Blooming Prairie Edges Goodhue to Make it to State
Saturday's Section 1A championship clash between Blooming Prairie and Goodhue was another great chapter in the playoff rivalry for the two schools. BP grabbed the lead early and fended off the Wildcats in multiple ways to secure the 21-18 victory and their eighth trip to the state tournament.
Payton Simon had a touchdown catch and a kick-off return for a score. Matthew Prior also hauled in a touchdown from quarterback Kaden Thomas. Gabe Hagen had an interception. The Awesome Blossoms forced turnovers, stopped Goodhue on downs and sacked the quarterback.
Goodhue topped Blooming Prairie in last year's section title game. The teams have faced each other in the playoffs nine times since 2007, with Blooming winning six times.
BP's last tournament appearance was 2014. Blooming Prairie (11-0) will play United South Central (10-0) in the quarterfinals at 1:00 pm Saturday, November 10 at New Ulm High School on Kat Kountry 105 FM.
The winner advances to US Bank Stadium to face the winner of Otter Tail Central and BOLD on Saturday, November 17 at 9 am. In the other bracket, Mahnomen plays Deer River and Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity faces Springfield in the quarterfinals.
NRHEG qualified for the state tournament with a win over WEM. Listen to Panthers' coach Marc Kruger!