Live: Updates from the football state quarterfinals
In Class 6A, Lakeville South beat previously undefeated and No. 1-ranked Maple Grove, Edina defeated Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka cruised past St. Michael-Albertville.
By Jim Paulsen, Cassidy Hettesheimer, Alicia Tipcke and Joe Gunther
The Minnesota Star Tribune
Nine more teams will claim football semifinal spots today, the second of three playoff days that will determine the matchups in the seven classes next week at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Strib Varsity has reporters at four sites to keep you up to date. Three of the sites feature Class 6A quarterfinals:
- Cassidy Hettesheimer was at Osseo for Edina vs. Eden Prairie.
- Jim Paulsen is at Farmington, where St. Michael-Albertville is taking on Minnetonka.
- Video reporter Alicia Tipcke was at Eastview to get highlights and soundbites from Maple Grove vs. Lakeville South.
Beyond those big-class games, Joe Gunther is in Jordan for a Class 1A game, Lester Prairie vs. Minneota.
We’ll keep an eye on the scores of other games and let you know what’s happening.
Strib Varsity’s scoreboard will list the games and their scores. Study the updated state tournament brackets here:
At 9:30, switch over to Episode 14 of “Strib Varsity Live With Randy Shaver” for highlights and exclusive interviews. Shaver is expecting to hear from Maple Grove linebacker Ryder Skanson, Minneota lineman Kyson Arndt, Mahnomen/Waubun athlete Tanner Stech, Minnetonka center Aiden Zapzalka, Elk River coach Steve Hamilton, Fillmore Central coach Chris Mensink, Annandale coach Matt Walter and Pierz coach Dan Saehr.
(Sign up for The Quiz, Strib Varsity’s weekly email newsletter for subscribers.)
Final: Minnetonka 34, St. Michael-Albertville 7
Minnetonka set the tone from the outset, scoring on its opening drive and never looking back.
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— Jim Paulsen
Updates from around Minnesota
Related Coverage
Now that the only undefeated team in Class 6A is no longer undefeated, let’s take a tour through some other games involving teams that haven’t lost this season:
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 21, Pierz 7: Pierz is suddenly 10-1 and done.
Holdingford 40, Barnesville 24: Holdingford (11-0) leads this Class 2A quarterfinal.
Breckenridge 57, Barnum 0: It sure looks like Breckenridge will get to 12-0.
Murray County Central 29, Fillmore Central 18: Fillmore Central’s perfect record appears threatened.
Mahnomen-Waubun 17, Upsala/Swanville 8: Mahnomen-Waubun is clinging to that 10-mark.
4Q: Minnetonka 34, St. Michael-Albertville 7
Minnetonka running back Parker Running bumped up the Skippers’ lead on a 3-yard run. The upset bug that seems to have hit Class 6A tonight has not affected Minnetonka.
— Jim Paulsen
3Q: Minnetonka 27, St. Michael-Albertville 7
The Knights made a statement on the opening drive of the second half, going 59 yards in 11 plays. Ty Haring hit Judah Lightfoot for a 4-yard touchdown.
— Jim Paulsen
Lakeville South ousts Maple Grove
Lakeville South, where keeping the ball on the ground is seen as the only way to fly, defeated Class 6A top overall seed Maple Grove 49-31 at Eastview High School.
Griffen Dean scored six touchdowns for the Cougars, on runs of 26, 6, 21, 40, 73 and 1 yards. Nic Swanson scored the other TD, on a 73-yard run.
Maple Grove carried a ton of credentials into the game. The Crimson (10-1) arrived as the only undefeated team in Class 6A, and they had been that for weeks, and they were carrying a 23-game winning streak. They were trying to defend last season’s Class 6A championship, when they went 13-0.
The Cougars (9-2) got three touchdowns from Dean in the first half and led 21-13 at halftime. Maple Grove kept in the game in the first half with a touchdown pass from Kaden Harney to Josh Thompson and a 6-yard run by James Engle Jr.
In the third quarter, Dean broke loose. He had 113 rushing yards just on his two TD runs. Engle’s TD run for Maple Grove helped, but the Crimson trailed 35-19 after three quarters. Swanson’s long run in the fourth quarter settled it.
Lakeville South moves to the semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium, where it will take on Moorhead, another surprise story. The Spuds (7-4) have won four in a row since quarterback Jett Feeney returned from a shoulder injury.
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Final: Edina 23, Eden Prairie 21
The Hornets are back in the state semifinals after finishing runner-up in 2024, looking for their first championship. Senior running back Chase Bjorgaard scored two touchdowns on the ground and quarterback Mason West found senior receiver Jabari Strader for another, all in the first half. The Eagles ground out a long third-quarter drive to briefly take their first lead of the night.
