Teams are listed by their section seeds.
CLASS 4A
No. 5 Como Park (4-4) at No. 4 Johnson (5-3), 3:30 p.m.
Johnson’s young nucleus of weapons gets a taste of postseason action by hosting an intracity rival. Como Park enters the contest as a winner of four of its previous five games, but can the Cougars slow the Governors’ offense down? Our pick: Johnson 30, Como Park 21
No. 6 South St. Paul (3-5) at No. 3 Simley (5-3), 6 p.m.
The Spartans are the heavy favorites, but it’s never an easy task to take down your fierce rival twice in a season. Simley beat South St. Paul 35-12 in late September. The Spartans can’t look ahead to a potential showdown with second-seeded Chisago Lakes in a semifinal. Our pick: Simley 27, South St. Paul 14
CLASS 5A
Hastings (2-6) at Two Rivers (7-1), 7 p.m.
Hastings beat Two Rivers 9-7 in the early stages of the season, a major data point that likely prevented Two Rivers from garnering a higher seed.
Since then, the Warriors have flourished. They finished with the No. 5 Quality Ratings Formula score among all Class 5A teams by Minnesota Scores.
The winner of this game will meet St. Thomas Academy in the section semis. A Warriors-Cadets matchup would be highly anticipated. But Hastings has already shown it’s capable of tearing those plans apart. Our pick: Two Rivers 21, Hastings 10
No. 5 Tartan (2-6) at No. 4 Highland Park (3-5), 7 p.m.
Tartan bested Highland Park 6-0 back in Week 2, yet the Scots still got the nod for home field in this one. A similarly low-scoring contest could play out in this one given the general lack of offensive production between these two this season. Points should be at a premium. Our pick: Tartan 13, Highland Park 7
Leave a Reply