Final step to the football state tournament

Along about mid-July, in sweaty weight rooms in nearly every school in Minnesota, the dream takes root.

Football players, preparing for what is often a far-too-short season, start talking. Football talk leads to goals, which inevitably lead to thoughts of the state tournament. Visions coalesce and almost all can picture themselves holding up a championship trophy.

Those dreams can become reality Friday in what has become the best night of the high school football season.

Thirty-four of 48 sections will decide championships. A few in the smaller classes held section finals Thursday; six more will take place Saturday. And that doesn't take into account Class 6A, in which eight victors from Friday's second round of games will advance to the state tournament.

But for the most part, it's "Friday Night Lights" for one last big home-field night before neutral-site state tournament play kicks in. It means fierce rivalries, packed bleachers, pep bands and mitten-muffled applause. Some dreams live on, others come to a disappointing end.

"It's a great weekend if you're lucky enough to still be alive," Spring Lake Park coach Jeff Schlieff said. "It's usually teams with great programs and great traditions. There are no more bad teams."

Occasionally, the matchups are so good that both teams are legitimate state title contenders. Many observers say that will be the case in Albertville, where Class 5A powers Elk River and St. Michael-Albertville will battle for the Section 6 title. But only one team will get the chance to prove it.

Sounds like a potential mismatch, until one realizes that Northfield trailed by just six points, 34-28, with 1:15 left in the first half. Throw in that Mankato West's only loss came in the final week of the regular season. And that the Scarlets needed a late field goal to defeat Chanhassen 38-35 in the section semifinals. Suddenly, Northfield has hope.

"We felt like we really competed with them for major portions of the game," Northfield coach Bubba Sullivan said. "The kids really hoped to see them again."

Friday's matchups are just as likely to be a rematch from 2013. Minneapolis North will play Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity for the Class 1A, Section 4 championship. The undefeated Polars were the top seed in 2013 but got knocked out of the playoffs by the Bulldogs.

According to coach Charles Adams III, the Polars have spent much of their season hoping for opportunity to avenge that loss.

"We got hoodwinked when we played them last year," Adams said. "We weren't prepared for a lot of things they did, like trick plays and defenses with coverages that were confusing. We're ready now. We've been preparing for them all season."

"It's an advantage because it has [artificial] turf," Adams said. "We can run all day. Our kids are licking their chops to get another chance to play them because I don't think they can run with us."

Some see championship night watered down because Class 6A, where the 32 biggest schools reside, has instead adopted a second round in which teams cross over to play opponents in other sections.

"I would agree, because the matchups in the non-Class 6A games are more intriguing," said Adam Rossow, the lead writer for the Northstar Football News.

Lakeville North coach Brian Vossen sees it differently. Vossen said the Class 6A approach makes the regular season more meaningful.

"It's important to get a No. 1 or No. 2 seed," Vossen said. "It used to be that, if you had a weak section, it didn't matter what you're regular-season record was. Now, you have to have one of the top seeds because you want to get that second home game. It adds strategy to the season."

"Having been there, it can be a tougher challenge beating teams in your section," Orono coach Jeff Weiland said. "No one is going to remember who you lost to during the regular season. But you'll always remember games like these."