Class 6A
The first football rankings of the year have been released by the Associated Press and unsurprisingly, Totino-Grace stands atop the large-school rankings after a momentous 17-14 road win over rival Eden Prairie in the season opener last Friday. The Eagles received 78 points and six first place votes, four more than second-ranked Lakeville North, who topped East Ridge in overtime last week.
Maple Grove checks in at No. 3 after senior quarterback Brett Davison scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Crimson to a win over crosstown rival and defending state champions Osseo, who failed to crack the Top 10.
Eden Prairie is the lone ranked 6A team without a win, and the No. 4 Eagles face another top 10 team this week with a game at No. 10 Edina.
Blaine begins the season ranked No. 5. Click to view the entire Top 10.
Class 5A
Defending Class 5A champion St. Michael-Albertville tops the initial rankings, receiving eight of a possible 10 first-place votes and 98 points overall after beating Moorhead 16-6 last week in a rematch of last year’s state semifinals.
Mankato West checks in at No. 2 and received two first-place votes and 89 points following a 34-19 rout of Owatonna. Spring Lake Park is not far behind in third place with 77 points while Mahtomedi is a distant fourth with 42 points.
Elk River ranks fifth in Class 5A after a dominating 42-0 shutout of Brainerd in the season opener. Click to view the entire Top 10.
Class 4A
After losing in the Class 4A championship game last season, South St. Paul took a good first step down the long road to US Bank Stadium with a 42-6 road win over rival North St. Paul last week. The win earned the Packers the top spot in the rankings, earning six first-place votes and 89 overall points.
Hutchinson checks in at No. 2 with three first-place votes and 78 total points after a thrilling 37-34 win over sixth-ranked and defending state champion Becker. Stewartville is third with 54 points after a home win over Chatfield last week, while Marshall ranks fourth thanks to an offensive display that garnered 63 points against Jordan last week.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s sits in fifth place and a showdown against Class 5A Robbinsdale Cooper looming on Friday.
Class 3A
Defending Class 3A champs Pierz continues to breeze by the opposition; the Pioneers opened the season with a 26-6 win over Annandale, earning themselves all six first-place votes and 67 point(z) to take the top spot in the poll.
Tri-City United is second with 49 votes, while Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and last year’s state runner-up Jackson County Central are tied for third place with 42 points apiece.
Rounding out the top 5 is St. Croix Lutheran with 39 points. Click to view the entire Top 10.
Class 2A
After blowing out La Crescent 45-13 a week ago (a reminder of last year’s 40-0 championship with over Pipestone Area), defending Class 2A champion Caledonia won their 15th straight game dating back to the start of last season and are the unanimous No. 1 selection with five first place votes.
Moose Lake Willow River sits in second with 33 points after a 40-0 blowout of Barnum last week, while Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, Barnesville and Eden Valley-Watkins complete the top 5 with 29, 27 and 25 points, respectively. Click to view the entire Top 10.
Class 1A
In Class 1A, another defending state champion was a unanimous selection atop the rankings as Minneota took all seven first-place votes after beating Wabasso 22-17 on the road last week.
Minneapolis North is second with 55 votes after last year’s state runners-up scored a big win over Class 3A rival Minneapolis Washburn in the opener.
Braham checks in at No. 3 with 47 points, while Goodhue and Browerville round out the top 5. Click to view the entire Top 10.
9-Man
Grand Meadow checks in at No. 1 among 9-Man teams, and for a good reason. The Superlarks are back-to-back-to-back state champions and haven’t lost a regular-season game since 2012. Grand Meadow beat Lanesboro 65-16 last week, and that will likely be a recurring story for another year. The only opponent currently ranked on their schedule is No. 3 Spring Grove, who could give them a run for their money on Oct. 19. Until then, it’s the Superlarks’ world and everyone else is just living in it.
Coming in at No. 2 is Cleveland with 30 points. The Clippers enjoyed a 67-12 win over Nicollet to open the season, but they will run into a tougher test this week with a game against No. 8-ranked Hills-Beaver Creek.
Waubun (No. 4) and Stephen-Argyle (No. 5) make up the rest of the top half of the Top 10. Click to view the entire Top 10.
