team to beat, but LeRoy-Ostrander, Southland and Spring Grove all look like players in the section. With so much talent, it will be really interesting to see how this section turns out.
CLASS 1A
1. BOLD
2. Mahnomen-Waubun
3. Blooming Prairie
4. Minneota tie
4. United South Central
6. Mayer Lutheran
7. Springfield
8. Polk County West
9. Upsala-Swanville
10. Wabasso
Others Receiving Votes: Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, Goodhue, Underwood, Murray County Central, Ada-Borup West, Canby
Blooming Prairie has looked excellent the last two weeks, even though they have fallen one spot in the rankings. If they continue to show what they can do offensively, they could be playing for a state championship this year. Goodhue is always talented, disciplined, and does the little things well, that is why you see them receiving votes.
CLASS 2A
1. Caledonia
2. Barnesville
3. Redwood Valley
4. Minneapolis North
5. Pipestone
6. Moose Lake-Willow River
7. Chatfield
8. Paynesville
9. West Central Area
10.Eden Valley-Watkins
Others Receiving Votes: Lewiston-Altura, Pillager, Blue Earth Area, Maple Lake, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, St. Charles
Caledonia is looking to make it five straight state championships, but can the Gophers upend the Warriors? Lewiston-Altura has won two nail biters to open up the season while St. Charles was dominating in week one, before falling to the Warriors in week 2. This section is always difficult to come out of, and expect to see some fireworks this season.
CLASS 3A
1. Pierz
2. Waseca
3. Jackson County Central
4. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
5. Dassel-Cokato
6. Albany
7. Stewartville
8. Aitkin
9. Annandale tie
9. Perham
Others Receiving Votes: Cannon Falls, Rochester Lourdes, Breck, Minnewaska Area
Waseca moving to Section 1AAA and hold the #2 spot after having a great season a year ago and another great start to 2019. Stewartville knocked off top-ranked Rochester Lourdes last week and showed they can run the football. Section 1AAA is loaded again and should be fun to follow.
CLASS 4A
1. SMB-Wolfpack
2. Hutchinson
3. Winona
3. Benilde-St. Margaret's
5. Delano
6. Holy Angels Academy
7. Detroit Lakes
8. Fridley
9. Becker
10.Marshall
Others Receiving Votes: St. Anthony Village, Jordan, Cold Spring Rocori, Simley, Mound-Westonka, Hermantown
Winona might have the keys to the driver seat in Section 1AAAA but Kasson-Mantorville looked very good against Rochester John Marshall. Winona is looking to rebound after a couple of tough exits to the State Tournament.
CLASS 5A
1. Owatonna
2. St. Thomas Academy
3. Elk River
4. Alexandria
5. Chaska
6. Bemidji
7. Robbinsdale Armstrong
8. Tartan
9. Hastings
10. Mankato West
Others Receiving Votes: Rochester Mayo, Spring Lake Park, Rochester Century
Owatonna may have lost the best football player in the state in Jason Williamson, but they continue to put up huge numbers as they look to win another state championship. They play in a very tough class, and Section 1 is very difficult with Owatonna, Mayo and Century looking to really put a dent in the state tournament.
CLASS 6A
1. Lakeville North
2. Eden Prairie
3. St. Michael-Albertville
4. Wayzata
5. Prior Lake
6. Eastview
7. Cretin-Derham Hall
8. Champlin Park
9. Mounds View
10. Farmington
Others Receiving Votes: Edina.
Will we see another Lakeville North vs. Eden Prairie state championship game? We could and we all know that would be very entertaining.