I had a pretty good Week 1, going 6-2, with Buffalo losing a heartbreaker to Brainerd and Howard Lake WW defeating Jordan. One of these days I will come to my senses and pick the Lakers in a close game, because they always seem to win those. This week is another great week of high school football action in the Wright County area, so let’s get right to the picks, and good luck to all the teams!
All games subject to change.
All games at 7 PM unless noted.
Thursday, September 10th
(0-1) STMA Knights @ (1-0) Minnetonka Skippers. (You can hear this game on KRWC – Pregame starts at 6:45 PM)
Last Week: The Knights held powerful Champlin Park to just seven first have points last week, but behind 335 rushing yards the Rebels won going away 35-0. Minnetonka, the #1 ranked teams in 6AAAAAA got past East Ridge, 14-7, limiting the Raptors to 7 yards rushing last week.
Keys: Wyatt Mosher cannot have seven carriers for 1 yard like he did last week, or the Knights stand zero chance of pulling the upset. They need to get young QB Lucas Bryan some easy throws early to loosen the Skippers defense. On the defensive side STMA needs to limit North Dakota QB recruit Caden Gutzmer, and force the Skippers to beat them another way.
The Pick: Knights always improve as the season goes on, but this offense isn’t ready for a team like Minnetonka yet, Skippers, 28-7.
Caden Gutzmer, above, is headed to North Dakota to play football after this season at Minnetonka.
(0-1) Buffalo Bison @ (0-1) Robbinsdale Cooper Hawks. 6 PM
Last Week: The Bison lost a heartbreaker to Brainerd at home, 38-32, while the Hawks lost to St. Francis, 25-14.
Keys: For Buffalo, don’t turn the ball over. The Bison turned it over three times in their tight loss to Brainerd last week. On defense the Bison have to limit QB Beckham Van Voorst and WR Erick Larkins, who combined for the only TD in Buffalo’s, 24-6-win last season. Speaking of turnovers, Bison will need to know where LB Antonio Ferguson is, because he is a machine at LB.
The Pick: Reiker Wignes shined in his first start at QB, especially finding Sr. WR Matthew Jordan seven times for 136 yards and two TD’s. Cooper is fast and athletic, but the Bison have the better offense, and win on the road, 31-13.
Antonio Ferguson, above, is game wrecker at LB for the Hawks.
Friday, September 11th
(1-0) Dassel-Cokato Chargers @ (1-0) Howard Lake WW Lakers. (You can hear this game on KRWC – Pregame begins at 6:30 PM.)
Last Week: DC jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead on the Rockets and cruised to a 27-13 win. The Lakers got revenge on Jordan. The Hubmen swept them last season, including in the playoffs, but this year HLWW won 27-7.
Keys: For DC it’s keep your foot on the gas. Last week the Chargers jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead but could only manage one first down in the second half against Rockford. For the Lakers it’s simple, run the ball and play the kind of rugged defense they played in last week’s opening game win over Jordan.
The Pick: Last year it was a big upset at the time when HLWW defeated DC, 28-14. This season DC will be ready for them, and it should be a very close game, but I see a rare pass from HLWW late in the game from Hunter Bush to Alex Stueven being the difference, Lakers, 27-21.
The Lakers defense, in blue above, held Jordan to just seven points in their opening night win last Friday.
(1-0) Alexandria @ (1-0) Monticello
Last Week: Alex escaped Chanhassen, 9-7 on third quarter field goal, while Monticello jumped out to a 42-8 halftime lead on Sauk Rapids Rice and cruised from there.
Keys: Alex has a rugged defense, so Monti will have to grind out yards and sustain drives if they are going to win this one. On the other side of the ball the Cards are young, and are working in a new QB, so Monti needs to take advantage of that and jump out to quick lead, which would make it tough on the Cards offense.
The Pick: In this matchup of two top five 5AAAAA schools, I think offense will be the difference…..barely. Last season the Cards won 7-0, this year the Magic return QB Carson Deibele (4 TD’s last week.) and running back Cale Holthaus (142 rushing yards last week.) That’s the difference, Magic in a thriller, 20-14.
