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No. 1-ranked Stewartville the heavy favorite in 1AAAA football

guy n. limbeck, post-bulletin, rochester, minn.
·4 min read

Oct. 24—The sting of last year's section playoffs loss still lingers with the Stewartville football team and the Tigers have been on a mission this season to make sure there is no repeat.

A year ago Stewartville was the No. 1 seed in Section 1AAAA only to be upset by Byron in the section semifinals.

This season the Tigers have dominated opponents all season long and enter section play as a heavy favorite to win the title and earn a state berth. Stewartville is 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class AAAA.

The Tigers and No. 2 seed Kasson-Mantorville both earn first-round byes in a section that only features six teams. Four of those six have winning records, but Stewartville has combined to outscore the other three teams with winning records — K-M, Winona and Byron — 116-10 during regular-season games.

Upsets do happen, but Stewartville's deep and talented squad is going to be very tough to beat. Tigers coach Garrett Mueller said he has a "special group of committed players and coaches this season."

The unbeaten Tigers have outscored foes by a combined margin of 408-33 and they are outgaining them by an average of 391-140 yards per game. Owen Sikkink has been a dual threat as he averages more than 10 yards per carry, while rushing for 857 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also has 420 receiving yards and seven TDs, and has returned two punts for touchdowns. Ayden Helder is 77-for-111 passing for 1,184 yards with 20 TD passes and two interceptions. Peyton Byrne leads offensive and defensive lines that have dominated the line of scrimmage all season. Linebacker Colton Parker leads the defense with 34 tackles. He has two sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.

Byron (5-3) finished with a strong surge, winning three straight games before dropping the regular-season finale to Mayo, a state-ranked Class AAAAA team. The run-heavy Bears lost running back Adam Glynn to a collarbone injury in late September, but Tyler Fox (five interceptions the past two games) and Luke Scheuer have filled the role for a Bears team that has a strong offensive line. Byron has forced 10 turnovers the past two games. "We feel like we are starting to play some of our best football and are looking forward to the challenge of the best section top to bottom in AAAA football," coach Ben Halder said. "Every game is going to be a battle."

Red Wing (1-7) lost at Byron 57-21 during the regular season. The Wingers have struggled on defense, allowing 40 points per game while managing to score a modest 14. "The team continues to play with a tremendous amount of grit and effort with a roster that is often two or three times smaller than their opponent," coach Brent Stinson said. Junior Center Kole Stevenson and sophomore safety Keegan Knutson are both out with injuries. QB Abe Reinetz is 68-for-136 passing for 644 yards with seven TDs and eight interceptions. Kaleb Hove has rushed for 653 yards and five TDs and has a kickoff return for a TD as well. Tyler Rodgers (26 catches, 249 yards, four TDs) and Mitchell Seeley (19 catches, 319 yards, three TDs) are the top pass catchers.

The KoMets (6-2), the defending section champs, lost to Stewartville 31-10 during the regular season. K-M 's offense relies almost entirely on its ground attack. Broc Barwald is coming off a single-game school record 302 yards rushing in the regular-season finale. He has rushed for more than 1,200 yards this season. QB Kyle Nelson has done most of his damage on the ground, running for about 450 yards. The KoMets do have some offensive depth with several other players with a combined 200 yards receiving and rushing. K-M has outscored opponents on an average of 35.2-16.9 per game this season. Reese Tripp and Ben Nelson, a pair of returning starters, anchor a strong offensive line. Coach Joel Swanson said "we play good overall team defense." K-M beat likely semifinal foe Winona 31-13 early in the regular season.

Winona (6-2) has played strong defense all season, allowing 15.9 points per game, second in the section behind Stewartville. The offense is starting to click as RB/DB Dominic Davis (330 yards rushing, three TDs, three interceptions) is returning from missing more than half the season while Mason Langowski (222 yards rushing, 10 catches) is also healthy. Two-way lineman Mason Krage should be back for the playoffs. Senior WR/DB Bryan Cassellius (14 catches, four TDs, four interceptions) became the Winhawks' all-time leading scorer with a TD in the last game. Sophomore QB Dion Prolo has only thrown for about 500 yards, but he has made progress during the season.

Albert Lea (0-8), under coach Paul Dunn, has an uphill climb if it looks to get past Winona in the first round. The Tigers did have one of their better games of the season in losing 38-21 to Winona on Oct. 1. Overall Albert Lea has been outscored on an average of 45.0-10.8 points per game.