Tag(s): Featured Hub Exclusive MSHSL Districts 9-Player North Blue Cook County Ely Mesabi Academy Mountain Iron-Buhl Silver Bay Gold Hill City/Northland Isle Nevis Ogilvie Onamia Red Bigfork Kelliher/Northome Lake of the Woods Littlefork-Big Falls Northeast Range North Woods White Carlton/Wrenshall Cromwell-Wright Area Floodwood McGregor South Ridge Wrenshall South East Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons Grand Meadow Houston Lanesboro Lyle-Pacelli Mabel-Canton Randolph Spring Grove West Lutheran West Cleveland Edgerton Fulda GHEC/Truman Heron Lake-Okabena Hills-Beaver Creek Madelia Mountain Lake Area Nicollet Westbrook-Walnut Grove West North Clearbrook-Gonvick Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke Kittson County Central Northern Freeze Stephen-Argyle Central Warren-Alvarado-Oslo North 2 Ada-Borup West Cass Lake-Bena NCE/UH Norman County West Waubun Win-E-Mac South Bertha-Hewitt Hillcrest Lutheran Laporte Park Christian Rothsay Underwood Verndale South 2 Ashby/Brandon-Evansville Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Hancock MACCRAY Renville County West Wheaton-Herman-Norcross Big Southeast Blue Austin Faribault Mankato East Mankato West Red Wing Winona Red New Prague Northfield Owatonna Rochester Century Rochester John Marshall Rochester Mayo East Central North Albany Becker Foley Little Falls Milaca New London-Spicer St. Cloud Cathedral Zimmerman South Annandale Dassel-Cokato Delano Glencoe-Silver Lake Holy Family Hutchinson Litchfield Watertown-Mayer Metro East Cretin-Derham Hall East Ridge Forest Lake Mounds View Roseville Stillwater Woodbury White Bear Lake Maroon Hastings Two Rivers Hill-Murray Mahtomedi North St. Paul Park of Cottage Grove Simley South St. Paul St. Thomas Academy Tartan South Apple Valley Burnsville Eagan Eastview Farmington Lakeville North Lakeville South Rosemount Midwest Blue Frazee Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Osakis Otter Tail Central Staples-Motley Sebeka Wadena-Deer Creek Red Detroit Lakes East Grand Forks Fergus Falls Park Rapids Pequot Lakes Perham Roseau Thief River Falls White Barnesville Breckenridge Crookston Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Hawley Pelican Rapids Warroad Mid Southeast White Fillmore Central Goodhue Hayfield Kingsland Lewiston-Altura Rushford-Peterson Southland Wabasha-Kellogg East Bethlehem Academy Blooming Prairie Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Kenyon-Wanamingo Mankato Loyola Medford St. Clair/Loyola United South Central Mid State Sub 1 Eden Valley-Watkins Holdingford Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Maple Lake Melrose Paynesville Pierz Rockford Sub 2 Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Benson BOLD Minnewaska Montevideo Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Sauk Centre Yellow Medicine East Sub 3 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Browerville Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Kimball Parkers Prairie Royalton Upsala/Swanville West Central Northeast Blue Aitkin Esko Crosby-Ironton Moose Lake/Willow River Mora Pine City Red Cloquet Duluth Denfeld Grand Rapids Hermantown Hibbing Proctor Silver Barnum Braham Chisholm Deer River East Central Hinckley-Finlayson Mesabi East Rush City White Eveleth-Gilbert Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin International Falls Two Harbors Virginia Northwest West Lake Park-Audubon Polk County West Badger/Greenbush-Middle River Fertile-Beltrami Fosston Mahnomen Red Lake County East Bagley Blackduck New York Mills Pillager Pine River-Backus Red Lake Walker-Hackensack-Akeley North Central Blue Buffalo Cambridge-Isanti Elk River Rogers St. Francis St. Michael-Albertville Red Alexandria Bemidji Brainerd Moorhead Rocori St. Cloud Apollo St. Cloud Tech Sartell Sauk Rapids-Rice Willmar White Big Lake Chisago Lakes Duluth East Monticello North Branch Princeton Southeast Red Cannon Falls Byron Kasson-Mantorville Stewartville Plainview-Elgin-Millville La Crescent-Hokah Lake City Rochester Lourdes White Caledonia Chatfield Dover-Eyota Pine Island St. Charles Triton Winona Cotter Zumbrota-Mazeppa Southwest North Ortonville Lakeview Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Murray County Central Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Adrian/Ellsworth Canby Dawson-Boyd Minneota Lac qui Parle Valley South Cedar Mountain Minnesota Valley Lutheran New Ulm Cathedral Red Rock Central Sleepy Eye Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Springfield Wabasso South Central Blue Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Lester Prairie Le Sueur-Henderson Maple River Mayer Lutheran NRHEG Norwood Young America Sibley East Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Red Albert Lea Belle Plaine Fairmont Jordan Marshall New Ulm St. Peter Tri-City United Waseca Worthington White Blue Earth Jackson County Central Luverne Martin County West Pipestone Redwood Valley St. James Windom Suburban Red Benilde-St. Margaret's DeLaSalle Irondale Park Center Robbinsdale Armstrong Robbinsdale Cooper St. Louis Park Spring Lake Park White Bloomington Jefferson Bloomington Kennedy Chanhassen Chaska Holy Angels Orono Richfield Waconia Twin City City - Blue Brooklyn Center Minneapolis Edison Minneapolis North Minneapolis Roosevelt St. Agnes Spectrum Suburban - Gold Minneapolis South Academy Force Providence Academy St. Paul Harding St. Paul Johnson SMB Suburban - Maroon Fridley Minneapolis Southwest Minneapolis Washburn St. Anthony St. Croix Lutheran St. Paul Central St. Paul Highland Park City - Red Breck Columbia Heights Concordia Academy Minneapolis Patrick Henry Mound Westonka St. Paul Como Park West Metro North Andover Anoka Blaine Centennial Champlin Park Coon Rapids Osseo Totino-Grace West Eden Prairie Edina Hopkins Maple Grove Minnetonka Prior Lake Shakopee Wayzata Independent Minnesota Academy for the Deaf LeRoy-Ostrander