If you're searching for small-school excellence, look no further than Blooming Prairie, which boasts one of the state’s most awesome nicknames: the Awesome Blossoms. They have a pretty darned good football team year in and year out, too (nine state tournament appearances; Class 1A champions in 2019).
Blooming Prairie (5-0), a section champion last year when it went 5-0, has won all of its games by at least two touchdowns this season and is coming off last Friday’s 42-0 rout of St. Clair/Loyola, during which quarterback Drew Kittelson passed for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
Kittelson, a 6-foot-5, 197-pound senior, has thrown for more than 1,000 yards this season, placing him near the top of the state leaderboard. Senior Colin Jordison caught three passes last week, two for touchdowns, and ranks among the top 10 in the state with more than 500 receiving yards. The No. 1-2A Awesome Blossoms haven’t lost a regular season game since Oct. 18, 2017, a 39-35 setback against Rushford-Peterson.
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop barely averted suffering its first loss last week, eking out a 22-21 victory over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva. Quarterback Brody Hentges completed eight of 11 passes, including two for touchdowns, in the win over NRHEG. Hentges is also a standout safety who had three interceptions in a Sept. 17 victory over Cleveland. Nick TenEyck, a junior running back/linebacker, is another star two-way player for the No. 7-1A Thunderbirds (5-0).