I've had a small chance to catch my breath this afternoon. This fall has been a wild ride. It has been terribly exciting. We had a terrific, outstanding fall at B-B-E and in Jaguar Country. It's passed by at breakneck speed.
In football news...No. 2-seeded Mayer Lutheran shut out No. 4-seeded Upsala/Swanville Area in the Section 4A championship game played at SCSU on Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders won 28-0 to advance to the Class 1A state tournament.
No. 3-seeded Moose Lake-Willow River defeated No. 1-seeded Royalton in the Section 7AA championship by a 29-15 score. For Royalton, it was just their second loss of the season. They finish 8-2 overall after having a first-round bye in the playoffs. ML-WR advances to state with a 6-5 overall record. They'll take on West Central Area/Ashby on Friday, November 10 at Brainerd. WCA/A won the Section 6AA crown in a 42-38 win on Friday night against No. 1-seeded Pillager at the FargoDome. In Week Five of the regular season, Pillager romped over WCA/A 42-12 in Barrett.
No. 2-seeded Minneota earned an upset win over No. 1-seeded BOLD in the Section 5A finals by a 35-22 score at the college in Marshall.
In Section 5AA on Friday night, No. 1-seeded Paynesville Area stomped all over No. 6-seeded Holdingford 32-7 at SCSU.
In Section 4AA, Maple Lake gave heavily-favored and top-ranked Minneapolis North a game but lost 44-30. The Irish finish 5-6 overall.
At SCSU on Friday, Pierz rolled over New London-Spicer 40-14 to win the Section 6AAA crown. Pierz has now made it to five state tournaments in a row.
**Here's video of the awards ceremony on Thursday night at Little Falls:
In volleyball news...the state tournament has been seeded. Section 5A champion Pine River-Backus, who was expected to go into the field unseeded, got a favorable draw. They will take on No. 3-seeded Bethlehem Academy in the Class 1A state quarterfinals on Thursday in St. Paul. They are not in the bracket with No. 1-seeded Mayer Lutheran.
Minneota, the Section 3A champion, earned the No. 2 seed at state and will play New Life Academy of Woodbury in the state quarterfinals.
Two-time defending Central Minnesota Conference champion Maple Lake, also a defending state champion, earned the No. 1 seed in Class 2A (as expected). The undefeated Irish faces Kenyon-Wanamingo in the Class 2A state quarterfinals on Thursday night. B-B-E's head girls' basketball coach, Kristina Anderson, is a Kenyon-Wanamingo graduate.