Mankato West, ranked No. 1 in Class 5A in last week’s Associated Press poll, comes in riding high on a 23-game win streak since 2020 and is 4-0 this season. The Scarlets’ starters haven’t allowed a point and opponents have scored just 21 points total in the second halves of blowouts. The offense is scoring more than 37 points per game. Senior running back Jackson Froderman rushed for three touchdowns and junior quarterback Bart McAninch threw for three touchdowns Saturday against Rochester Century (0-4).
It’s a short week to prepare for a fellow unbeaten, but no advantage is lost as Rochester Mayo played on Saturday, too. The Scarlets trailed the Spartans last year by a touchdown after one quarter, before scoring 30 unanswered to run away with the win. Mankato West needs to win to keep pace with Chanhassen (4-0) for Section 2 playoff seeding.
Rochester Mayo (4-0), ranked tied for No. 6 in Class 5A, hasn’t obliterated opponents the same way Mankato West has, but the Spartans have won their last three games by a combined 136-24 margin. The only close call was a 35-27 win over Owatonna (2-2) in Week 1.
Rochester Mayo is led by junior quarterback Rees Grimsrud, who is averaging 218 yards per game with 12 TDs and two interceptions. The Spartans are the only ranked opponent on Mankato West’s schedule. Rochester Mayo expects to be the top seed in Section 1 even with a loss in this one.