HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: REFLECTIONS
The MSHSL football playoffs will feature section final matchups Friday with winners advancing to the state tournament quarterfinals next week. The best of the best are competing with the ultimate goal of eventually making it to US Bank Stadium for a shot at a state championship.
Reflecting on my 35 years of calling high school sports (29 here in Minnesota) there is no doubt that when it comes to football there is one big thing the MSHSL needs to realize: not every team needs be in the playoffs.
Minnesota is one of only three states (along with Indiana and Missouri) where every team makes the playoffs in football. I realize every team makes the playoffs in a number of other sports in Minnesota. That is a topic for another day. There is a reason though why 47 other states have figured out why every team doesn't need to make the playoffs in football. It's called common sense.
The numbers this year show why. From 9 man football to Class AAAAA there are a total of 48 sections with six classes and eight sections per class. There are only 19 sections with a full eight teams. There are some sections with seven, six, five and one section (6AA) with only four teams.
Of the 19 sections with eight teams in 2024, #8 seeds were 0-19, #7 seeds were 0-19 and #6 seeds were 2-17. The only competitive matchups were the #5 vs. #4 seeds. The best solution is to have the #5 vs. #4 seeds play a piggyback play-in game on Tuesday. The winner plays the #1 seed while the #2 and #3 seeds square off in the section semi-finals Saturday. Winners advance to the section title games as usual the following Friday. There still will be blowout wins by superior teams (Stewartville being a prime example) in the playoffs. The big change is teams that make it need to play reasonably well to make it to the post season.
This playoff format means those eight regular season really mean something. Your team may not be section championship caliber...but you can still make the playoffs by winning at least a few games. Sorry but 0-8, 1-7 and even 2-6 teams are not playoff teams. There could be real drama in many instances knowing that if you are a so-called bubble team, you need to win your final game of the regular season to make the playoffs. Essentially, that is a playoff type situation. You earn your invitation to the party. This is not a participation trophy deal.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: STATE OF THE WINGERS
The Red Wing Wingers went 0-9 in 2024. The team was competitive in a number of games this year but still led in only one game, 6-0 at Pine Island. The Wingers trailed 22-6 by the time the first quarter ended. They had legit shots to win vs. Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Rochester Lourdes and PEM but fell short. A massive second half comeback in the regular season finale vs. Lake City resulted in a 49-39 loss. The Wingers suffered blow out losses to powerhouse Stewartville twice, Chatfield, Pine Island and Dover-Eyota.
This was my 25th year of broadcasting Wingers football. It's easy to say the program has struggled of late but in reality Wingers football has wobbled for over two decades.
*Last back to back winning seasons: 2000 and 2001
*Two winning seasons since 2001. 7-4 in 2011 and 6-4 in 2015.
*4-75 since 2016 (1-33 home 3-42 road)
How does the football program start to turn things around? The answer is simple. Get better. The pathway is challenging: Youth programs, weight programs and conditioning, growing numbers, more three sports athletes, discipline, support, creativity, coaching, you name it. They all work hand in hand. There are some outstanding student athletes in Red Wing but more are needed, especially in a numbers game like football. One of my favorite sayings is "Do you want to be the nail or do you want to be the hammer?"
I decided to air things out in this article because I care. The easy thing is to say things will never change. I believe they can.
"Action" Jack
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