For Minnesota high school football teams still playing, all it takes is one more victory to win a berth in the state tournament. For some, getting here has been an uphill battle, requiring effort worthy of admiration. Here is one team in each class you might want to root for:
Who are you rooting for in the high school football playoffs? We have seven suggestions
One from each class forms a list seven admirable teams deep. Choose carefully. Somebody has to lose when the games start Thursday.
November 2, 2022 at 4:35PM
Class 6A
Forest Lake: The Rangers (7-2) have the least tradition of the 16 remaining teams, having appeared in the state tournament only once, in 1991. Plus, they travel to Maple Grove, 9-0 and ranked first in Class 6A and the Metro Top 10.
Class 5A
St. Paul Central: Here's an opportunity to cheer on a city school, and the nickname Minutemen is one attraction. Coach Scott Howell's 5-5 squad will try to become the school's first football state tournament team when it faces fourth-ranked Mahtomedi (8-1).
Class 4A
Zimmerman: If your options run from A to Z, here's reason to stop at Z. The Section 6, No. 4 seed Thunder (7-3) crushed third-ranked Mound Westonka 42-14 on Saturday. Zimmerman has never made the state tournament field and now has only Orono (6-4) standing in its way.
Class 3A
Foley: Is this the biggest underdog of them all? The Falcons (3-7) have put together a three-game winning streak after entering the final week of the season winless. Foley, the seventh seed in Section 7, faces a daunting task against eighth-ranked Milaca. The teams met in the regular season, and Foley lost 50-14.
Class 2A
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted: The fourth-seeded Lakers (8-2) square off with sixth-seeded Norwood Young America (8-2) in Section 4. That's right, two 8-2 teams that were seeded fourth and sixth. Successful teams getting that little respect deserve your attention. Give it to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted for knocking off second-ranked Minneapolis North 21-20 in the section semifinals.
Class 1A
Red Lake County: This was the toughest class to select from. Let's venture out to the northwest corner of the state, to Section 8, where Red Lake County (8-2) faces Mahnomen/Waubun (8-1) in the section final. One of the Rebels' regular-season losses was to Mahnomen/Waubun, a tough 22-20 decision.
Nine-Man
Cherry: Let's go with the 10th-ranked Tigers (8-1) against No. 4 Mountain Iron-Buhl (9-0) in the Section 7 championship pitting teams from neighboring communities. The Rangers won the regular-season meeting 34-24. This pick will fill the email inbox. I lived in Iron for a while and know that Mountain Iron-Buhl fans are rabid.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
