Football quarterfinals — and cake — draw the prognosticators' attention

We always check to see who won. We are comforted to know somebody is checking behind us.

Especially when they send sweets for the newsroom.

David La Vaque and Jim Paulsen are continuing in 2023 their annual competition of picking winners of high school football games, a challenge that gains steam this time of the postseason, when games grow more important and football spills well beyond Friday night.

This week they'll analyze two Thursday games, two Friday games and two Saturday games, all state quarterfinals, with winners snagging spots at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Jim is 32-10 this season. David is 30-12, but that 12th miss came with a payoff. David picked Maple Grove to defeat Edina on Friday, but the Hornets won. Edina supporter Jon Zentner noticed, and he got in touch with David to civilly rub it in. Quite civilly. He and other Edina parents sent a cake, with the final score, 35-24, inscribed in icing. "We were happy you got the Maple Grove game wrong!" Zentner wrote to David.

We don't take sides, of course, but those of us who got some cake were happy, too.

THURSDAY

Jim says: These two squared off Oct. 13, with Edina winning a rain-battered game 14-7. Expect a more offensive show this time. Stillwater is coming off a 546-yard explosion in a come-from-behind victory over Rochester Mayo. The Ponies have scored 163 points in three games since their loss to Edina, with sophomore QB Nick Kinsey healthy and back to his prolific self. Expect a wildly entertaining game. Last team with the ball wins? The pick: Stillwater 38, Edina 35

David says: Edina has shown equal abilities to run and pass with proficiency, a balance that has sparked its current six-game winning streak. QB Mason West (20 touchdown passes) and RB John Warpinski (124.3 yards per game) are a handful for any defense. Just ask defending 6A Prep Bowl champion Maple Grove, the Hornets' victim last week. The pick: Edina 35, Stillwater 31

Jim says: Rocori has finished the redemption portion of its postseason agenda, having already avenged its two regular-season losses with victories over Detroit Lakes and No. 1-ranked Becker. This is a rematch from Oct. 18, when Rocori rallied from a 16-point deficit to hand Orono its only loss of the season, 20-16. Orono can't afford those kinds of miscues again if it hopes to win. The pick: Rocori 24, Orono 21

David says: While Rocori has the look of a team with legit state championship ambitions, count on Orono to be driven by revenge goals of its own. The Spartans outgained Rocori in the first meeting but turned the ball over three times. Taking better care of the ball can only help Orono's chances. The pick: Orono 28, Rocori 22