Blooming Prairie-Goodhue clash highlights Week 4 high school football schedule
Sep. 21—BLOOMING PRAIRIE — Blooming Prairie and Goodhue are ready to renew their football rivalry when they meet on Friday night.
The two teams last faced off in the 2019 Section 1, Class 1A championship game with Blooming Prairie winning on its way to a state championship. In recent years the two squads have been in different sections, but they are now back in Section 1, Class 1A and part of the Mid-Southeast East District.
"We've had a lot of great games with Blooming Prairie over the years," Goodhue coach Tony Poncelet said. "I expect this to be the same."
Both teams are also back in Class 1A and competing in Class 2A the past two seasons. They will meet at 7 p.m. Friday with the Blossoms hosting state-ranked Goodhue. The Wildcats are 3-0 and ranked No. 7 in Class 1A while Blooming Prairie is 2-1.
"It's always been a big rivalry," Blooming Prairie coach Chad Gimbel said. "It's just a good, hard-nosed football game. They're just a well-coached football team and if you have weaknesses they're going to find it and point it out."
The game should have a bearing on the Section 1 seedings at the end of the season. A tough Fillmore Central team, which handed the Blossoms their lone loss, is also in the section.
"They're always big when you play Goodhue," Gimbel said. "You're usually battling up at the top and jockeying for (section) seedings."
Both teams have been potent on offense as the Wildcats average 38.0 points per game the Blooming Prairie averages 36.3. But Goodhue defense has allowed just one touchdown and six points in three games.
"They're linebackers are a big part of what they do," Gimbel said. "They have four really good, strong, physical linebackers who play well behind they're D-line."
The Wildcats have four stellar linebackers
in Grant Reed, Gavin Schafer, Max Loos and Jack Carlson. Reed, Schaefer and Loos were the team's top three tacklers a year ago and they are all off to strong starts in 2023.
Goodhue has been swarming to the ball this season and Reed leads the team with 32 total tackles. Other defensive leaders include Schafer (19 tackles), Caleb Kurtti (17 tackles, two sacks), Jack Carlson (15 tackles), Nathan Beck (14 tackles), Jacob Ryan (14 tackles, four sacks), Marcus Young (14 tackles, four sacks), Loos (13 tackles) and Sean Matthees (two interceptions).
Blooming Prairie quarterback Brady Kittelson has passed for about 600 yards in three games. He threw three TD passes a week ago. The Blossoms have excelled through the air for a number of years, but Gimbel said the attack is a bit more balanced this season.
Cole Wangen and Kittelson have been the team's top rushers.
"They're the typical Blooming team," Poncelet said. "They've got some size, speed and they're well coached. And they throw a lot at you offensively."
Poncelet said the physical play of the Wildcats has helped them control both sides of the line of scrimmage. That has been a big factor in the defense shut down opposing offenses. And the Goodhue offense has also clicked, scoring at least 33 points in all three games.
Reed leads Goodhue with 452 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Beck (136 yards, two TDs), and Schaeffer (126 yards, two TDs) have contributed to the ground game while quarterback Luke Roschen is 15-for-22 for 299 yards and three TDs.
Both coaches say that limiting mistakes and playing well on defense will be a key for the game.
"It's going to be a good litmus test for us," Gimbel said. "... We're preparing for a hard-fought, physical game. That's just the way they always play."
When, where: 7 p.m. Friday, Rochester Regional Stadium.
Records: La Crescent-Hokah is 0-3 overall; Lourdes is 2-1.
Mental Health Awareness Night: Lourdes will raise awareness for mental health prior to and during Friday's game. The Eagles' coaches and cheerleaders will wear orange for the game — the favorite color of former Eagles lineman AJ Quimby, who died last spring after struggling with mental health issues. The Eagles are wearing stickers with Quimby's number, 62, on their helmets this fall.
