Top games: After a surprising loss, Hastings looks to rebound against Tartan

By Loren Nelson, SportsEngine, 09/16/19, 1:00PM CDT

Sept. 20: The Raiders, upended in play last week, face the Titans in a showdown of ranked Class 5A teams.

Hastings, which suffered a surprising loss to South St. Paul last week, aims to rebound on Friday against top-10 ranked Tartan. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

We task our reporters with identifying several intriguing games throughout the state to assemble our Top Games of the Week. The matchups are presented in no particular order, and when there are additional games we want to highlight, we’ll include them with brief notes.

Other games to keep an eye on

Dassel-Cokato vs. New London-Spicer, 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20. After opening the season with consecutive shutouts, No. 5-3A Dassel-Cokato (3-0, 1-0) had to grind out a 20-14 triumph over Princeton last week and now faces an East Central South Subdistrict foe in New London-Spicer (3-0, 1-0) which has scored 33 or more points in all three of its games.

Moose Lake-Willow River vs. Aitkin, 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20. Hail the defenses of these northern small-school powers (Moose Lake-Willow River is No. 6 in Class 2A; Aitkin is No. 8 in Class 3A) as these unbeaten teams have combined to shut out five of their six opponents.

Hills-Beaver Creek vs. Mountain Lake Area, 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20. Speaking of small-school unbeatens, this matchup pits two of the most dominant 9-Man squads in the state as No. 2-ranked Mountain Lake (3-0, 2-0) meets fellow South West Subdistrict member No. 7 Hills-Beaver Creek (3-0, 3-0).