High school football: Most section brackets are out, except for Class 6A

Jace Frederick, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·2 min read

Oct. 21—The Class 6A brackets for high school football playoffs will not be revealed until Friday, with a number of key games taking place Thursday night.

But many other section brackets among the other six classes were unveiled Thursday, as teams learned of their potential paths to the state tournament.

(You can find a complete listing of the section brackets here.)

Mahtomedi, St. Thomas Academy and Simley are among the teams that earned top seeds. Others will likely need to win road games to win section titles. Here's a look at where area teams slid into their respective sections:

CLASS 5A

Section 3: The top-seeded Cadets are the clear favorite to get back to state. Hastings earned the No. 2 seed and the other bye. Section quarterfinal matchups, played Tuesday, are as follows:

No. 5 Apple Valley at No. 4 Bloomington Jefferson, 4 p.m.

No. 6 Two Rivers at No. 3 Bloomington Kennedy, 7:30 p.m.

Section 4: Mahtomedi gets the top seed and the lone bye. The remaining six teams will all need to win three section games to earn a trip to state. Tuesday's quarterfinals are below:

No. 7 Tartan at No. 2 Central, 5 p.m.

No. 6 Highland Park at No. 3 Harding/Humboldt, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Cretin-Derham Hall at No. 4 North St. Paul, 7 p.m.

CLASS 4A

Section 3: With just five teams in the section, Simley, Hill-Murray and South St. Paul all earned first-round byes into the semifinals. Hill-Murray is the No. 2 seed, and will host third-seeded South St. Paul on Oct. 30. Top-seeded Simley will host the winner of Tuesday's 7 p.m. matchup of No. 4 Academy Force hosting No. 5 Johnson at St. Croix Prep.

Section 4: Fridley earned the top seed and the lone bye in the seven-team section. Como Park was seeded fifth, and will travel to play No. 4 Brooklyn Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will play the Tigers in the semis.

CLASS 2A

Section 4: St. Agnes finished the regular season with the second-highest QRF in all of Class 2A. The problem for the Aggies is the team with the highest QRF — Minneapolis North — is also in St. Agnes' section. So the Polars received the first seed and the bye. The section quarterfinal matchups played Tuesday are as follows:

No. 7 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted at No. 2 St. Agnes, 7:30 p.m. at Concordia-St. Paul

No. 6 Maple Lake at No. 3 Rush City, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Norwood Young America at No. 4 Concordia Academy, 7 p.m.