Minnesota West opens MCAC playoffs Sunday
Oct. 21—WORTHINGTON — They've beaten them once. They can beat 'em again.
The Minnesota West Bluejays football team owns a 21-8 regular season victory over the Central Lakes College Raiders, which was accomplished on Sept. 17 in Worthington. But the 2022 season has been a spotty one for the Jays, and nothing is guaranteed when they head north to Brainerd Sunday to take the Raiders on again in the quarterfinals of the MCAC playoffs.
"We beat 'em in the regular season, but it's tough to beat a team twice," said West head coach Jeff Linder on Friday. "And our guys gotta know that Central Lakes beat a couple of teams this year that beat us; they beat Rochester and they beat Mesabi Lakes. Just because we beat them once doesn't mean it's just gonna happen."
The Bluejays are 3-5 on the season, and one of their wins was secured by a forfeit. They are 1-4 in road games, and their final regular season game — in Worthington — ended in a disappointing 49-8 defeat to the No. 1-ranked Division III team in the country, MState-Fergus Falls.
The kickoff for Sunday's game is slated for 1:30 p.m. Other first-round games have Mesabi Range taking on Rochester and Vermilion playing North Dakota State College of Science.
Central Lakes is 3-3 on the year. In the regular season game between Central and West, the Raiders out-gained the Bluejays 321 yards to 285, but the Bluejays were efficient as running back Rashard Anderson gained 62 yards on 19 carries and quarterback Brock Starley completed 18 of 33 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdown passes were caught by wideout Ian Stamer, who hauled in nine passes on the day for 123 yards.
Defensively, the Jays frustrated the Raiders by blitzing.
Linder said his team appears to have recovered from its sub-par performance against MState-Fergus Falls. There has been a lot of energy in practice this week.
"We got a new season. Everybody is oh and oh, and we can make some things happen for ourselves," Linder said.