Lourdes' coaches and players will also participate in the NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) Walk at 9 a.m. Saturday at Silver Lake Park, under the name "Team AJ," which has already raised more than $2,900 to donate to NAMI. More information can be found at
About Lourdes: The Lancers nearly knocked off Lourdes in their most recent matchup, falling in a wild 41-36 decision a year ago. Lourdes built a five-touchdown lead in the first half, only to see the Lancers rally to take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter. Lourdes scored the winning points — after forcing a Lancers' fumble at the Eagles' 2-yard line — on a 69-yard reverse, then-senior Aidan Jahns scoring the winning TD. ... The Eagles allowed 27 points in last week's 28-27 win at Lake City — just the third time in the past 12 games that Lourdes has surrendered more than 20 points. ... The Eagles have 852 total yards of offense through three games; 676 of those coming on the ground (79.4%). ... Sophomore tailback Caleb Akinbolu leads the way, with 349 rushing yards on 56 attempts (6.2 yards per carry) and four touchdowns.
About La Crescent-Hokah: The Lancers are off to an 0-3 start, though the confidence is still there among the players and coaching staff that they can turn that record around. L-H has a talented core group of athletes back from last year's 5-5 team that suffered two of its losses by five points. ... Senior QB AJ Donovan and the passing game found a rhythm in last week's 44-27 loss to Dover-Eyota. Donovan completed 19 of 29 passes for 248 yards, and he added two rushing TDs. ... Second-year Lancers head coach Terry Donovan said some of the new players in the lineup are getting comfortable with their roles now. "We are seeing guys taking those steps," he said. "Last year was a special group, but Brady Grupa really looked like a great weapon last week. Parker McQuinn has his first game under his belt and should be ready to take off. And then our guys on the outside are ready to fill the role of Noah Bjerke Wieser."
La Crescent-Hokah coach Terry Donovan says: "We are still finding our strengths. Our offense seemed to have made some strides last week and we are finding some guys who are turning into playmakers. Our pass game has been OK and looks to be improving, but we are looking for more out of every position."
Donovan knows how difficult it is to defend a good option offense like Lourdes' offense. Donovan was a long-time assistant coach at Kasson-Mantorville, whose offense ran the option to near perfection on an annual basis.
"I am familiar with it and that makes it even harder to defend," he said. "We know the answers and that means you prepare for so much. They do it well and our guys need to play assignment football of it is easy to get in trouble. ... Kes always has them ready to play, and they have a great QB and RB. We have to be disciplined and force our will on them and rally to the tackle." — Jason Feldman
When, where: 7 p.m. Friday, New Prague High School.
Records: Century 1-2, New Prague 2-1.
About New Prague: The Trojans are coming off a 17-7 loss to Owatonna. They are allowing just 8.0 points per game on defense while averaging 19.7 on offense. .... Defensively, New Prague runs a 3-4 alignment that relies on strong linemen and aggressive linebackers. "They are athletic enough to play a great deal of man coverage in the secondary," Century coach Jon Vik said. "The defense is very solid and have held their first three opponents to 24 total points combined." ... New Prague was hampered by committing 10 penalties in last week's loss and had some injury issues on the offensive line. "They have several skill players who have made big plays for them this season," Vik said. "They have a mobile quarterback (Will Seymour) who can improvise and make plays with his arm and his feet."
About Century: This begins a stretch of four straight games against Section 1, Class 5A foes for the Panthers, and three of those are on the road. Century is coming off a high-scoring 63-41 loss to Chanhassen. ... The Panthers' passing game has really taken off the past two weeks. Harrison Esau has passed for 623 yards the last two games and he has thrown for 735 yards and nine TDs this season. He tied a single-game school mark with six TD passes last week. ... Speedy WR Denard Simpson had a breakout game with six catches for 161 yards and two long TDs against Chanhassen. ... The Panthers are looking for more consistency in their running game and will face a New Prague defense that has allowed just 124 yards on the ground in three games. Carson Skime leads the Panthers with 158 yards rushing and he averages 4.5 yards per carry. ... Century has to find a way to slow down New Prague's offense. The Panthers are averaging 25.3 points per game, but they are allowing 41.7.
