2010 Central Minnesota Conference football previews

Holdingford Huskers - 2009 record, 6-4 overall, 1-1 in Section 6AA, 5-2 (3rd) in the Central Minnesota Conference. Offense averaged 25.4 points per game, while the defense gave up 18.7 points per game.

2010 outlook from Huskers head coach Mark Messman, “Our offense is returning eight starters, while the defense returns seven. With a lot of returning players, we expect to be competitive in every game. I think the top conference teams for 2010 include Pierz, Eden Valley-Watkins, and Maple Lake.”


Maple Lake Irish - 2009 record, 6-5 overall, 2-1 in Section 5AA with a 33-20 loss to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in the section championship game, 4-3 (4th tie) in the Central Minnesota Conference. Offense averaged 21.9 points per game while the defense gave up an average of 14 points per game.

The Irish return 10 starters for the fall campaign from last year's section runner-up squad, with eight coming back on defense. Coach Tim Knudsen stated in a nutshell how their team is approaching this season, "Win the CMC, win the section, and win state!"

Coach Knudsen looks at the Irish, Holdingford, Eden Valley-Watkins, Pierz, and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted as top teams in the CMC this year.


Rockford Rockets - 2009 record 0-8 overall, missed the Section 4AAA playoffs. 0-7 (8th) in the Central Minnesota Conference. Offense averaged 5.3 points per game, while the defense gave up 31 points per game.

2010 outlook from Rockets head coach Dan Houghton, “We have seven starters returning offense and sevencoming back on defense this fall. Our goal this fall is to be competitive in all our games and improve week to week. We want to be playing well going into the playoffs.

Coach Houghton sees Pierz, Eden Valley-Watkins, and Maple Lake as top teams in the CMC.


Pierz Pioneers - 2009 record, 10-2, finished the regular season ranked #7 in Class AA, went 6-1 in the Central Minnesota Conference, good for second place alone. Won the Section 6AA championship with two blowout wins and a tough 13-6 win over Crosby-Ironton in the championship game at the FargoDome.

In the Class AA state quarterfinals, the Pioneers were drubbed by Eden Valley-Watkins 41-7 at Husky Stadium in St.Cloud. The Pioneers certainly enter this season with a chip on their shoulders, as they were outscored 77-14 in two games against the only team that beat them last year, the CMC champion Eagles.

The Pioneers averaged 33.3 points per game in 2009, while their defense gave up an average of 11.2 points per game.

September 8, 2006 was the last time Pierz defeated Eden Valley-Watkins, and the last time Pierz won the CMC title. That year, EV-W went on to become the Class AA state champions. Pierz was upset by St.Croix Lutheran 28-13 in the Section 4AA championship. (Damn those private schools.)

Fast forward to this year, and keep September 24 noted in the back of your mind, as that is the night that Pierz hosts their conference rivals, Eden Valley-Watkins, in what will probably be a battle of unbeaten teams. (Assuming Eden Valley-Watkins isn't beaten by Maple Lake this week in their CMC opener.)

“Eden Valley-Watkins has been great lately, but we have won our share of games with them,” Pierz coach Leo Pohlkamp said. “At this point, we are just working to get better. We lost a lot of talent and we can’t look ahead.”

Pierz returns five starters this year after losing 16 of 22 starters from last season’s squad to graduation. The Pioneers' hopes are bolstered by having 16 seniors on this year's roster. The Pioneers are clearly the cream of the crop for mid-range rural Minnesota football programs - they keep coming at you in waves.

Read a full pre-season preview on the Pierz Pioneers, written by Morrison County Record sports editor Brice Lehner, by clicking here: http://mcrecord.com/archives/473253/pierz-looking-for-third-trip-to-state-in-four-years/ The MCR is published in Little Falls, and they cover a number of teams around that part of the state, including Pierz.

Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles - 2009 record, 12-1 overall, 7-0 Central Minnesota Conference, 3-0 in Section 5AA, 1-1 in the Class AA playoffs. The Eagles were snake bitten in the Class AA semi-finals, losing to eventual state champion Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 21-20 in overtime at the Metrodome. The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, and the Eagles led 13-7 going into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles averaged 41.1 points per game in 2009, while their defense gave up an average of 8.0 points per game.


Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Lakers - 2009 record, 5-5 overall, 3-4 Central Minnesota Conference (5th), 1-1 Section 5AA playoffs. A game that everyone remembers from last year was the Lakers' 12-6 double overtime win over B-B-E in Week 2 at Belgrade.

The Lakers scored an average of 18.5 points per game in 2009, while their defense gave up 21.4 points per game.


Kimball Area Cubs - 2009 record, 2-7 overall, 1-6 Central Minnesota Conference (7th), 0-1 Section 4AA playoffs. They lost two games to Highway 55 rival Maple Lake 38-0 in the regular season and 38-8 in the playoffs. The Cubs opened the 2009 season on the right note, beating St.John's Prep 42-0. They lost their next six games, however, before rebounding to defeated winless Rockford 14-6 in Week 8.

The Cubs' offense generated 10.4 points per game in 2009, while their defense gave up 33.1 points per game.