3 Storylines to watch in Week 2 of high school football season
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Sep. 10—What to watch for in Week 2 of the high school football season in southeastern Minnesota:
Winona Cotter, behind a talented senior class, put together one of the best seasons in program history a a year ago. The Ramblers went 9-2, including winning streaks of three and six games. The problem for the Ramblers is that they are in the same section as Pine Island, a program that also had its best season in more than a decade, going unbeaten until the state quarterfinals.
We'll find out just how formidable this Cotter team is over the first half of the season, but it's off to a flying start and had one of the more convincing Week 1 victories among teams in Section 1, Class 3A, winning 34-12 at La Crescent-Hokah.
Cotter plays its home opener this week against Kenyon-Wanamingo, which was shut out 27-0 by Zumbrota-Mazeppa last week, then travels to Lake City in Week 3 before hosting Pine Island for a rematch of last year's section championship game on Sept. 25.
Though one week is a small sample size, Cotter appears to have a balanced offensive attack again, as Cade Cummings ran for 90 yards and two TDs in last week's win and QB Macalester Nisbit was 10-for-13 passing for 167 yards and a touchdown.
The Triton Cobras passed their first test, going on the road and beating 2025 Class 2A state runner-up Goodhue 21-14 in Week 1.
Their reward? Going back on the road to face a Rushford-Peterson team that took Caledonia — a team with aspirations of repeating as Section 1-2A champs — to OT in a 25-18 loss last Friday. It'll be the home opener for an R-P team that had to gain some confidence from a game in which Caledonia needed a late fourth-quarter TD and two-point conversion just to get to overtime.
Triton gained some momentum, too, proving it can go on the road and showing it can beat a traditionally strong program in the Cobras' first game since star athlete Pierce Petersohn — now a freshman at Division I Virginia Tech — graduated. Braxton Koss had a huge performance against Goodhue, returning an interception 60 yards for a TD in the first quarter, then returning a punt 65 yards for a score in the second quarter.
The Cobras defense held Goodhue to fewer than 4 yards per carry, a figure they'll likely need to turn into a trend if they want to continue their winning ways.
Triton's schedule leaves no breathing room, as the Cobras play four of their first five games on the road — a stretch that sends them to R-P this week and to Chatfield on Sept. 25, with a home game against Caledonia sandwiched in between. When Triton finally does get home for more than a week, it closes the regular season with a challenging three-week string of games against Dover-Eyota, Lourdes and Cannon Falls.
There's never a time when teams can take a deep breath and relax in District 9-South play.
Case in point: Week 1 of the 2026 season. Grand Meadow — a program that dominated the section and the state in the mid-2010s — had won a total of four games over the past three seasons. Yet the Superlarks opened the season a week ago with a 16-8 victory against defending Section 1, 9-Player champion Mabel-Canton.
We know that rosters can change significantly from year to year, especially when losing a big senior class, but last Friday's game was a great start — and confidence boost — for a Superlarks team that appears to be on the upswing. Grand Meadow excelled in two key areas last Friday: It ran for 4.1 yards per carry (159 yards on 39 ruhes), and its defense was outstanding on third downs, holding Mabel-Canton to just 17.7% (2-for-12).
We'll learn a lot about coach Josh Bain's team over the first month of the season. Grand Meadow's schedule gets no easier, as it plays the past three section champions over the first three weeks. The 'Larks beat the 2025 section champion Cougars in Week 1. Now they host 2023 section champion Kingsland (7 p.m. today) and 2024 section champion LeRoy-Otrander/Lyle-Pacelli (Sept. 18) in Weeks 2 and 3.
Though it's still very early in the season, the results of these games could be significant in late October when it comes time to seed the section playoffs.
When, where: 7 p.m. Friday, at Century High School Stadium
Records: Century is 1-0, Chaska is 1-0.
Last week: Century beat Tartan 25-0. Chaska beat Mayo 7-3.
Century notes: The Panthers started the season 1-0 for the first time since 2020 after shutting out Tartan 25-0 on the road last Thursday. Despite being just two years removed from the first winless season in program history, the Panthers have made significant strides, finishing 2-7 last fall and picking up a Week 1 win. Century looked strong on both sides of the ball against Tartan. In his first start behind center, senior quarterback Cade Goergen threw for 165 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions (12-for-16). Other offensive highlights include senior kicker Peter Aaroyo, who made a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter to extend the Panthers' lead to 17-0. Senior receivers/defensive backs Adam Rice and Malakai Tankhamvang and senior running back/linebacker Max Elliott each caught a TD pass from Goergen. Elliott contributed 37 of the Panthers' 80 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Chaska notes: Chaska will play its second Rochester team in as many weeks after narrowly defeating Mayo 7-3 last Friday. The Hawks recorded just 195 total yards against the Spartans Week 1. Chaska's Justin Greathouse finished 1-for-2 with 11 yards and one interception. He also rushed 10 yards for the Hawks' lone TD. The Hawks defeated the Panthers 31-12 in Chaska on Sept. 5 last year before finishing the season 7-3 overall. Before that, the last time the two teams played each other was back in 2011 when Century won 34-7. Turnovers hurt the Panthers against the Hawks a year ago, so ball security, along with another solid defensive showing, will be crucial for Century to earn the win on Friday.