Hornets senior Will Gremmels kicked a 29-yard field goal with just under five minutes to play, which turned out to be the game-winner. The Hornets defense came up big late to force Eden Prairie to punt.
Edina will face the winner of tonight’s ongoing quarterfinal between Minnetonka and St. Michael-Albertville.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Halftime: Minnetonka 27, St. Michael-Albertville 0
Minnetonka scored two touchdowns in a span of 1:32 in the final moments of the second quarter. Caden Gutzmer hit Kiron Vogel for a 37-yard score with 1:40 left. Shortly after, St. Michael-Albertville QB Ty Haring fumbled after scrambling for a first down. Minnetonka drove 33 yards for another score, again a Gutzmer-to-Vogel from 17 yards out. That’s huge that late in the half.
— Jim Paulsen
4Q: Edina 23, Eden Prairie 21
Edina seniors Alex White and Sam Hoy come up with big stops to force Eden Prairie into a deep pass on third-and-14, which falls incomplete. Eden Prairie has to punt deep in its own territory, giving Edina the ball back with just over three minutes to burn.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
4Q: Edina 23, Eden Prairie 21
The Eagles held Edina to a fourth-and-1 on the 12-yard line, and Hornets senior Will Gremmels marched out to kick the 29-yard field goal. He booted it through convincingly to give the Hornets back the lead with 4:56 to play.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
4Q: Eden Prairie 21, Edina 20
Edina takes its final timeout, having wriggled out of a few dire third- and fourth-down situations and now facing a third-and-4 on the Eagles 16-yard line. Mason West had to rush for a first down on a QB keeper on a fourth-and-7 in Eden Prairie territory.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 49, Maple Grove 19: There’s Griffen Dean’s sixth touchdown run of the game, a 1-yarder with 7:21 to play. It seems tremendously unlikely the Crimson will be repeating that Class 6A championship.
Mahnomen-Waubun 7, Upsala/Swanville 0: Undefeated Mahnomen-Waubun leads, but not by much, in this Class 1A quarterfinal between second and third seeds.
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 42, Maple Grove 19: Nic Swanson broke up the Griffen Dean run with a TD of his own, on a 72-yard run in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
2Q: Minnetonka 13, St. Michael-Albertville 0
Minnetonka had a 74-yard touchdown run by Caleb Francois called back because of an illegal block. No worries. The Skippers got it back two possessions later, going 71 yards in nine plays, with Francois going untouched into the end zone from 10 yards out.
— Jim Paulsen
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 35, Maple Grove 13: Griffen Dean scored again, touchdown No. 5, and we’re in the final minute of the third quarter. The top overall seed in Class 6A, holder of a 23-game winning streak, the only undefeated team in the class, that’s the team that’s behind here.
Holdingford 20, Barnesville 16: Jaxon Bartkowicz accounts for his third TD of the game, and Holdingford takea the lead.
Breckenridge 28, Barnum 0: David Erlandson is up to three touchdowns, on runs of 5, 15 and 46 yards, and Avery Smith just added another. Breckenridge (11-0) is the top seed in the North bracket of Class 1A.
3Q: Eden Prairie 21, Edina 20
Not very often do you see a drive eat up an entire quarter. But Eden Prairie dragged out an 11-and-a-half-minute drive to open the second half, marched down the field by short rushes from Windlan Hall, Andrew Johnson, Justyce Bates and Owen Konrad. Senior quarterback Jackson Bakkum threw an 11-yard dart out to Hall at the right sideline to set up the Eagles on the Hornets’ doorstep. Bates forced in the 1-yard rushing TD.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Final: Minneota 42, Lester Prairie 6
Minneota is off to the Class 1A semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium, and it’s bringing a 44-game winning streak with it. That’s the longest winning streak in Minnesota high school football. We’ll know later, when we have enough info to decode the crossover semifinals, who the opponent will be.
— Joe Gunther
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 28, Maple Grove 13: Anybody seen Griffen Dean? Yep, he’s in the end zone. That’s four TD runs for Dean, and a two-score lead for Lakeville South. Dean’s TDs have come on runs of 26, 6, 21 and 40 yards.
4Q: Minneota 42, Lester Prairie 6
The Vikings extend the lead with 4:54 left on a 17-yard touchdown run by Adam DeVlaeminck. This is looking like their 44th win in a row.
— Joe Gunther
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 21, Maple Grove 19: James Engle’s second touchdown run of the game gets the Crimson close with 8:48 to play in the third quarter. Teams with 23-game winning streaks do not go down lightly.
Breckenridge 21, Barnum 0: David Erlandson has scored all three of the touchdowns, on runs of 5, 15 and 46 yards. Breckenridge (11-0) is the top seed in the North bracket of Class 1A.
Barnesville 16, Holdingford 13: Fast scoring is happening in this one, and for now Barnesville (8-3) leads undefeated Holdingford.
