12 Southeast Minnesota Teams Make Latest State Football Rankings

Southeast Minnesota was once again well represented in the Minnesota Associated Press football rankings, but there were some shake-ups and one new area team cracked the Top 10.

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Blooming Prarie was once again the only team in the area ranked #1 in their respective class, but Rushford-Peterson found themselves inside the Top 10 for the first time this season. We will kick things off with the state's 9-Man Football Rankings.

9-Man State Football Rankings
(Rank - School - (First Place Votes) - Record - Total Votes - Last Week's Ranking)

Lanesboro and Spring Grove still find themselves in the Top 5. The Burros jumped the Lions this time around, and LeRoy-Ostrander was the lone Southeast Minnesota school to receive votes this time around in 9-man football.

This section remains loaded with Lanesboro, Spring Grove, LeRoy-Ostrander, Grand Meadow, and Mabel-Canton (who gave Spring Grove a tight game all the way until the end last week). This will be a fun section to follow all the way into the State Tournament.

1 Mountain Lake Area (4) (3-0) 47 1
2 Mountain Iron-Buhl (3-0) 43 2
3 Verndale (1) (3-0) 40 3
4 Lanesboro (3-0) 31 5
5 Spring Grove (2-0) 30 4
6 Hills-Beaver Creek (3-0) 29 6
7 Hancock (3-0) 18 8
8 Sleepy Eye St. Mary's (3-0) 10 NR
9 Wheaton Herman Norcross (3-0) 8 NR
10 Warren-Alvarado-Oslo (3-0) 6 NR
Others receiving votes: Fertile-Beltrami 4, Win-E-Mac 3, Edgerton 2, Nevis 2, Red Rock Central 1, LeRoy-Ostrander 1.

Class A

Rushford-Peterson has had a great start to the season. They are now 3-0, with wins over Medford, Fillmore Central, and Keyon-Wanamingo. The Trojans are the long team in Southeast Minnesota to get a ranking, sliding in at #10. Randolph dropped their first game of the season to Faribault BA 32-26, dropping them out of all of the ballots.

1 Mahnomen-Waubun (5) (3-0) 50 1
2 Murray County Central (3-0) 45 2
3 Minneota (3-0) 40 3
4 BOLD (3-0) 33 5
5 Dawson-Boyd (3-0) 30 6
6 Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (3-0) 23 7
7 Polk County West (3-0) 13 T8
8 Browerville-Eagle Valley (2-1) 11 4
8 (tie) Pine River-Backus (3-0) 11 10
10 Rushford-Peterson (3-0) 5 NR
Others receiving votes: Bethlehem Academy 4, Ada-Borup 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 3, Mayer Lutheran 3, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 1.

Class AA

The Chatfield Gophers are coming off a big 30-0 win over Caledonia in Week 3 action. That win catapulted the Gophers into the Top 10. The Gophers have back-to-back impressive wins over the Warriors and Triton Cobras as they sit 2-1 on the season.

Goodhue dropped a tough game to St. Charles, taking them out of the rankings this week. The Saints take on newly ranked #8 Chatfield this week. The Awesome Blossoms of Blooming Prairie remain at #1 after a strong 33-6 win over USC. Blooming Praire is averaging 43.7 pp/g. Their toughest competition in the state just might be fellow Section 2 team Blue Earth Area, who is averaging 50 pp/g. BEA is ranked #2 in the state.

Triton and Lewiston-Altura received votes in the rankings this week.

1 Blooming Prairie (5) (3-0) 50 1
2 Blue Earth Area (3-0) 45 2
3 Pipestone (3-0) 40 3
4 Redwood Valley (3-0) 32 4
5 Kimball (3-0) 30 5
6 Minneapolis North (2-1) 25 6
7 West Central-Ashby (3-0) 16 8
8 Moose Lake-Willow River (3-0) 7 NR
8 (tie) Chatfield (2-1) 7 NR
8 (tie) Eden Valley-Watkins (3-0) 7 NR
Others receiving votes: Barnesville 4, Triton 4, Lewiston-Altura 2, Maple River 2, Osakis 1, Paynesville 1, Goodhue 1, Rush City 1.

Class AAA

Cannon Falls, Lake City, and Plainview-Elgin-Millville all moved up in the rankings this week, with Cannon Falls all the way up to #2 in the state. Lake City followed at #3 and the Bulldogs moved up to #7.

The Bombers have Zumbrota-Mazeppa this week, while Lake City and PEM will have a big Top 10 matchup this week in Plainview.

1 Pierz (5) (3-0) 59 1
2 Cannon Falls (3-0) 51 3
3 Lake City (3-0) 44 4
4 Litchfield (1) (3-0) 42 5
5 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (3-0) 31 6
6 Fairmont (3-0) 28 7
7 Dassel-Cokato (3-0) 21 NR
7 Plainview-Elgin-Millville (3-0) 21 10
9 Waseca (3-0) 12 9
10 Annandale (2-1) 9 2
Others receiving votes: Watertown-Mayer 5, Breck 3, Fergus Falls 2, Aitkin 1, Albany 1.

Class AAAA

The Stewartville Tigers knocked off fellow Top 10 foe Faribault last week, and that launched the Tigers all the way up to #5 in the state. The Tigers are averaging 46 pp/g, and have Byron on their schedule this week.

Kasson-Mantorville fell to Mankato East last week, dropping them down to #8 in the rankings. Winona found themselves in the Top 10 too at #9.

Faribault received votes in the Top 10.

1 Hutchinson (6) (3-0) 60 1
2 Becker (3-0) 54 2
3 Rocori (3-1) 42 4
4 Mound-Westonka (3-0) 41 5
5 Fridley (2-1) 27 6
5 (tie) Stewartville (3-0) 27 9
7 SMB-Wolfpack (3-0) 25 8
8 Kasson-Mantorville (2-1) 19 3
9 Winona (2-1) 14 7
10 Holy Angels (2-1) 8 NR
Others receiving votes: North Branch 6, Faribault 4, Willmar 3.

Class AAAAA

Rochester Mayo is coming off a big 42-0 win over cross-town rival Rochester Century last week, and have another cross-town matchup this week with Rochester John Marshall. The Spartans worked their way up to #6 in the rankings after the impressive shutout.

Mankato West remains the cream of the crop in Class AAAAA.

1 Mankato West (6) (3-0) 60 1
2 Andover (3-0) 49 3
3 Moorhead (2-0) 45 2
4 St. Thomas Academy (3-0) 42 5
5 Mahtomedi (3-0) 35 6
6 Rochester Mayo (3-0) 25 T9
7 Chaska (3-0) 23 8
8 Elk River (2-1) 17 T9
9Sauk Rapids-Rice (3-0) 14 NR
10 Spring Lake Park (2-1) 9 4
Others receiving votes: Chanhassen 5, Rogers 4, Robbinsdale Cooper 2.