1 Growth spurt

Joining the Big Ten and Big 12 in terms of misleading league names, the Mississippi 8 grows to 10 full-time teams this year with the acceptance of Chisago Lakes, North Branch and St. Francis from the North Suburban and Princeton from the Granite Ridge. In football, 10 increases to 12 with the addition of football-only members Duluth Denfeld and Duluth East. But the league is not considering changing its name. “We’ve had so many changes in membership that we would be changing names constantly,” said Gary Revenig, Monticello activities director. “We use the Big Ten as our model all the time.”

 

2 Running to success

The league is rife with running backs, so expect some impressive rushing numbers. Chisago Lakes brings a pair in Josh Parks, a Division I prospect, and hard-nosed Kaleb Paehlke. Monticello has Jake Olson, a 6-3, 217-pounder who runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash. St. Francis’ Max Gust rushed for more than 1,600 yards in 2012. There’s also Nick Malec at Duluth Denfeld, Brian Lansing at Duluth East, Nate Weber at Rogers and Chris Kartes at St. Michael-Albertville.

 

3 The great unknown

With four new teams in the mix, conference coaches are unsure about what to expect. “New conference, new opponents,” wrote Chisago Lakes coach Bill Weiss. “I really have no idea. I expect every week to be very competitive.”

 

4 Sophomore stuff

There are many observers who believe the league’s best player last year was Cambridge-Isanti sophomore John Solberg, a QB/DB who was equally adept at throwing a pass for a touchdown and intercepting a pass and returning it for a score. The best all-around defensive player this year could be Buffalo’s Adam Treptau, a sophomore defensive lineman who creates all sorts of havoc in the middle.

 

5 Can Princeton keep the momentum?

Princeton had lost 22 consecutive games before last year, when it shocked fans by going 8-5 and advancing to the Class 4A semifinals. The Tigers lost a lot of firepower to graduation but head into 2013 with something to build upon.

JIM PAULSEN