High School Football Focus: 6 area teams one win away from The Bank

Nov. 7—The Section 1 football championship games offered little drama, aside from defending state champion needing a fourth-quarter field goal to eke past rival Caledonia to return to state.

Here's a peek at this week's state quarterfinals, a recap of the Section 1 title games and this week's Power Rankings and Top Performers:

—Class AAAAA, Mayo (9-1) vs. Mankato West (10-0), 7 p.m. Saturday (at Prior Lake H.S.): That one blip on Mayo's record occurred more than five weeks ago, but certainly the Spartans haven't forgotten. Their state quarterfinal game Saturday is a rematch of a Week 5 game against top-ranked West, a game in which the Scarlets eked out a 28-24 victory. Since then, Mayo has won its five games by an average of 30 points. West has been equally dominant, allowing a total of 30 points in the five games since it last faced Mayo.

—Class AAAA, Stewartville (10-0) vs. Hutchinson (9-1), 7 p.m. Thursday (at Lakeville South H.S.): Just how frustrating has Stewartville been for opponents this season? The Tigers gave up 22 points in their 46-22 Section 1AAAA championship game win against rival Kasson-Mantorville. In its nine previous games this season, Stewartville had allowed a total of 33 points. Hutchinson will put Stewartville to another test; it averages 45.6 points per game, the third-most in the state in Class AAAA.

—Class AAA, Cannon Falls (10-1) vs. Watertown-Mayer (10-1), 7 p.m. Thursday (at Hastings H.S.): Watertown-Mayer has faced some challenging opponents, but it likely hasn't seen anything like Cannon Falls. The Bombers wear down opposing defenses with a physical offensive attack; they ran for 419 yards (7.2 per carry) in a 50-6 win against P-E-M in the Section 1AAA final. W-M, on the other hand, knocked off perennial state power Dassel-Cokato in the Section 2AAA final. D-C had won three straight section titles and defeated Cannon Falls in the 2019 state quarterfinals.

—Class AA, Chatfield (11-0) vs. Blue Earth Area (9-2), 7 p.m. Thusday (at Mayo H.S.): Over the next four weeks, more than anything, we may learn just how good Caledonia was this season. The Warriors faced Chatfield twice and played the Gophers tougher than anyone else has for a couple of years. Chatfield earned a dramatic 10-8 victory against Caledonia in the section final to advance to state. The defending state champ Gophers next face Blue Earth Area, a team that's been up and down this season, but averaged 48.0 ppg in its three Section 2AA playoff wins.

—Class A, Fillmore Central (11-0) vs. Lester Prairie (11-0), 5:30 p.m. Friday (at Jordan H.S.): Welcome to the state tournament, Fillmore Central. The Falcons have handled every test this season with relative comfort, with all 10 of their non-forfeit victories coming by at least 14 points. This will be their toughest test yet, as Lester Prairie is ranked No. 1 in the QRF Rankings, the only team ahead of No. 2 Fillmore Central.

—Nine-Man, Spring Grove (11-0) vs. Hancock (9-1), 7 p.m. Thursday (at Macalaster College): Spring Grove hopes to continue a dominant run by Section 1 teams in the 9-Man state playoffs. The Section 1 champion has won seven of the past eight state titles, including the Lions winning in 2017 and 2018. Hancock will have its hands full, to say the least. No team has come closer than 19 points against high-powered Spring Grove this season.

—Carter Holcomb, WR, Mayo: It was just another night at the office by Holcomb's standards, in Mayo's 36-7 romp over rival Owatonna in the Section 1AAAAA title game Saturday. The junior hauled in five passes for 104 yards and two TDs, including the back-breaker, a 40-yarder with 10:03 left in the game. A special talent, Holcomb leads the state with 17 TD catches this season, and is second with 1,182 yards.

—Owen Sikkink, RB, Stewartville: Speaking of just another night at the office, Sikkink has had plenty of those this season behind an aggressive offensive line that has paved the way for a Class AAAA-best 51.0 points per game. After a 46-22 win against rival Kasson-Mantorville in the Section 1AAAA title game, senior OL Peyton Byrne told the PB the Tigers' line has a " 'dog' mentality." Sikkink is a perfect fit behind that group. He ran for 167 yards and five touchdowns against K-M, to help Stewartville get to state for the first time since 2015.

—Offensive line, Cannon Falls: Bombers coach Dan Meyers told the PB last week that their run-heavy, misdirection offense is a great system to be an offensive lineman in. Clearly, the Bombers linemen agree. That group paved the way for a 7.2 yards-per-carry average in a 50-6 win against P-E-M in the Section 1AAA final. Cannon Falls scored a touchdown on seven of its 11 possessions in the game.

—Jacob Erickson, K, Chatfield: Erickson's comeback story isn't quite complete yet. He and his Gophers teammates hope they have three more games remaining in their season. But Erickson, a senior who suffered an ACL injury in Week 2 of the 2021 season, got his moment in the spotlight Friday night, and he took advantage. He booted a 27-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter of a Section 1AA title game where points were hard to come by. His field goal ended up being the winning points in the Gophers' 10-8 win against rival Caledonia.

