Blooming Prairie Reaches First Prep Bowl Final

Blooming Prairie football will play in Prep Bowl championship for the first time after a no-doubt performance Saturday afternoon at US Bank Stadium. The Awesome Blossoms overwhelmed Ada-Borup 41-0 and will play for the Class A state title on Friday, November 29 at 10 am against BOLD. BP is No. 2 ranked and BOLD No. 1 in the final AP rankings. BOLD beat Blooming Prairie 37-7 in last year's semifinals.

BP continued their balanced attack Saturday with a fairly even rush-pass split with their 430-plus yards of offense. Matthew Pryor ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns, including the one that started the scoring.

Kaden Thomas threw touchdowns to Karson Vigeland (15 yards) and Gabe Hagen (48 yards). Tyler Acher closed the scoring with a short touchdown plunge. Blooming Prairie led 27-0 at the half. BP held Ada-Borup to just 30 first-half yards and turned the Cougars away after an interception return set them up in good field position. Blooming Prairie (12-0) earned their fourth shutout of the season while holding AB to less than 100 rushing yards.

This is Blooming Prairie's ninth overall state tournament appearance and first advancement to the Prep Bowl. Coach Chad Gimbel told the Star Tribune, "To finally break through and get that opportunity, that's a huge step for us and for our program and for our kids."

Jason Iacovino and Brennen Toquam, both BP graduates, continued their excellent coverage of their hometown team on Kat Kountry 105 FM. Catch coverage of the Prep Bowl championship game on air and on the app, even if you are attending the game.

Top-rated BOLD (13-0) spotted Browerville-Eagle Valley a first-quarter touchdown then scored the rest of the points in the other semifinal, a 56-7 Warriors' victory. Jordan Sagedahl passed for over 350 yards and six touchdowns.

BOLD lost to Mahnomen/Waubun 22-21 in the 2018 Prep Bowl. First-year head coach Derek Flann told the Star Tribune, "The whole job of the coach was just, 'Don't screw this up.' The ship's in the right direction."