Friday's football games to watch: Strong senior class has put Dover-Eyota back on the map

Oct. 13—The football times had been lean at Dover-Eyota.

The last three seasons, the Eagles went a combined 2-20.

But that didn't deter former D-E assistant coach Jon Hauswald from saying yes to a head coaching job being vacated by Brett Vesel. The 29-year-old Hauswald was eager to lead a team for the first time. He also had a strong hunch about the players who'd be returning from a year ago.

"We had a small group of seniors who graduated, and I knew who was coming back," Hauswald said. "I looked at our best players from (the 2021 season), and they were juniors. We now have a strong senior class and guys who have done things the right way. They'd stuck with it and worked hard. That's why I felt good about taking the job."

He's feeling even better about it now. Dover-Eyota has played six games this season and won four of them. The losses have been to No. 1-ranked Chatfield (42-19) and No. 5 Caledonia (21-0).

Chatfield is outscoring its opponents by an average of 46-9 and Caledonia its foes by 35-8.

Caledonia coaching icon Carl Fruechte came away from his team's game with D-E struck by the Eagles' defense and how difficult it made things for his offense.

That's pretty much been the consensus among all coaches in Section 1AA, that these Eagles are different — in a good way.

Goodhue coach Tony Poncelet is certainly in agreement. He's been studying the Eagles as his team gets set to play at D-E at 7 p.m. Friday in a matchup of 4-2 teams.

"They are playing good football right now," said Poncelet, whose team's losses were to the No. 5-ranked team in Class AAA, Cannon Falls (38-33), and Caledonia (35-20). "I know they didn't graduate a lot. And they've got some size and speed and good playmakers. It should be a fun night of football against them."

D-E seems to have made its biggest strides up front. Led by the trio of Jackson Duellman (5-foot-11, 235 pounds), Tyler Mix (6-3, 220) and Karsen Behnken (6-3, 240), the Eagles are now doing more pushing than being pushed.

Hauswald said that wasn't the case against Caledonia, which frustrated him. He also believes it led to a turning point for his team, which has outscored struggling teams St. Charles, Lewiston-Altura and Pine Island by a combined 133-32 since.

"We challenged our offensive line after that loss to Caledonia," Hauswald said. "You don't want to go to bed on a Friday night feeling like you got your butt kicked physically. But we took a look at a lot of things after that Caledonia loss as to what we were doing offensively. Our technique had not been good and we showed them, 'Here is why you were not able to block those guys.'"

Hauswald said he knows his team will have its hands full against Goodhue, a team that many figured could challenge for the Section 1AA title this season. Much of the Goodhue optimism was — and still is — based on the talents of three players especially, running back Malayke Parker, receiver Adam Poncelet and quarterback Will Opsahl.

None of them have disappointed this season. The fast and strong Parker has rushed for 812 yards and 17 touchdowns; the 6-3, 185-pound Poncelet has 430 yards receiving despite facing constant double teams; and Opsahl has completed 43 of 70 passes for 679 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

"Goodhue has a lot of star power that can hurt you in many ways," said Hauswald, whose defense is led by dynamite 6-4, 200-pound senior safety Brayden Swee. "They can hurt you from all angles offensively. For us, it's going to come down to tackling and pursuing."

Week 7 of high school football includes nine games in southeastern Minnesota tonight — Thursday, Oct. 13. Here are some other games to keep an eye on this week, with just seven days to go in the regular season:

—John Marshall (0-6) at Century (1-5), 7 p.m. Friday: Both teams have struggled this season, but are looking to build some momentum in this city rivalry. The winless Rockets were shut out in their first four games and have managed one touchdown in each of the past two games. Century has been shut out in three of its five losses. Century junior quarterback Harrison Esau has topped the 1,000-yard passing mark for the season with 1,022 and eight TD passes. Eli Thompson (14 catches, 332 yards, 1 TD) and Josh Berg (20 catches, 297 yards, 5 TDs) lead Century in receiving yardage. The Panthers have had a hard time getting their run game going. Ahmante Davis leads the team with just 93 yards rushing on 37 carries. JM's last win in the series came in 2016 as Century has won seven straight meetings, two of those coming in section play. ... JM had hoped to get speedy receiver Michael Nicometo back last week from a back injury, but he continues to struggle with it and may be done for the season. Like Century, JM is an extremely young team that has struggled to get traction this season. But like the Panthers, much of that youth has talent. JM's starting quarterback (Nico Chhin) and starting running back Ty'Shawn Beane are both sophomores. Just two JM seniors have had a significant impact this season, lineman Tate Zeller and receiver/defensive back/kick returner Keondre Bryant.

—Lourdes (5-1) at Zumbrota-Mazeppa (1-5), 7 p.m. Friday: Lourdes appears to be in the driver's seat to earn the No. 1 seed — which would give the Eagles a first-round bye — in the upcoming Section 1AAA playoffs, after an impressive three-week stretch. Over the past three Fridays, Lourdes has defeated up-and-coming La Crescent-Hokah, as well as state-ranked Cannon Falls and Plainview-Elgin-Millville. Along the way, Lourdes has learned how to win games going away (24-7 vs. St. Charles; 27-8 vs. P-E-M) and to win them with late scoring drives (41-36 at La Crescent-Hokah; 24-22 vs. Cannon Falls). Z-M has struggled against a tough schedule, but the Cougars have shown some fight over the past two weeks. They defeated rival Pine Island 19-6 on Sept. 30, then dropped a narrow 21-13 decision against Lake City last week — a game Z-M led at halftime. Lourdes' defensive secondary will have to be prepared for the Cougars' passing game. QB Zane Angerman passed for 267 yards last week, as well as two TDs, both to Sam Knowlton. The receiver had a huge game, catching 11 passes for 189 yards.

—Austin (1-5) at No. 8 Mayo (5-1), 7 p.m. Friday: Mayo rebounded from its first loss of the season — an emotional defeat against the top-ranked team in Class AAAAA, Mankato West — with a win against New Prague last week. A pair of touchdown receptions from Carter Holcomb fueled a 21-point second quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a two touchdown lead. Holcomb added another TD grab to finish with three to give him a state-best 12 in six games. He also leads Minnesota in receiving yards at 879 after recording 79 versus the Trojans. But perhaps the most important aspect of Friday's game was getting running back Isaiah Beale going. The sophomore left many impressed, finishing with 204 yards and two touchdowns on just 22 carries. He and Tore Papenfuss, along with Rudy Lozoya, give the Spartans a powerful backfield that should only help them in their quest to return the Class AAAAA state tournament. As for the Packers, they have lost four straight since their only win — a 30-0 victory against John Marshall on Sept. 9 — and average just more than 100 yards of total offense per contest.