Rankings rankle

No one is calling for a congressional investigation and no angry mobs have been reported in Circle Pines. But followers of the Centennial football team have scratched their heads in mild bewilderment upon seeing the Class 5A, Section 7 tournament seedings.

Fact 1: Centennial and Blaine shared first place in the Northwest Suburban Conference with 7-1 records.

Fact 2: Centennial won at Blaine 34-25 in Week 2 of the regular season.

Fact 3: Blaine is the No. 1 seed in the section and Centennial is No. 2.

There is a slight quirk at work. Blaine's opponents were all 5A schools, while Centennial played one 4A opponent in Park Center. The seeding system in Section 7 is based on points, with victories over 5A teams worth more than victories over 4A teams. That's why Blaine is the top seed.

Park Center is in the 10-team Northwest Suburban and the schools don't make their own league schedules, so Centennial can't be criticized for the teams it played. But the bottom line is that Blaine received a first-round bye and will have the day off when the rest of the Section 7 teams open the postseason tonight.

"There are different ways to look at it, and no system is perfect," Centennial coach Mike Watson said. "Some of the parents are saying we had no choice because we had to play Park Center, which is true. But once we explained things to everybody, most of them are OK with it."

Centennial will play host to seventh-seeded Coon Rapids in a rematch of last Tuesday's regular-season finale, a 41-7 victory by the Cougars. Should Centennial and Blaine advance to the section championship game, it would be played in Blaine on Nov. 6.

"Maybe that wouldn't be all bad, since we beat them on the road the first time," Watson said. "But right now we're just worried about Coon Rapids."

Following the NFL's support of the fight against breast cancer, pink will be a prominent color tonight when top-seeded DeLaSalle plays host to No. 8 seed St. Paul Academy/Mounds Park Academy in the 3A, Section 4 quarterfinals.

A thousand pink stocking caps have been sold through the school, with proceeds going to North Memorial Medical Center's "Pay It Forward" program, which helps female patients pay for basic living expenses while they undergo treatment for breast, ovarian or uterine cancer.

The DeLaSalle players will wear pink socks and pink wristbands.

"We mentioned it to the kids, and they grabbed it and ran," Islanders coach Sean McMenomy said.

Three prominent quarterbacks who have missed games because of injuries should be back on the field this week. Among them is DeLaSalle's Evan Williams, who sat out the past two games of the regular season because of a broken bone in his non-passing hand.

Williams rushed for 1,474 yards and passed for 1,110 in six games before the injury. He's expected to play limited minutes in tonight's game, but should the Islanders win, he would be ready for a full game Saturday against the winner of tonight's game between St. Paul Johnson and St. Anthony Village.

"You hate to say it's perfect timing, but we're fortunate," McMenomy said. "It should be pretty fun watching him again, that's for sure."

• Undefeated Stillwater, the top seed in 5A, Section 2, has a first-round bye and will play Irondale or North St. Paul on Saturday. Quarterback Miles Heller, who suffered a hand injury in the Ponies' 12-7 victory over Cretin-Derham Hall in Week 6, has missed the past two games but is expected back Saturday.

Stillwater finished the regular season last week without several other injured players: rushing leader Jesse George, fullback Evan Heinbigner and kicker/wide receiver Paxton Harvieux. All but Harvieux (who has a shoulder injury) should play Saturday, and Harvieux might be able to kick.

• Cretin-Derham Hall quarterback Mark Alt missed the final three games of the regular season after suffering a broken collarbone playing hockey two days before the Stillwater game. But Alt has been cleared by doctors and might play Saturday when the top-seeded Raiders face either Eagan or Hastings in the 5A, Section 4 semifinals.

• Tonight's 5A, Section 3 quarterfinal game between second-seeded Rosemount and seventh-seeded Apple Valley has been moved to Apple Valley because of poor field conditions at Rosemount.

• Because of field conditions at Eagan, the 5A, Section 4 game between No. 4 seed Eagan and No. 5 seed Hastings will be played at St. Thomas Academy.