5 Thoughts from Friday (actually Wednesday), the Week 8 edition
Five random thoughts from Friday (actually, Wednesday this time), Week 8 of the high school football season. The playoffs are up next.
There's nothing quite like high school football playoff time — in both the best and worst ways. On the positive side, every game has a sense of finality and heightened importance, intensity and anticipation. On the flip side, it's time for coaches, administrators and MSHSL rule-makers across the state to take a hard look at how the postseason is structured. There has to be a better way than asking 16-, 17- and 18-year-old kids (many of whom, by the way, are built today like college or pro players of just a couple decades ago) to play three playoff games in 11 days. If you add the regular season finale into that mix, it's four games in 17 days. The teams that don't have a bye have five days off between the end of the regular season and the section quarterfinals. They have just three full days off between the quarterfinals and semifinals, then five full days again between the semis and the championship games. No one can argue with a straight face that player safety is at the forefront with a schedule like that. What's the answer? That's a debate that requires far more space than we have here (reducing the number of teams that make the playoffs seems a good place to start), but the current format wasn't put in place with players' best interests in mind.
It feels like we say this every week, but the Section 1, Class 1A playoffs are going to be something else. Goodhue is unbeaten and has earned the top seed. Defending champ Fillmore Central is 7-1 and can wing the ball around the field with anyone. Wabasha-Kellogg's 14-12 win against Rushford-Peterson Wednesday could secure the Falcons the No. 4 seed and a home playoff game. Don't forget about Blooming Prairie. The No. 8-ranked Blossoms are also 7-1, should be the No. 2 seed and have only lost this season to Goodhue, a 39-28 setback in Week 4. QB Brady Kittelson is a serious threat with his arm and legs (he had 172 yards passing and 88 rushing on Wednesday in a 49-6 win against Faribault B.A.), and he has some big, talented weapons along side him in Alex Lea (6-foot, 184 pounds), lineman Owen Krueger (6-4, 294), and 6-4 senior Lukas Loverink, just to name a few. We'd be crazy to bet for or against anyone in this section, with so many teams that can strike quickly, but a poised senior QB can take a team a long way in the playoffs. We've seen it with the Blossoms before.
There was some thought (perhaps by the person writing this) that Chatfield, ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 2A, and Caledonia, ranked No. 10 in Class 2A, would be in for a fight in their regular-season finales Wednesday night. Instead, both teams head into the postseason — we expect they'll get quarterfinal byes in the Section 1, Class 2A playoffs — with a heavy dose of momentum. Chatfield rolled to a 40-8 win against No. 8-ranked Cannon Falls Wednesday night, while Caledonia roughed up Pine Island, the No. 9-ranked team in Class 3A, 40-0. Both teams could possibly have intriguing section semifinal matchups: Chatfield very well could face Dover-Eyota, the team that knocked it out of the playoffs last year, while Caledonia will likely meet Lewiston-Altura, which takes a 6-2 record into the playoffs. The teams won't look that far ahead, but we can: A matchup between Chatfield's high-powered offense and Caledonia's lock-down defense — with a trip to state at stake — is tantalizing.
As of the time of this writing, the Section 1, Class 1A playoff bracket isn't officially set. But, it sure looks like Wabasha-Kellogg could be the No. 4 seed, which means a home game in Tuesday's section quarterfinals. That would be a huge deal for the Falcons, whose seniors were in third grade the last time W-K hosted a postseason football game. That was back on Oct. 14, 2015, when the Falcons beat Hayfield 40-28 to reach the Section 1-1A semifinals, where they fell at Fillmore Central. Since that time, W-K has played seven consecutive road playoff games, coming no closer than 20 points in any of them (excluding a 2-0 forfeit to Fillmore Central in 2022). If the Falcons do indeed have a home playoff game next week (or even if they don't), this group should soak it in and appreciate what they've accomplished. W-K beat Rushford-Peterson 14-12 on Wednesday night to finish 3-5. R-P is also 3-5. Those two teams will likely be the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, in some order. W-K has a better record against section opponents and owns the head-to-head against R-P.
Had they won or lost Wednesday night, the John Marshall Rockets weren't going to play again for 10 days, until Saturday, Oct. 26, in the semifinals of the Section 1, Class 5A playoffs (they'll be the No. 2 seed behind Owatonna and receive a bye through Tuesday's quarterfinals). The Rockets didn't just win their regular season finale, they blew out an overmatched Bloomington Jefferson team 53-21, building a 40-3 halftime lead before riding out the final 24 minutes. What we like most about Wednesday's win is the balance JM's offense showed. They ran for 156 yards and passed for 141. They also had a huge special teams play, a 75-yard Markes Simpson kickoff return for a TD. They'll need that balance to show up if they're able to earn a rematch with Owatonna, in the section final. For now, though, the Rockets (6-2 overall) will look forward to hosting a home playoff game for a second straight season; that'll be on Oct. 26, likely against Northfield.
