This is the second part of a 50-day feature looking back at the 50 years since Minnesota's high school football playoffs began. Part 1 is here.
The oddities of 2020 leave a gap in the football record book
50 years in the making: No state championship games were played, the impact of COVID-19.
October 15, 2022 at 5:21AM
Year: 2020
"We're just going to be grateful for what have and we're not going to worry about what we don't." — Stillwater coach Beau LaBore
This was the season the lights were turned out before the Prep Bowl, the only time in the 50-year history of Minnesota's high school football state tournament that no state championship games were played.
This is the second part of a 50-day feature looking back at the 50 years since Minnesota's high school football playoffs began. Part 1 is here.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a season that started several weeks late to a sudden halt in November, when Gov. Tim Walz declared a break in youth sports because of concerns about spreading the virus. Some teams scrambled to get in one more game before his deadline, and some even changed schedules to set up something akin to championship games.
The Minnesota State High School League canceled what it called "culmination events," including the football state tournament. The last games of the season were played Nov. 20.
Instead of the customary seven teams winning their final game, dozens did.
State championship games
None (canceled, COVID-19)
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
