NIGHT SPOTLIGHT

by BRYAN ZOLLMAN Co-Publisher, Let’s Play Football

Rankings

9-MAN Hancock top team heading into Week 3

Hancock, a 9-man powerhouse, showed they are still the team to beat as they head into Week 3 as the top team as voted on by coaches in our Let’s Play Football poll.

The Owls defeated Hillcrest Lutheran 58-26 last week after beating Brandon-Evansville 30-6 in the season opener. This week they will travel to Rothsay, who is coming off a lopsided loss to another 9-man powerhouse in Verndale.

Verndale, ranked No. 3 in the LPF poll, has put up 120 points in their first two games.

If 120 points is impressive, No. 2-ranked Mountain Iron-Buhl has outscored opponents 126-12 in two games. It is not uncommon to see lopsided scores in 9-man football, but the Rang- ers have proven they don’t just put points on the board, but also keep them off.

Hills-Beaver Creek comes in this week ranked No. 4 and is coming off a 51-0 shutout over Madelia. They have yet to allow a point after winning 56-0 in their season opener.

Rounding out the top five is Leroy-Ostrander who opened the season with a 57-26 win over Southland and followed up with a 38-8 victory over Mabel-Canton.

In one of the big match ups in any class so far this season, Leroy-Ostrander will take on No.6ranked Lanesboro on Saturday.

Lanesboro had a convincing 28-0 win over grand Meadow in the opener and followed up by beating Southland 40-20 last week.

Win-E-Mac, Mountain Lake, Wheaton-Herman-Norcross and Fertile-Beltrami are all teams to watch this week and down the stretch as teams who could jump into the top five. But for now, it appears the top three teams may not be moving much with the scores they have posted thus far.

Match-Up of the week: No. 5 Leroy-Ostrander vs. No. 6 Lanesboro

Rankings

Class A

Lots of parity in Class A

You could probably throw the top five teams in a hat and anyone of them could become the top-ranked team at year’s end. But for now that team is Minneota, who started their season with two convincing wins, a 35-0 blanking of Adrian and a 43-6 win over Yellow Medicine East.

Minneota’s defensive line has done the job in those two games, allowing just 85 yards rushing and getting nine tackles for loss.

BOLD, always in the mix for a Prep Bowl, are off to a 2-0 start with wins over very good teams from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City and Upsala/ Swanville. The Warriors will have their hands plenty full this week when they travel to No. 9-ranked Browerville/Eagle Valley.

No. 3-ranked Mahnomen Waubun is off to a great start with two wins as is No. 4 Murray County Central.

Mahnomen Waubun has outscored opponents 68-8 through two weeks and Murray County Central has outscored their opponents 62-16. Both teams should pose problems for opponents throughout the 2021 campaign.

Dawson-Boyd at No. 5 is also 2-0 with a 66-8 margin in points scored. Brayden and Braxton Hahn have proven to be a tough duo for opponents to deal with.

Randolph could be a sneaky sleeper in Class A having shut out both their early opponents and outscoring them 99-0. Senior QB Jacob Weckup has already thrown for 564 yards and 11 touchdowns in two games. At 6’2”-180, he has been a force on the field. His big hookup has been brother Nathan Weckup, who has caught three TD passes and has 215 yards receiving. They will face No. 7 Rushford-Peterson in Week 6, which should prove to be a great match up.

Rushford-Peterson, meanwhile, is also 2-0 with a couple early wins over Medford and Fillmore Central. Led by the quarterbacking and running ability of Malachi Bunke, the Trojans could be a contender down the stretch.

Pine River-Backus, Browerville/ Eagle Valley and Ada Borup West round out the top 10 in Class A. Match-Up of the week: No. 2 BOLD at No. 9 Browerville/Eagle Valley

Rankings

Class 2A

1. Blue Earth Area

2. Eden Valley-Watkins

3. Redwood Valley

4. West Central Area/Ashby

5. Blooming Prairie

6. Minneapolis North

7. Moose Lake-Willow River

8. Caledonia

9. Kimball Area

10. Maple River

Class 2a

Blue Earth Area

Blue Earth Area comes in atop the Class 2A field thanks to two convincing road wins to start the season. They defeated Windom 59-0 in the season opener and followed up with a 43-13 win at Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.

They have made great strides the past few years, ending last season 7-0 and continuing their win streak into this year. With 18 seniors and 19 juniors and plenty of size with several guys over 250 pounds, the Buccaneers appear to be the team to beat early on in Class 2A.

But it won’t be easy as they will sooner or later have to face some formidable foes such as No. 2 Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles have soared past both opponents so far this year after finishing 5-1 last year. The Eagles are always a strong contender in Class 2A.

Friday Night Spotlight

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