Updates from around Minnesota
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 21, Pierz 0: Jacob Luebke scored again, his second rushing TD, and undefeated Pierz is threatened.
Murray County Central 7, Fillmore County Central 0: Teague Meyer scored on a 2-yard run in this Class 1A game.
Holdingford 13, Barnesville 8: That’s two touchdown passes from Jaxon Bartkowicz to Jax Patrick for 11-0 Holdingford.
Updates from around Minnesota
Holdingford 6, Barnesville 0: Holdingford is another 11-0 team and holds the top seed in Class 2A’s North bracket. A quick count reveals we have seven undefeated teams playing tonight.
4Q: Minneota 35, Lester Prairie 6
On the first play of the fourth quarter Kellen Bradley scored on a 13-yard run to extend the Vikings’ lead. When Minneota sticks to the run, it can’t be stopped.
— Joe Gunther
1Q: Minnetonka 7, St. Michael-Albertville 0
The Skippers weren’t messing around. They went 75 yards in four plays on their opening drive. Caden Gutzmer threw the ball on Minnetonka’s first three plays, picking up 55 yards. Caleb Francois capped the drive with a 20-yard TD run off left tackle.
—Jim Paulsen
Updates from around Minnesota
Breckenridge 7, Barnum 0: The 7 p.m. games are firing up, five more to go with the four that began at 6. David Erlandson scored for Breckenridge (11-0), the top seed in the North bracket of Class 1A.
3Q: Minneota 28, Lester Prairie 6
The Bulldogs are on the board. On the first play after an interception. Axel Bahena threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Eli Zebell with 1:43 left in the third quarter.
— Joe Gunther
Halftime: Edina 20, Eden Prairie 14
Eden Prairie made an impressive stand to quickly stuff Edina deep in its own territory, with freshman defensive end Jayden Bates sacking West on a third-and-10 on the Hornets 18-yard line. Bates received his first scholarship offer from Minnesota this past summer. The Eagles got the ball back near midfield with 1:18 to play in the half but weren’t able to get much past the Edina secondary, which broke up passes as the Eagles looked downfield. It’s not as if Eden Prairie head coach Mike Grant hasn’t coached teams in this position before. The longtime Eagles head coach this season became the third head coach in Minnesota to reach 400 career wins.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 21, Maple Grove 13: Here comes Maple Grove. James Engle Jr. scored on a 6-yard run with 32 seconds left in the first half. The Crimson, with their 23-game winning streak and top overall seed in Class 6A, hold some momentum just before the break.
Q3: Minneota 28, Lester Prairie 0
After Minneota forced a punt on the opening possession of the second half, Brock Fier scored on a 7-yard run to extend the Vikings’ lead. Kellen Bradley had a 50-yard run on the first play of the drive to set up the short touchdown.
— Joe Gunther
Updates from around Minnesota
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 14, Pierz 0: Jacob Luebke scored on a run, and Pierz, the third seed in Class 3A’s North bracket, is ahead of undefeated Pierz, the second seed.
2Q: Edina 20, Eden Prairie 14
The Eagles might be feeling a sense of deja vu from their first touchdown. Senior quarterback Jackson Bakkum found senior receiver Cooper Fahning on a 7-yard slant pass, then Edina repeated the same mistake it made before the Eagles’ first touchdown: an encroachment penalty, at the exact same spot on the 6-yard line. Again, senior running back Andrew Johnson is able to punch in a 3-yard touchdown for the Eagles, with 1:46 to go in the half.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 21, Maple Grove 7: Griffin Dean’s third rushing touchdown of the game, this one in the second quarter, puts undefeated Maple Grove two scores behind.
2Q: Edina 20, Eden Prairie 7
Senior running back Chase Bjorgaard scored his second TD of the night on the ground, rushing 3 yards to put Edina back up by two scores, though the extra point was no good. The Hornets faced a fourth-and-1 that they converted on the Eagles 33-yard line. West then nearly took a sack as he scrambled out of the pocket while in the Eden Prairie red zone, but he pitched an improbable pass low to Bjorgaard for a 9-yard gain. Eden Prairie just hasn’t been able to find an answer for Bjorgaard yet.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Updates from around Minnesota
Lakeville South 14, Maple Grove 7: Griffen Dean has two rushing touchdowns now for Lakeville South.
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 7, Pierz 0: Brady Wadena scored in a 13-yard run in this Class 3A quarterfinal. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (8-2) is ahead of 10-0 Pierz in the second quarter.
