On the first day of official football practice, Minneapolis North's Tyler Johnson spent most of his time during offensive drills at wide receiver. A terrific three-sport athlete, Johnson — a preseason selection by many as one of the metro's top quarterbacks — acknowledged that the potential move was made with his future in mind.

"Coach [Charles Adams] and I decided to play me more at wide receiver because that's where I'm being recruited," the sinewy 6-3 Johnson said. "I'll probably still play some quarterback, but not as much."

Using Saturday's 42-8 victory over Minneapolis Washburn as an indicator, it appears that plans to move Johnson out wide have been scrapped. Makes sense, too, because Johnson was at his versatile best with the ball in his hands. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 52 yards and another score. He even intercepted a pass and returned it to the end zone, but the score was called back because of a penalty for a block in the back.

A big reason for keeping Johnson at quarterback is the emergence of junior wide receiver Isaac Johnson (no relation). Isaac, a smooth 6-4 leaper, made his presence known Saturday with six catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns. He wowed those in attendance with a leaping one-handed catch that kept a Polars scoring drive alive.

Milestone for Grant

Eden Prairie's 38-20 victory over Totino-Grace on Saturday was the 300th career victory for Eagles coach Mike Grant. He won 45 games as the head coach at Forest Lake in the 1980s and 255 since taking over at Eden Prairie in 1992. Grant is the fifth coach in state history to win 300 games. Brainerd's Ron Stolski has won 361, the most state history.

Opening delayed

After more than a year without a home field, what difference does two more days make?

Providence Academy played its entire 2014 home football schedule on a makeshift field, trucking in portable stands and a temporary scoreboard while its new football field/athletic complex was under construction. The inaugural football game was supposed to take place Saturday when the Lions hosted Breck, but thunderstorms in the area forced the postponement of the game.

The new football stadium finally served its intended purpose two days later as the game was rescheduled for Monday.

Providence won 27-6.

• Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737