A three-day weekend of 28 state quarterfinal football games is ahead, and it starts Thursday with 11 games.

Strib Varsity writers will provide updates from the following games:

• Moorhead vs. Centennial (at Spring Lake Park)
• Hill-Murray vs. Kasson-Mantorville (at Stillwater)
• Totino-Grace vs Marshall (at Blaine)

Follow the blog for updates from the eight other games, as well as live results on Strib Varsity’s scoreboard.

Study the state tournament brackets here:

• Class 6A
• Class 5A
• Class 4A
• Class 3A
• Class 2A
• Class 1A
• Nine-Player

At 9:30 p.m., watch Episode 13 of “Strib Varsity Live With Randy Shaver” for highlights and exclusive interviews. Shaver is expecting to hear from Edina quarterback Mason West, Kasson-Mantorville running back/defensive back Jeremiah Peterson-Gordon, Orono defensive lineman Simon Vinton, Marshall lineman JR Vierstraete, Hills-Beaver Creek wide receiver/defensive back Micah Bush, Centennial defensive lineman Josh O’Shea, Upsala/Swanville coach Jay Loven and Kittson County Central coach Cory Waling.

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Q4: Marshall 21, Totino-Grace 3

Just when it seemed like the Eagles might have a promising drive cooking, with a 21-yard connection up the middle from quarterback Matthew Quinn to senior receiver Michael Sarych, Tigers senior defensive end JR Vierstraete strips the ball from an Eagles player and returns the ball to the threshold of Eagles territory. That’s a trio of turnovers for this suffocating Marshall defense with now under seven minutes to play.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Updates from around Minnesota

Centennial 14, Moorhead 14: Caleb Melser scored on a run for Centennial.

Grand Rapids 41, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 0: Mason Johnson is up to four touchdown runs, and Logan McNear has two.

Updates from around Minnesota

Let’s catch up on Nine-Player, where Kittson County Central has completed a 49-0 win over Cook County 0.

The other games, all ongoing: Hillcrest Lutheran 32, Mabel-Canton 16; Hills-Beaver Creek 24, Red Rock Central 0; Fertile-Beltrami 24, Cromwell-Wright 8.

2Q: Kasson-Mantorville 14, Hill-Murray 6

After Hill-Murray’s Evan Curtis had a field goal attempt blocked, Kasson-Mantorville went 69 yards on four plays, getting a 35-yard touchdown pass from Grady Babcock to Jeremiah Peterson.

— Jim Paulsen

Updates from around Minnesota

Orono 20, Fergus Falls 7: Hudson Hirt scores for Orono in the third quarter of this clash of second and third seeds in the Class 4A North bracket.

Grand Rapids 28, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 0: Mason Johnson scores his third touchdown of the game, moving Grand Rapids four scores ahead in the first half.

2Q: Kasson-Mantorville 7, Hill-Murray 6

Hill-Murray kicker Evan Curtis has been a terrific weapon for the Pioneers, He’s hit a pair of field goals, one of 40 yards, another from 30 yards. Kasson-Mantorville fumbled when it got the ball back, allowing Hill-Murray to drive to the 2-yard-line, but Grady Buettner fumbled the ball back to the KoMets.

— Jim Paulsen

Updates from around Minnesota

Goodhue 15, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 14: Brady Murphy scored his second touchdown of the game, and WEM is just a point behind in this Class 2A game.

Moorhead 14, Centennial 7: Jett Feeney scores on another short run, and the Spuds snag a lead.

3Q: Marshall 21, Totino-Grace 3

Turnovers keep turning the tide in this one. Just over a minute into the third quarter, the Tigers defense forces a fumble by Eagles quarterback Matthew Quinn, recovered by Marshall senior Aiden Bly deep in Totino-Grace territory.

Tigers senior running back Andrew Stelter finds the end zone for the third time tonight, this time dashing up the left sideline after a short pass from quarterback Levi Maeyaert. The receiving touchdown, a 16-yarder, is Stelter’s fourth of the season. He’s also the Tigers leading receiver, in addition to putting up their most yards on the ground.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Updates from around Minnesota

Mabel-Canton 16, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 16: These are the second and third seeds in the Nine-Player South bracket, and they are both undefeated. Mabel-Canton is 11-0, Hillcrest Lutheran 10-0.

