High school football: Class 6A playoff bracket includes a few surprises

Oct. 22—The Class 6A bracket was unveiled Friday and, as is often the case with the big school seedings, there were a few surprises.

Perhaps none is bigger than in Section 3, where East Ridge sported a better record, a higher QRF — a number resulting from the secret formula provided by Minnesota-Scores.net that factors in strength-of-schedule and victories — and more high-end wins than Farmington and Rosemount yet was seeded fourth behind No. 1 Lakeville South, No. 2 Farmington and No. 3 Rosemount.

The Raptors now face a treacherous path to state that includes a first-round matchup with Prior Lake, followed by a likely date with Maple Grove.

This was the first year in which Class 6A was split into the Gold and Maroon districts for the regular season. The Gold district was composed of perennially strong programs, while the rest played in Maroon.

Overall, it appears Gold teams were rewarded in section seedings — determined by coaches — for playing a difficult schedule. Losing to high-end teams was valued over wins over lesser-regarded programs.

East Ridge, a Maroon district team with wins over No 2 seeds Woodbury and St. Michael-Albertville, was seeded behind Farmington and Rosemount, two .500 Gold district teams without wins over opponents with records over .500.

Park went 4-4 in the regular season and sported the fourth-highest QRF in Section 3, yet the Wolfpack were seeded seventh out of eight teams and will meet state title contender Shakopee in the first round.

In Section 4, Centennial (4-4) got the nod for the No. 3 seed over White Bear Lake (6-2), even though the Bears were one spot higher in the QRF and the Cougars went 0-2 against section opponents. To Centennial's credit, it has high-end wins over Maple Grove, Wayzata and Blaine that carry ample weight.

Section seedings are only used to determined seed numbers, with all 32 Class 6A teams then jumbled into four quadrants for the bracket-style postseason.

Here are the quadrants, with Round 1 taking place Friday, Oct. 29:

QUADRANT 1

— No. 1 Eden Prairie vs. No. 8 Coon Rapids

— No. 4 White Bear Lake vs. No. 5 Lakeville North

— No. 3 Minnetonka vs. No. 6 Brainerd

— No. 2 Farmington vs. No. 7 Forest Lake

QUADRANT 2

— No. 1 Maple Grove vs. No. 8 Roseville

— No. 4 East Ridge vs. No. 5 Prior Lake.

— No. 3 Rosemount vs. No. 6 Edina

— No. 2 Woodbury vs. No. 7 Champlin Park

QUADRANT 3

— No. 1 Stillwater vs. No. 8 Eagan

— No. 4 Wayzata vs. No. 5 Osseo

— No. 3 Centennial vs. No. 6 Eastview

— No. 2 St. Michael-Albertville vs. No. 7 Burnsville

QUADRANT 4

— No. 1 Lakeville South vs. No. 8 Hopkins

— No. 4 Anoka vs. No. 5 Mounds View

— No. 3 Blaine vs. No. 6 Totino-Grace

— No. 2 Shakopee vs. No. 7 Park