Century coach Jon Vik says: "We feel offensively we played better last week and will work to balance in our running and passing games. Defensively, we need to play better than we did last week. While Chanhassen is an excellent offensive team, we can play better. We look forward to the challenge this week against New Prague." — Guy N. Limbeck
When, where: 7 p.m. Friday, Mankato East High School.
Records: John Marshall is 1-2, Mankato East 2-1.
Mankato East notes: The Cougars have wins over St. Louis Park (20-7) and Apple Valley (42-21), and a 28-13 loss to Chaska last week. . .Quarterback Ganden Gosch has mostly been sharp, completing 40 of 70 passes in three games for 459 yards and four touchdowns. Top receiver is Brogan Madson with 244 yards. Rafe Bowman has rushed for 335 yards and is averaging a lofty 8 yards per carry. Bowman rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Apple Valley, a team that beat John Marshall to begin the season. He figures to be one of the top running backs that JM will face this season. . .East is young up front, but with plenty of size.
John Marshall notes: The Rockets want to do something about their slow starts. Last week, in a 31-14 loss to Northfield, they fell behind 21-0. JM has been outscored 28-6 in first quarters this season but has outscored its opponents 63-32 after that. . .The Rockets' passing game has incrementally gotten better. Much of the improvement has come as JM has given sophomore quarterback Savy Vath more time to throw, keeping a running back near him to block on passing downs. JM has some excellent weapons to throw to if Vath is given the time. . .The Rockets tackled much better from the second quarter on last week, swarming ballcarriers.
Mankato East coach Eric Davis says: "Last week, Chaska was able to control the ball against us and keep it away from us. . .We are working at our ability to bounce back. We got off to a 2-0 start and then lost our next game. We'll see how our team handles adversity. . .JM has got some speed on the outside, with some guys who are playmakers. We have to be aware of that defensively."
John Marshall coach Kyle Riggott says: "Mankato East is a talented crew. They air the ball out well and they have some pretty good athletes. They are young up front but they have a lot of returning starters. . .(On defense) We will have to get off the field better on third down. I'd like to see us create more turnovers. And when we are on offense, I want our guys to get the ball in space."
— Pat Ruff
* Caledonia at Cannon Falls (7 p.m. Friday): Regular-season matchups don't get much bigger than two of Caledonia's next three games. In two weeks, the Warriors — ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 2A — host No. 3-ranked Chatfield in what looks to be a battle for the No. 1 seed in the Section 1, Class 2A playoffs. There is no looking ahead, though, for Caledonia. It is staring down a matchup at No. 5 Cannon Falls this week. Both teams are 3-0. Caledonia is back to its dominant form on both sides of the ball, averaging 54.0 points per game and allowing a miniscule 4.3 per game. The Bombers' high-powered misdirection offense is up to its old tricks, too, averaging 49.3 points per game. Cannon Falls allows 14.0. With the Bombers in Section 4-2A this season, the only way these teams could meet twice is if they match up at some point in the Class 2A state tournament.
* Dover-Eyota at St. Charles (7 p.m. Friday): This is a big matchup for both teams, as they battle for position behind Chatfield and Caledonia in the six-team Section 1, Class 2A standings. The Nos. 3 and 4 seeds in the section will host section quarterfinal games; right now Dover-Eyota (2-1) is in the third spot, with St. Charles (1-2) on its heels. The three losses these teams have combined for, however, have all come against teams ranked in the top 5 in the latest Class 2A state poll. The Saints are already battle-tested just three weeks into the season, with their two losses coming at Chatfield and at Caledonia. D-E holds good wins against Lourdes and La Crescent-Hokah, with its lone loss coming at the hands of Cannon Falls.