Century coach Jon Vik says: "We had a good start to the season last week versus Tartan, but we have to be even better this week. As they showed versus Mayo Friday, Chaska has an outstanding defense. They held a very good Mayo offense in check for most of the game. Chaska's front 7 players are big, aggressive and physical. Their 3-4 scheme is simple, but the players implement it well. To move the ball, we will need to execute better than we did last week and play even more physically. Mayo's defense did a great job versus Chaska's Flexbone offense. We have to try to limit their powerful run game. One challenge is that few teams run this style of offense. Chaska's offense is similar to Kasson-Mantorville with multiple threats on each play and the potential to hit big plays in the pass game if you read the wrong key. Our defense must be disciplined, play aggressively and tackle well this week. Our players are focused on improving each day and are excited for the challenge Friday."
— Madeline Warren
When, where: 7 p.m. Friday, at John Burch Park
Records: Lourdes 0-1, Cannon Falls 1-0.
Last week: Lourdes lost to Chatfield, 24-7; Cannon Falls beat Randolph 44-8.
Lourdes notes: This is the Eagles' first road game of the season and one of just four regular-season games they'll play on a Friday. … Following this game, Lourdes plays three consecutive home games before closing the regular season with three consecutive road games. … Head coach Mike Kesler said the Eagles need to focus on extending and finishing drives this week. They drove into Chatfield's territory just twice in last week's loss. … Kesler said Lourdes is also looking for four strong quarters from its defense this week. The Eagles held a strong Chatfield rushing attack to just 3.6 yards per carry in the first half last week, but that number jumped to 5.55 yards per carry in the second half, when the Gophers' line took over. … Lourdes' coaches were pleased with how they played the field-position battle. Eighth grader Owen Deutsch punted four times for a 29-yard net average, including calmly handling a pair of low snaps. … Lourdes' run game was effective in spurts, as the Eagles averaged 4.89 yards per carry in the opener.
Cannon Falls notes: The Bombers suffered a blow to their lineup with the loss of junior defensive end/tight end Harrison Sjoquist to a season-ending injury. "Harrison is a tremendous football player and is considered one of the top Division I prospects in Minnesota, so losing him is a significant setback for our team," coach Dan Meyers told the Post Bulletin. "Other than that, knock on wood, we're in pretty good shape health-wise." … This is the second consecutive home game for the Bombers, who will play four of their final six on the road, beginning with next week's game at Chatfield. … The Bombers' ground game is among the best around, as they effectively execute their Power Triple-T offense, which relies on great blocking from their line, plenty of misdirection and multiple running backs carrying the ball. Last week, 12 players ran the ball at least once, with 11 of them carrying multiple times. They ran for 327 yards and five touchdowns as a team, with no player rushing for more than 95 yards or more than one TD. Griffin Peterson led the way with 7 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. … QB Beck Swanson also had a good debut effort, completing 5 of 8 attempts for 117 yards and a touchdown. … Senior linebacker Collin Nguyen (5-feet-11, 193 pounds) is the Bombers' leading tackler; he has 11 total tackles and 2 tackles for loss. … Coach Dan Meyers noted that Nguyen, Peterson, Will Montgomery and TJ Kyyra all stood out defensively against a Randolph offense that was playing its first game since switching to a double-wing set.
Lourdes coach Mike Kesler says: "You learn more in Week 1 than you do all year long. There were a lot of teachable moments; we played hard, though and that's one thing you want to see as a coach. Too many mistakes, but our effort was tremendous. … Cannon Falls does a lot of schematically different stuff than we see the rest of the year and they do a great job with it. It's not fancy, but they're a physical football team and they execute it really well. We have our hands full, but our kids are excited for that challenge. … (Defensively) we have to get off the field on third downs. Cannon isn't afraid to gamble and go for it on fourth down. They could have a fourth-and-7 at their own 18 and go for it. That's how confident they are and they should be. They've had that success. We have to be ready to play four downs against a big, physical front."
Cannon Falls coach Dan Meyers says: "I thought our defense did a very good job of eliminating big plays and keeping everything in front of us. We knew Randolph was going to be running a new offense, but we didn't know exactly what the details would look like. So our focus was on playing our base system, being disciplined, and running to the football.Jet sweep was one of the plays they wanted to build their offense around, and our linebackers did an excellent job of keeping that play from getting out into the space they were looking for. … Lourdes is difficult to prepare for because they run a sophisticated option system and execute it extremely well. The good news is that we've played them many times over the years, so we have a pretty good idea of what they're trying to accomplish. The biggest challenge is that their players execute those plays at a very high level. Going against our own offense in practice definitely helps us prepare for an option team like Lourdes. Lourdes puts a lot of pressure on you because they execute so well and make you defend every inch of the field."
