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Friday, September 5, 2008
Football
St. Paul, MN
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Photo(s) By: Tom Carothers
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Metro Powerhouses
The road to Minnesota’s football championship showdown known as the Prep Bowl is long and arduous, beginning in the waning heat of late summer and ending in the building cold of the coming winter.
Six categories of high school champions are currently crowned in the state: Classes A through AAAAA and Nine-Man. Many in the metro area have become accustomed to witnessing an ever-greater quality of gridiron play as an increasingly exclusive club hones its craft at the upper echelons of the sport.
While hockey still lays claim to the biggest of the big-ticket events in the state, there’s still no denying the magic of the good ole’ Friday night football game.
With that in mind, VYPE offers a sampling of some of the schools where you’ll see the very best of it being performed in the metro area.
Eden Prairie
The two-time defending state Class AAAAA champions look to make a three-peat this fall and there might not be a whole lot stopping them. Quarterback Taylor Grant takes over for graduated brother Ryan behind center, but look for this team to get itself a nice lead and run, run, run its way to big victories. The Eagles have quadrupled their opponents on the scoreboard in each of the past two seasons — look for that trend to continue.
Eastview
The Lightning handled everyone on their schedule last season, with the exception of Eden Prairie. While Eastview lost both a regular-season and a state match up against the Eagles, they outscored the rest of their opponents 326-95. The team returns Johnie Sanders and Daran Han on offense.
Edina
Like many teams, Edina saw their 2007 season come to an end against Eden Prairie. However, that sectional playoff loss was the lone defeat the Hornets incurred last year. The green-and-white gave up fewer than 100 total points in their 10 victories and Anders Lee returns for one more season at quarterback after passing for 14 touchdowns and rushing for five more last year.
Cretin-Derham Hall
Alas, just as Eastview and Edina fell by Eden Prairie’s hand, so did mighty Cretin in last year’s Class AAAAA title game. It was the one blemish on an otherwise dominating season as the Raiders put up a staggering 641 points last season. Most of the purveyors of those offensive highlights are now graduated, but the Raiders have been known to reload quickly in the past and it should be another fun season in southwest St. Paul.
Totino-Grace
When we last saw the Eagles, Micah Koehn was breaking Mahtomedi’s heart with a last-second touchdown scamper to give Totino the Class AAAA state title. Koehn has since moved on to college, yet coach Jeff Ferguson’s team is still the cream of the north metro crop with leading rusher Pierce Lubinski back for one more stomp up the middle.
Wayzata
The Trojans last left the metro for the first round of the Class AAAAA state tournament and a matchup against Brainerd at St. Cloud State University — they would not return. While Brainerd scored an outstate win over Wayzata to end the Trojans hopes of re-claiming the state title they last held in 2006, the blue-and-gold return to the field this fall with yet another bruising attack featuring a seemingly endless supply of players.
Mounds View
One year removed from a rebuilding/reloading season, Mounds View again looks to be a force to reckon with and challenge Cretin for Suburban East supremacy. The Mustangs figure to get back to the 10-win plateau that eluded them last season as running back Andy Osborne returns after leading the team in rushing yardage in 2007. Quarterback David Freed takes over the aerial attack when coach Jim Galvin chooses to go through the air.
This year’s state tournament begins Nov. 6 and runs through Nov. 29, when the final game of the two-day Prep Bowl officially ends the fall sports season in Minnesota.
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