Jim Dotseth, former Patrick Henry coach, is still a student of high school football. He emailed Sports Headliners with comments and predicted playoff winners in the six classes of the playoffs:
9-Man – Nicollet. “They lost to Stephen-Argyle last year in the Prep Bowl final and they’re undefeated this year with a 9-0 record.”
1A – Minneota. “They’re 9-1 and defending state champs. Their only loss is 28-20 to Dawson-Boyd, who they play Friday night (tonight).”
2A – Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. “They’re 10-0, defending state champs, and their closest game so far this year is a 34-14 win over Maple River. Jon Bakken was the 2009 MFCA Coach of the Year and admittedly was surprised his team won the state title last year. He thought this would be the year.”
3A – Albany. “This is a tough class (and) four private schools left are Rochester Lourdes 10-0, Holy Family 10-0, DeLaSalle 9-1 and Breck 8-2. Albany is 10-0, with a 28-6 win over defending state champ New London-Spicer who is 9-1. Albany and New London-Spicer play for the Section 6 championship this Friday. That’s not even mentioning Glencoe-Silver Lake who has won three of the last four state championships in this class. They were runner-up to New London-Spicer last year, 28-21.”
4A – Totino-Grace. “It’s hard to bet against Totino-Grace who has won three of the last four state championships in this class. They have one loss this year to Mahtomedi. If both Mahtomedi and Totino-Grace keep winning they would meet for the state championship. The sleeper here is 10-0 Rogers, who averages 45 points per game and has five shutouts. Their closest game so far was a 20 point win over Monticello. They play 9-1 Becker this Friday night for the Section 5 championship. They beat Becker during the year 53-26.”
5A -Eden Prairie. “What can you say? Their only loss is a 28-27 overtime loss to Wayzata when the extra point holder couldn’t get the ball down in time for the kicker. If both teams keep winning they’ll meet again for the state championship.”