Southern Minnesota Teams Win Football Titles

Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) football championship trophies are coming south. A pair or Section 1 teams plus Mankato West (Section 2) won state football titles in the return of the Prep Bowl to the MSHSL postseason calendar. Two other Section 1 squads brought home the second place plaque.

The Scarlets won their fifth state football title with a 24-10 victory over Mahtomedi in Class 5A in Saturday's tournament finale at US Bank Stadium. Leroy-Ostrander (Section 1), a two-time runner-up, won its first title, 58-8 over Fertile-Beltrami in the nine-man title tilt. Chatfield won their fifth overall title by edging West Central Area/Ashby 14-13 in the AA game.

Kasson-Mantorville (Sectin 1) settled for second place after losing 42-14 to Hutchinson in the 4A final. Plainview-Elgin-Millville (Section 1) came close, but lost to top-rated Dassel-Cokato in the 3A championship game. Mayer-Lutheran topped Minneota for the Class A crown 20-14. M-L (first title), Hutchinson (sixth title), Dassel-Cokato (first title) join Mankato West to make it four state titles for Section 2. Lakeville South won their first title with a 13-7 win over Maple Grove.

GOPHERS OVERCOME LOSS OF PLAYER; GET HELP FROM VIDEO REPLAY

Chatfield (13-1) overcame the loss of their starting quarterback due to a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties in the semifinals to beat West Central Area/Ashby (11-2)) 14-13. The infractions led to an automatic disqualification for the Prep Bowl. WCA went for a two-point conversion after a fourth-quarter touchdown. Initially ruled a success, the play was reversed on instant replay review.

TIGERS RUN TO VICTORY PAST THE KOMETS

Hutchinson (12-1) used a one-sided attack, rushing on 55 of their 58 plays and amassing 423 yards to beat Kasson-Mantorville (9-4) 42-14.

CARDINALS FLY TO BLOWOUT WIN

Leroy-Ostrander (12-2) had 522 total yards and did not punt in their win over Fertile-Beltrami (13-1).

POSSESSIONS PRECIOUS IN CHARGERS WIN OVER BULLDOGS

Dassel-Cokato (14-4) had two drives of about 19 plays each in a game of few possessions in their 28-21 win over Plainview-Elgin-Millville (11-3). The Bulldogs scored on a hook-and-ladder play late in the second quarter.

SCARLETS SPECIAL TEAMS STRIKE FIRST

Mankato West (13-0) went three-and-out on their first drive. However, the subsequent punt was fumbled, picked up, and returned for a touchdown by Ryan Haley and the Scarlets led the rest of the way. West beat Mahtomedi (10-3) 24-10.

See the MSHSL Football Brackets