No, Caledonia isn’t unbeatable. We know this because the Warriors ended the 2014 season with a 21-0 loss to BOLD in the semifinals of the state tournament. OK, that was six years, five straight Class 2A state titles and 70 consecutive victories (the nation’s longest current winning streak) ago. On second thought, maybe Caledonia (2-0, 1-0) is unbeatable.
The Warriors’ 26-0 victory over highly regarded Minneapolis North in last year’s state title game cemented their status as the state’s small-school version of Class 6A juggernaut Eden Prairie (both programs have a state-best 11 titles).
Caledonia junior Eli King was his usual superstar self in the No. 2-1A Warriors’ 66-7 win over Dover-Eyota on Saturday. He returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown, completed two TD passes to Isiah Reinhart and another to Andrew Kunelius, and ran untouched 70 yards for his fifth TD — all in the first half.
Chatfield went 6-2 in the regular season last year and won two playoff games before losing 27-7 to Caledonia in the Section 1 title game. Sophomore Sam Backer rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns last week in the Gophers' (3-0, 2-0) 19-2 defeat of Zumbrota-Mazeppa.