Centennial 7, Moorhead 7: Calvin Coppersmith made a 50-yard run for Centennial and tied it up. Centennial is one of the No. 1 seeds in Class 6A’s 32-team bracket.

End 1Q: Kasson-Mantorville 7, Hill-Murray 3

The KoMets went 76 yards in four plays, taking a lead when Jeremiah Peterson slammed over from a yard out. Hill-Murray is mounting a drive as the quarter ends.

— Jim Paulsen

Updates from around Minnesota

Fertile-Beltrami 8, Cromwell-Wright 0: The second seed in the Nine-Player North bracket pulls ahead.

Grand Rapids 21, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 0: Mason Johnson scored his second TD of the game, and Logan McNear ran one 51 yards for a touchdown.

Updates from around Minnesota

Hills-Beaver Creek 8, Red Rock Central 0: The top seed in Nine-Player’s South bracket scores first.

Moorhead 7, Centennial 0: Quarterback Jett Feeney runs it in from the 7, and the Spuds take a lead in a Class 6A quarterfinal. The Spuds (6-4) have won three in a row since Feeney recovered from a shoulder injury.

1Q: Hill-Murray 3, Kasson-Mantorville 0

Hill-Murray drives to the Kasson-Mantorville 23 on the legs of sophomore Grady Buettner. The drive stalled and Evan Curtis nailed a 40-yard field goal to give the Pioneers an early lead.

— Jim Paulsen

Updates from around Minnesota

Grand Rapids 7, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 0: Mason Johnson scored the first touchdown from the 7 p.m. starts, running it in from the 25. Grand Rapids (9-1) is the top seed in the North bracket.

Pregame: Moorhead vs. Centennial

Nice night in Spring Lake Park for this Class 6A state quarterfinal between Moorhead and Centennial.

2Q: Marshall 14, Totino-Grace 0

Totino-Grace’s defense has been battle-tested against tough teams like Byron and Stewartville and showed its ability to bend but not break early, but Marshall senior running back Andrew Stelter has started taking over this one. In one drive, he put up a pair of 13-yard rushes for first downs, then a 35-yard rushing touchdown, to put Marshall up two scores with 1:48 left in the first half.

The Tigers have riches in the backfield, with Stelter, sophomore Sam Meier, senior Milo Swenson, junior Tyler Kraft and senior quarterback Levi Maeyaert entering tonight’s game with more than 200 yards on the ground this season. But Stelter’s 714 were by far the most on this Tigers team, and he’s only adding to that count tonight.

Eighth-grade kicker Clay Clay is good for both extra points.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Pregame: Kasson-Mantorville vs. Hill-Murray

There’s pressure on Kasson-Mantorville to live up to expectations after beating No. 1, Class 4A Byron 31-28 last week. The KoMets played good, old-fashioned “late fall in Minnesota” football, rushing for 318 yards. Parker Richards ran for 150 yards and a touchdown, while Jeremiah Peterson added 92 yards and pair of TDs.

Hill-Murray has been consistently good all year. That’s saying a lot considering the Pioneers start a freshman QB in Brayden Hartmann and a sophomore as their leading rushing in Grady Buettner. Getting consistent play out of underclassmen is a big deal for a coach.

I like Kasson-Mantorville in this one. The KoMets are battle-tested, playing a tough Section 1 schedule. And the crossover with wrestling at Kasson-Mantorville is significant, and wrestlers make good football players.

— Jim Paulsen

2Q: Marshall 7, Eagles 0

Freshman quarterback Henry Cone has been taking the majority of the snaps under center for Totino-Grace this season and started the Eagles’ 35-7 section title win over Fridley, throwing one touchdown pass as junior Benjamin Bergan rushed for four TDs. But tonight it’s sophomore Matthew Quinn playing quarterback for the Eagles. Neither quarterback has found much success through the air tonight, both defenses keeping things quiet since the Tigers’ opening drive.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Updates from around Minnesota

Kittson County Central 35, Cook County 0: Hate to call the result too early, so we’ll say this would have to be a great comeback. In Nine-Player, where scoring is high, maybe it’s possible.

