Quarterfinal Friday!!!

Brian Hey-NSO

9-Man

Sec 5 Floodwood (11-0) vs. Sec 7 Ely (11-0)

7 p.m. Nov. 8^th at PSS-Duluth

     The Floodwood Polar Bears head into the state tournament coming off a hard fought win over South Ridge last week 37-20.  They finished the season ranked No. 7 in final AP poll and have the distinction of being the only team in all of the classes that are making their debut appearance in the tournament.  The Ely Timberwolves edged out Kelliher/Northhome 32-22 to earn their second consecutive appearance.  They enter the quarter finals as the No. 6 ranked team, and are looking for their first ever state title.

     The other matchups in the 9-man class are:

Sec 2 Nicollet (11-0) vs. Sec 4 Underwood (8-3)

Sec 6 Ada-Borup (9-2) vs. Sec 8 Kittson County Central (11-0)

Sec 1 Grand Meadow (10-1) vs. Sec 3 Mountain Lake Area (11-0)

    The winner plays Nicollet/Underwood 11:30 a.m. Nov. 14^th at the Metrodome.

Class AA

Sec 5 Minneota/Lincoln (11-0) vs. Sec 7 Moose Lake/Willow River (10-0)

7 p.m. Nov. 8^th at Chisago Lakes Area HS

    The No. 2 ranked ML/WR Rebels continued their dominating season with a decisive 62-6 win over Mesabi East last weekend.  They are entering their 8^th consecutive state tournament and after two straight runner-up honors, are looking for their first state title.  The Minneota/Lincoln Vikings are making their first appearance as a combined team, but Minneota has made 11 appearances and won 5 titles between 1985-2010 including a championship in 2009.  The Vikings finished No. 4 in the final AP poll this season.

     The other matchups for Class AA are:

Sec 2 Pine Island (9-2) vs. Sec 4 Maple Lake (7-4)

Sec 6 Holdingford (11-0) vs. Sec 8 Hawley (9-1)

Sec 1 Chattfield (10-1) vs. Jackson County Central (10-1)

    The winner plays Pine Island/Maple Lake 2 p.m. Nov. 14^th at the Metrodome.

Class AAA

Sec 5 Pierz (8-3) vs. Sec 7 Proctor (8-2)

7 p.m. Nov. 8^th at Malosky Stadium – UMD

     The Proctor Rails are entering the state tournament after a solid 37-21 win over Esko last week.  The Rails are making their seventh tournament appearance but have never won a title.  The last time Proctor went to state was 2008 where they lost to New London-Spicer in the quarter finals.  The Pierz Pioneers are making their 10^th state appearance and have won the title once in 2004.  Neither team finished ranked in the top ten, but both are evenly matched statistically with Proctor scoring 24 and giving up 15 a game, while Pierz scored 28 and allowed 16 a game during the regular season.  

    The other matchups for Class AAA are:

Sec 2 Glencoe-Silver Lake (8-2) vs. Sec 4 St.Croix Lutheran (8-2)

Sec 6 New London-Spicer (8-2) vs. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (8-2)

Sec 1 Rochester Lourdes (9-1) vs. Sec 3 Fairmont (8-2)

     The winner plays Glencoe-Silver Lake/ St.Croix Lutheran 2 p.m. Nov. 16^th at the Metrodome.

Class AAAA

Sec 5 Delano (9-1) vs. Sec 7 Cloquet (9-1)

8 p.m. Nov. 8^th at St. Cloud State University

    Cloquet is coming off a 23-14 win over Hermantown last week to earn their first state tournament appearance since 1987.  The Lumberjacks were out of the top ten rankings to finish the season, but they had the No.2 defense by average in class AAAA giving up only 11 points a game while scoring an impressive 34 a night.  The Delano Tigers finished the season as the No. 4 ranked team in AAAA and are making their 10^th state tournament appearance, the last one coming in 2006.  Both teams are looking for their first state championship. 

   The other matchups for Class AAAA are:

Sec 2 Hutchinson (10-0) vs. Sec 4 South St. Paul (9-1)

Sec 6 DeLaSalle (9-1) vs. Sec 8 Detroit Lakes (9-1)

Sec 1 Kasson-Mantorville (9-1) vs. Sec 3 Academy of Holy Angels (5-5)

    The winner plays Hutchinson/ South St. Paul 4:30 Nov. 14^th at the Metrodome.