— Jason Feldman
When, where: Friday, 7 p.m., at John Drews Field.
Records: John Marshall 0-1, Mankato East 0-1.
Last week: JM lost 28-14 to Apple Valley. Mankato East lost 37-29 to Owatonna.
Mankato East notes: The Cougars started their season against Owatonna, with the Huskies seeking payback. Mankato East beat Owatonna 28-7 last year. But the Cougars graduated six players who are now playing college football and couldn't keep up with Owatonna after being tied 16-16 at halftime. East was led by Blake Kamphoff with 101 yards rushing on 11 carries. Quarterback Kellen Willaert was 13-for-16 passing for 150 yards. East has good size and athleticism.
John Marshall notes: For the fourth straight year, JM led off its season against Apple Valley. For the third time in four tries, Apple Valley was the winner. The Rockets fell behind 21-0 in the third quarter and didn't have enough to get back in the game. JM got a boost from second-string quarterback Jack Klein, who was 8-for-10 passing for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Standout receiver Akit'J Williams had seven catches for 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Both Klein and starting quarterback Lliam Swenson are expected to play against East. . .JM is an incredibly young team. It had 15 players get their first varsity action last week. . .Starting running back Angel Felix injured his ankle early in the game against Apple Valley and is questionable against East.
JM coach Kyle Riggott says: "We have to block and tackle better than we did (against Apple Valley). Just the fundamentals of football. We missed too many tackles and didn't finish blocks."
— Pat Ruff
When, where: 6 p.m. Friday, at St. Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights)
Records: Mayo is 0-1, STA is 0-1.
Last week: Mayo lost to Chaska 7-3. St. Thomas lost to Cretin-Derham Hall 15-7.
Mayo notes: It was a tough start to the 2026 season for the Spartans. They dropped their season opener 7-3 to Chaska as the offense could only muster a pair of first downs and 43 total yards. That includes minus-2 yards rushing on 19 attempts. Head coach Donny Holcomb called it the "worst offensive game he's been a part of" in his 14 years at Mayo. To be fair, the offense consists mostly of new faces and was always going to take time to develop. Sophomore kicker Miles Ties nailed a 40-yard field goal for Mayo's only points. But there was a silver lining for Holcomb and Mayo: The defense. Led by standout safety Raymond Adams, the Spartans were the exact opposite of their offensive counterparts, playing free and downhill as they forced three Chaska turnovers. Adams was a treat to watch; witnessing his closing speed and his thunderous hits should be a must-see for every football fan. Linebackers Nico Barry and Isaac Sellon played great, as did Caleb Loomis, Jameson Jenson up front and Max Erickson in the defensive backfield. If the Spartans can figure out their offense, they can be dangerous.
STA notes: The Cadets, too, are coming off a tough loss that saw the offense struggle a bit in a 15-7 loss to Cretin-Derham Hall in a battle of 2025 state qualifiers. They finished just a tick above 200 yards of total offense. Ian Turnbow scored STA's lone TD — a 5-yard rush to give the Cadets a 7-6 lead entering the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Tristan Karl led the way with 103 yards rushing on 19 carries. The second-year starter was just 9 of 28 for 72 yards passing, with an interception. Senior defensive lineman Owen Behm is a good one for STA, as is sophomore linebacker Connor Flanagan, who is considered one of the state's top players for the 2029 class. Junior linebacker Peter Dahdah is another who jumps on the film, according to coach Holcomb. Those three lead a great defense that finished with five sacks and allowed just 241 yards of total offense in Week 1. Overall, these two teams know each other well, facing off twice last year. STA won both, 17-12 in Week 2 and 21-14 in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
Mayo coach Donny Holcomb says: "We've had good practices. … They've responded well, and we'll see what happens (Friday). … We wanted to come in and run the ball, and obviously that didn't work, so we kind of reverted to something different, and maybe it was too late in the game to do it. But yeah, we're still trying to find that identity, and really, it's just an identity of execution, not really what kind of offense we can run. … (St. Thomas Academy is) the exact same team, scheme-wise, offense and defense, and a lot of personnel. So the quarterback's the one to stop on their offense, and defensively, they're going to bring the house. You have to be prepared to have a plan against it."
Local angle: St. Thomas Academy defensive coordinator Joe Ties is the father of the aforementioned Mayo kicker Miles Ties. Joe Ties coaches the field goal blocking unit as well, which means he will try to scheme to block his son's kicks. STA head coach Travis Walch is an Elgin-Millville graduate.
— Alex VandenHouten
avandenhouten@postbulletin.com
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