Orono 14, Fergus Falls 7: Dane Kanwischer scored for Orono, and Fergus Falls got a TD of its own from Caleb Fronning

Updates from around Minnesota

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 8, Goodhue 7: Jack Carlson scored on a run for Goodhue, seeded second in Class 2A’s South bracket, but WEM got a TD from Brady Murphy. These teams are both 10-0.

End 1Q: Marshall 7, Totino-Grace 0

Marshall senior quarterback Levi Maeyaert might have thrown an interception for the Tigers’ offense, but he made amends quickly, answering minutes later with an interception of his own, this time playing defensive back. Maeyaert returned an Eagles pass 40 yards from the red zone to set Marshall up near midfield at the end of the first quarter. That’s the Tigers’ 26th takeaway of the season.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

1Q: Marshall 7, Totino-Grace 0

It looked like the Eagles might have gotten a lucky break four minutes in, recovering a fumble on the punt return after Marshall forced the Totino-Grace offense, helmed by sophomore quarterback Matthew Quinn, into a three-and-out.But Marshall held the Eagles to 7 yards from where they started on the Tigers 32-yard line, forced to toss an incomplete fourth-down pass. And yet, again, when Marshall took over, Totino-Grace snatched an interception to set the Eagles back up on the Tigers 39-yard line. The Tigers gave up only five turnovers all season but have two tonight already. Let’s see if the Eagles can capitalize this time.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Updates from around Minnesota

Orono 7, Fergus Falls 0: Griffin Mauer scored from the 1 in this Class 4A game at Alexandria. Orono (7-3) is the third seed in the North bracket.

Kittson County Central 21, Cook County 0: KCC is cooking in the Nine-Player quarterfinals.

Mabel-Canton 8, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 8: Hillcrest Lutheran evens it up, on a pass from Ethan Swedberg to Drew Fischer. Hillcrest Lutheran is 10-0 and seeded second in the South bracket.

Updates from around Minnesota

Kittson County Central 14, Cook County 0: This was predictable. Kittson County Central is 10-0 and averaging 52 points per game.

1Q: Marshall 7, Totino-Grace 0

Third try’s the charm for the Tigers’ leading rusher, senior Andrew Stelter. On Marshall’s first drive, the running back burst free for what the entire elated Marshall sideline thought was a 68-yard touchdown run. But the officials ruled Stelter down on the 1-yard line thanks to the effort of the Eagles’ trailing defense. Two more short rushes, and Stelter was in for a 4-yard score, his 19th touchdown of the season.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Updates from around Minnesota

Kittson County Central 7, Cook County 0: It’s probably not a surprise that the first touchdown of the quarterfinals comes in a Nine-Player game. Kittson County Central, the top seed in the North bracket, is off and running.

Mabel-Canton 8, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 0: The Nine-Player run continues. Mabel-Canton, the third seed in the South bracket, is ahead of No. 2 South.

Pregame: Marshall vs. Totino-Grace at Blaine

Checking in from Blaine, the host site of our Class 4A quarterfinal between Marshall, seeded No. 1 in the South portion of the bracket, and No. 4 South Totino-Grace.

The Marshall Tigers (10-0) return to the state quarterfinals for the sixth time, searching for their first spot in a state championship game after running into eventual champion Becker in the semifinals last year.

The Tigers are arguably the best 2A team remaining after Byron got booted in its section title game. Marshall has five rushers with 200-plus yards, and its defense has conceded more than a touchdown only twice, and never more than two, in convincing wins over such quality teams as Rocori and Hutchinson. Senior defensive end JR Vierstraete holds the school sack record, with 28 in his career.

Both of those Rocori and Hutchinson squads beat this young Totino-Grace team (6-4) that is coming off a runner-up finish at state last year. The Eagles graduated a sizable chunk of talent and have big shoes to fill: Totino-Grace is one of Minnesota’s most storied football programs with 10 state titles, the most recent in 2016.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer