Bye gives Rogers time to rest for playoffs

Rogers football coach Marc Franz was left nearly speechless after the Royals defeated Cambridge-Isanti last week in the team's regular season finale.

The victory assured Rogers not only a share of its first Mississippi 8 conference title, but earned it a first-round bye in the Class 4A, Section 5 tournament. In six years, the Royals never have been in that situation.

With 11 days until the next game, set for Saturday afternoon at home, Franz wasn't exactly sure what to tell the elated players around him.

So he did the best he could to dry off from a celebratory water jug shower and went to the drawing board.

Some film watching, a little weight lifting and a few days off later and the Royals (7-1, ranked No. 7 in Class 4A) are back at it, business as usual.

"Their bodies should be good and fresh, and that's what you want for the playoffs," Franz said. "The guys, I think, appreciated the time and are really ready to start and get ready for a game again. It was nice to wait around but it's nice to get back at it, too."

Actually, the team did take one more day off Tuesday. As a group, the plan was to go to Big Lake to watch the Hornets play host to Becker. The winner of that game heads to Rogers on Saturday for the section semifinals.

Then things really heat up.

"We can't do anything X's and O's wise until we know who the next opponent is," Franz said.

The extra time off also means there is a chance Royals leading rusher Josh Wickoren could be back. He has been out because of a knee injury since rushing for 94 yards on 16 carries Oct. 14 against Becker.

"He's getting better each day," Franz said. "But whoever we have out there, we have full confidence will go out and do their best."

On a rainy day and a muddy course, Richfield's Hannah Olson won her second consecutive Classic Suburban Conference girls' cross-country championship last Wednesday at St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park in Hastings.

Olson, a sophomore, finished the course in 15 minutes, 21.1 seconds. That's just 1.1 seconds off the course record.

Many high school volleyball section tournaments begin today at various sites. Seeding meetings took place earlier this week. A full schedule and bracket information can be found at www.mshsl.org.

Brian Stensaas • 612-673-4127