Team Rankings – Week 1
(Cover Photo: Josh Duggan/Monticello Times)
Unpredictable was the best way the first weekend of high school football games around Minnesota, especially contests featuring ranked opponents from Class AA to AAAA.
Seven of the top-15 teams in NFN’s preseason rankings in those three classes lost, including four of the top teams in Class AAAA.
Zimmerman’s 37-19 win over No. 1 Delano at home was the most impressive of the upsets, as the Thunder used three fourth-quarter touchdowns — two by Carter McEachern — to pull away. No. 5 Hutchinson was the only ranked team to emerge victorious, and the Tigers needed a late Tyler Schiller touchdown, followed by a 2-pt. conversion to defeat Monticello 22-21.
Top-ranked Pierz and Caledonia kept their stranglehold on the respective top spots in Class AAA and AA, but those levels had changes at the bottom of the top five. Only Class AAAAAA and 9-Man had no changes from the preseason rankings to the Week 1 lists.