—Dillon O'Connor, QB, Fillmore Central: A big reason why the Falcons are headed to state for the first time is their balance on offense. O'Connor's ability to run, pass, and spread the ball around makes that balance possible. In Friday's 34-8 win against Faribault B.A. in the Section 1A championship game, O'Connor passed for 157 yards and three TDs, and he ran for 53 yards and two scores.

—Elijah Solum, QB, Spring Grove: Four plays. That's all Spring Grove needed Friday night to score enough points to win the Section 1 9-Man championship game. The Lions tacked on four more TDs to beat rival Lanesboro 35-0. Solum had a hand in four of those TDs, rushing for two (1, 67 yards) and passing for two (35, 20 yards). He accounted for nearly 400 yards of offense, passing for 271 yards and rushing for 120.

1t. Chatfield (11-0)

Last week: 1t.

The Gophers know now what it's like to play in — and win — a nail-biter, needing a fourth-quarter field goal to edge rival Caledonia 10-8 in the Section 1AA championship game. Caledonia coach Carl Fruechte told the Post Bulletin after Friday's game that he felt like that was the state championship game. "I don't even know if I can say this," said Fruechte, Caledonia's Hall of Fame coach. "To me, this was the state championship. Barnesville and everyone else might disagree with me, and that's fine, but that's the way I look at it." Chatfield won't take the rest of the state for granted, but we here have a sneaking suspicion that Fruechte is correct.

1t. Stewartville (10-0)

Last week: 1t.

The Tigers are hands-down the No. 1 team in the QRF Rankings, the rankings used to determine seeds for section tournaments. They'll play their first state tournament game in seven years against the next-best team in those rankings, Hutchinson. Stewartville averages 51.0 points per game and allows 5.5. Hutch scores 45.6 and allows 12.3. Something has to give Thursday night.

3. Cannon Falls (10-1)

Last week: 3.

One team has found a way to slow Cannon Falls this season. And since the Bombers' lone loss of the year, a last-second 24-22 setback against Lourdes, the Bombers have been on a mission. They have averaged 58 points per game in their six games since that loss, including an average of 56.7 points in three Section 1AAA playoff games.

4. Mayo (9-1)

Last week: 4.

Mayo held leads of 14-0 and 21-14 at the first two quarter stops in its regular-season matchup against top-ranked Mankato West, back on Sept. 30. So the Spartans know they can play toe-to-toe with their Big Southeast District rival when those teams meet Saturday night in a Class AAAAA state quarterfinals. No opponent has come within 26 points of Mayo since that Week 5 setback to West.

5. Fillmore Central (11-0)

Last week: 6.

Dillon O'Connor. Bryce Corson. Kyle Daniels. Indeed, the Falcons have some offensive weapons who have been all but unstoppable this season. They've earned the credit they've received for Fillmore Central's success this season. But the Falcons can play some defense, too. They allow just 10.3 points per game and have surrendered eight or fewer points in half of their games. They'll face their toughest test yet on Friday, though, against Lester Prairie, one of just four teams in Class A that allows fewer points per game (4.1) than the Falcons.

6. Spring Grove (11-0)

Last week: 7.

The Lions are back in the state tournament for the first time since 2018, when they won their second consecutive state championship. Twelve of their 13 wins that season came by three or more touchdowns. Spring Grove has been similarly powerful this season, all 11 of its victories coming by at least 19 points.

7. Caledonia (8-3)

Last week: 8.

If they played in any other section in Class AA, there's a great chance the Warriors would be preparing for a state quarterfinal game this week. But like Caledonia did to so many great Section 1AA opponents over a decade-plus of dominance, the Warriors ran into state powerhouse Chatfield in the section title game. And though they pushed the Gophers to the final buzzer, the Warriors suffered a narrow 10-8 loss. Caledonia can hold its heads high, though. Its three losses this season? Two came against Chatfield, the other against a Cannon Falls team that is among the favorites to win the Class AAA state title.

8. Kasson-Mantorville (7-3)

Last week: 7.

After a season-opening loss to rival Byron, K-M won seven of its next eight games, including an impressive victory against Section 1AAAAA runner-up Owatonna, 28-21, in the final game of the regular season. Aside from the Byron game, the KoMets' other two losses came against Stewartville, which has bulldozed its way past every opponent on its schedule.

9. Lanesboro (9-2)

Last week: 10.

The Burros lost just twice all season, both times to unbeaten Spring Grove. But Lanesboro earned its way into the top-10 state poll this season, beating every other opponent on its schedule by double digits.

10. Plainview-Elgin-Millville (7-4)

Last week: 9.

In Friday's Section 1AAA title game, the Bulldogs couldn't replicate their regular-season success in limiting Cannon Falls' offense, as they did in a narrow 24-18 loss. Cannon Falls scored on its first drive and the snowball rolled downhill from there, as the Bombers won 50-6. But P-E-M had a great turnaround after some ups and downs in the middle of the season. The Bulldogs won three of their final four games, including knocking off top-seeded and then-No. 4 ranked Lourdes in the section semifinals.