Alex, above, for the second straight season will rely on a physical offensive and defensive line in its pursuit of a state championship.
( 0-1) Glencoe Silver Lake @ (1-0) Annandale
Last Week: The Cards grinded out a 28-8 win at Little Falls, while GSL trailed 39-0 at the half to Foley, and lost 52-14.
Keys: For Annandale, just be Annandale. Physical defense, big play offense, last week we saw that in bits and spurts, but this week Cards look to put it all together. For GSL, they are so young, they just want to be competitive. They do have a nice passing game, led by 6’3 Sr. Trevor Engelman, which features 6’2 WR Porter Simonson. The only problem for GSL is can they get the pass off against a fearsome Cards pass rush and excellent secondary led by Noah Elam.
The Pick: Last week wasn’t easy for the Cards. They need to find a good balance on offense and stop the run. That should be no problem against GSL, but honestly the Cards want to be sharp going into next week’s matchup with Section rival Foley. Cards, 42-6.
Rylan Horsch, above, ran for a TD and had a pick six in the Cards win last week at Little Falls.
(1-0) Watertown Mayer Royals @ (0-1) Rockford Rockets
Last Week: The Royals rolled over Milaca, 37-6, while Rockford lost to DC, 27-13.
Keys: The Royals have been improving over the last couple years, and I know they feel good about this team, and they steamrolled Milaca last week. For Rockford, things didn’t go well in the first half of their opener at DC, but in the second half the Rockets outscored the Chargers, 13-0 and held them to one first down, so there were some good signs for Rockford.
The Pick: The Royals won a close one last season, 15-14, but this is a much better WM team. They have a powerful RB in Carson Wasser, and a nice weapon in WR Ben Guetzkow. Best chance for Rockford is the passing combination of QB Max Ladman to Sr. 6’5 WR Ethan Robran. Rockets keep it close for a while, but Royals win it on the road, 24-13.
Carson Wasser, above, is a multiple weapon in the Royals lineup. He does everything from catching the ball to being a lead blocker for WM.
(1-0) Delano Tigers @ (0-1) Providence Lions
Last Week: Delano road a balanced attack on offense and dominating defense to a 35-6 win over Detroit Lakes. Providence lost to Zimmerman, 21-0.
Keys: You can see the improvement of Jr. QB Grant Bruett, who tossed two TD’s last week and also ran for 85 yards. On the other side of the ball, Delano should be able to handle the Lions offense. Providence was held to 28 yards rushing and just 103 total yards last week in their loss to the Thunder.
The Pick: Last year, Delano won a close one, 17-14, I don’t see that happening again this season. As I said earlier, Bruett is really coming into his own, and Bryce Beyer leads a powerful running game (112 yards rushing and two TD’s last week.) I also don’t think the Providence offense is as bad as it was last week against a very tough Zimmerman team, and they have an ok defense led by Isiah Coyle, but Tigers are simply the better team, Tigers, 21-7.
Providence, above in blue and gold, looks to get its offense going this week after only rushing for seven yards against Zimmerman.
(1-0) Ashby @ (0-1) Maple Lake Irish
Last Week: Menahga ended a fifteen-game losing streak with a 42-12 win over the Irish, while Ashby defeated Otter Tail Central, 30-14.
Keys: The Irish have to stop the run! Last week the Braves rushed for over 350 yards in their win over Maple Lake. On the offensive side of the ball, the Irish QB Jaxon Diebold threw a TD, while RB Marshall Hall rushed for 74 yards so there were signs of life on the offense for Maple Lake.
The Pick: Last season the Irish defeated Ashby, 16-14 to get off to a 2-0 start. This season the Irish lost their opener to Menahga, giving up 350 yards of offense, and Ashby has a better running game then Menahga, so I’m taking Ashby, 34-14.
Ashby, above, celebrates a touchdown in their win over Otter Tail Central last week.