2Q: Edina 14, Eden Prairie 7
The Eagles get one back thanks to the legs of their leading rusher, Owen Konrad. Just a sophomore, Konrad entered tonight’s game with 1,197 rushing yards and got things going on the first play of the second quarter with a 22-yard gain. Another first-down rush from Konrad put the Eagles at the 6 before an encroachment penalty on Edina’s defense halved that distance.Senior Andrew Johnson, the Eagles’ on-the-ground finisher with now a team-high 11 rushing touchdowns, punched it in.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Halftime: Minneota 21, Lester Prairie 0
The Vikings lead big at halftime. They concluded the first half with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tristen Sussner to Joey Lacek with 14 seconds left.
— Joe Gunther
Pregame: St. Michael-Albertville vs. Minnetonka
Does St. Michael-Albertville have another upset in the bag?
The Knights surprised Rosemount last week, looking fast and aggressive. Running back Wyatt Mosher carried a lot of water in that game, keeping the sticks moving. And the defense swarmed to the ball. You can tell St. Michael-Albertville has received some good coaching throughout the season.
That said, Minnetonka is still the better team. The Skippers struggled a bit in beating Prior Lake last week, but they took care of business. And that’s the bottom line at this time of year. RB Caleb Francois has been remarkably consistent this year, running for at least 150 yards six times. I expect a big game from QB Caden Gutzmer, who looks to be completely recovered from a knee injury that sidelined him for four-plus games.
— Jim Paulsen
1Q: Edina 14, Eden Prairie 0
Edina has nearly matched its regular-season point total against Eden Prairie (19) with three minutes to go in the first quarter. Senior quarterback Mason West finds senior receiver Jabari Strader in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard passing touchdown. West set up the red zone trip with a 21-yard rush, darting out to the right sideline and out of bounds.
That’s West’s eighth time connecting with Strader for a touchdown this year, and the quarterback’s 22nd passing touchdown.
Edina’s quick start is a promising sign that the Hornets might be able to repeat their 2023 feat: avenging a regular-season loss to the Eagles. They knocked off top-seeded Eden Prairie in the state semifinals, 28-7.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Updates from around Minnesota
Maple Grove 7, Lakeville South 7: Funny how defending champions with 23-game winning streaks react to a touchdown by their opponent. The Crimson trailed for about 90 seconds before Kaden Harney hit Josh Thompson for a 32-yard touchdown that tied it.
Lakeville South’s Griffen Dean got this one started with a 25-yard touchdown run with 5:19 left in the first quarter.
The details on this Class 6A quarterfinal: Maple Grove is 10-0, the only undefeated team in the class and the overall top seed in the state tournament. Lakeville South is 8-2 and the eighth seed overall.
1Q: Minneota 14, Lester Prairie 0
Minneota added to its lead with a 10-yard touchdown run by Easton Johnston with 2:55 left in the first half. Kellen Bradley started the drive with a 55-yard run.
— Joe Gunther
1Q: Edina 7, Eden Prairie 0
It didn’t take long for the No. 4-seeded Hornets to get on the board in this one. Not even 30 seconds had ticked off the clock before Edina senior running back Chase Bjorgaard burst free up a clear tunnel in the middle of the Osseo turf for a 68-yard rushing touchdown. That’s his 18th rushing touchdown of the season.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
1Q: Minneota 7, Lester Prairie 0
Minneota took advantage of a short field to get the game’s first score. Tristen Sussner to Brock Fier for a 3-yard touchdown pass finished off a nine-play, 47-yard drive with 1:39 left in the first quarter.
— Joe Gunther
Pregame: Edina vs. Eden Prairie
Throughout the fall, the teams of the Metro West district have beaten up on one another, schedules full of the state’s toughest Class 6A teams. And now, six of those teams make up three-quarters of the 6A state quarterfinal field.
Here at Osseo, we’ve got two of them: No. 3 seed Eden Prairie (8-2) facing No. 4 Edina (6-4). When these teams met Sept. 12, Eden Prairie beat Edina 40-19. The Eagles snagged three interceptions from Edina senior quarterback Mason West — on a quest for Edina’s first state title before he begins his pro hockey journey. Eden Prairie’s rush-heavy offense put up 374 yards on the ground against the Hornets defense.
Last season, both 12-time state champ Eden Prairie and Edina, searching for its first title after finishing runner-up in 2023, were in the path of the wrecking ball that was eventual Class 6A champion Maple Grove. The Crimson beat Eden Prairie in the second round of the playoffs, then Edina in the quarterfinals.
— Cassidy Hettesheimer
Pregame: Lester Prairie vs. Minneota
Here in Jordan, Class 1A powerhouse Minneota is looking to win its 44th straight game. Lester Prairie will need to take care of the ball to knock off the top-seeded Vikings. Minneota is led on offense by senior running back Kellen Bradley, who has run for 1,078 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. Sophomore linebacker Randy Sorensen leads the Vikings defense with 76 total tackles and five sacks. Lester Prairie boasts a dynamic and versatile quarterback, Axel Bahena, who ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the Section 2 final. A senior, he also made eight tackles.
— Joe Gunther
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