"I'm always worrying," Schlieff said. "It doesn't matter what year it is or what our record is. I eat fine at the beginning of the week. It gets tougher as the week goes on."

The way his team has played this season, it would seem that Schlieff, in his 18th year at the helm, has a bit less to worry about than in years past.

The Panthers rolled over Benilde-St. Margaret's 28-0 Saturday, their third shutout of the season. In building a 5-1 record, Spring Lake Park has given up only 33 points, 20 of which came in their lone loss to Totino-Grace. With 15 starters back from a 2010 team that finished 8-3, Schlieff knew his team had a chance to be special. But he admitted that the play of his defense has been a revelation.

"We've got a pretty special defensive line," he said. "Teams have real trouble running against that line. But I think the overall play of our defense in general has been a surprise. We lost a couple of all-conference defensive backs from last year, so that worried me a little, but the guys who have stepped in have done a great job."

With two weeks left in the regular season, Spring Lake Park has all but locked up the No. 1 seed on Section 6, Class 4A and has two very winnable regular-season games remaining, against Cooper and Fridley. Still, Schlieff admits there is plenty to be concerned about.

"Cooper has some athletes, and they can put up points in a hurry," he said. "And Fridley is a big rival, so it doesn't matter what their record is, it's always tough."

Spoken like a true coach.

GRACE TO BE MISSED

When asked about Totino-Grace, which has dominated the North Suburban Conference for the past decade, leaving to join the Northwest Suburban Conference for football next year, Schlieff said the school will be missed.

"Having Totino-Grace certainly gave the North Suburban Conference some validity," Schlieff said. "My first thought is that it's been nice playing in a conference that, with all of their state titles, makes it one of the top [Class] 4A conferences in the state."

STORM RISING

A roster stocked with three-year starters was reason for preseason optimism in Chanhassen. But the Storm stumbled early, losing its first four games, three of them by three points or fewer.

Over the past two games, however, Chanhassen has looked more like the team expected to challenge for the Missota Conference title.

The Storm has blown away its last two opponents by a combined score of 85-15, including a school record for points in a 57-8 rout of district rival Chaska on Friday. 

SO CLOSE YET SO FAR

Because of scheduling quirks, two metro conferences could have undefeated co-champions by season's end.

St. Thomas Academy and South St. Paul are ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in Class 4A but are not scheduled to meet in Classic Suburban Conference play.

Ditto for Hutchinson and Delano, both of which are 6-0 in the Wright County but will not play each other.

AROUND THE STATE

– Moose Lake-Willow River's 55-0 victory over Two Harbors was the No. 2, Class 2A Rebels' 44th consecutive regular-season victory.

– Eagle Valley senior running back Jacob Schauer is putting up head-shaking rushing statistics. Through six games, Schauer has run for 1,497 yards, an average of 249.5 yards per game. He had his second game of more than 300 yards this season Friday when he rushed for 313 in a 42-20 victory over Ashby. 

COMING UP

South St. Paul (6-0) at Mahtomedi (4-2), Friday. The biggest test of the season for the undefeated Packers.

St. Croix Lutheran (6-0) at St. Anthony (5-1), Friday. The Crusaders survived a road test at DeLaSalle. Another road victory confirms their force-to-be-reckoned-with status.