The football field at Minneapolis North High School might as well be a dragstrip come Friday night. Because when the Polars and the amalgamation that is St. Paul Academy, Minnehaha Academy and Blake meet, there almost assuredly is going to be numerous high-speed plays heading toward each other.
Last season, in a typical meeting, the teams combined for 71 points (North won 38-33). Expect more of the same Friday night as No. 6-2A North (2-1) features the state’s fifth-ranked rusher in senior Jaylon Washington (446 yards) while No. 8-4A SMB (3-0) counters with senior Sanjay Redd and his 351 rushing yards.
Minneapolis North has had one of the state’s marquee programs in the last two decades, winning one title and finishing second twice in nine state tournament appearances in the 2000s. Upstart SMB won a Class 4A championship in 2018 and was runner-up the following year.