Gopher and Big Nine In full swing

Friday Night Lights return on Sept. 3 with area football teams kicking off their 2021 regular season play.
Action is scheduled across the Big Nine and Gopher conferences.
Every coach interviewed before the season opener had the same answer when asked about their feelings going into the season: “We’re excited for week one.”
In the Gopher Conference, only New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (NRHEG)  will play at home.
The Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms will take a short trip to Hayfield for the team’s first conference game of the year.
The Awesome Blossoms are 4-0 against Hayfield since 2017 and will be looking to continue that streak on Friday.
Medford will play Rushford-Peterson, a team they haven’t seen in a while.
The last time the two teams faced off was in 2010 when Rushford-Peterson won its playoff matchup by a score of 48-26.
NRHEG draws a conference matchup with Kenyon-Wanamingo (KW) to open its season.
This game will be the first football game between a returning member of the Gopher Conference and an expansion team.
In the Big Nine Conference, Owatonna will face a tough week one opponent in Rochester Mayo.
These two teams are no stranger to one another as they squared off twice last year alone, with Owatonna winning both games by scores of 35-28 and 30-28.
One unknown sure to be a factor in the game is the availability of senior team captain Grant Achterkirch.
Achterkirch, a returning starter who has been taking reps at both quarterback and linebacker, was injured during the team’s scrimmage against Prior Lake.
He was seen on the sideline with a soft cast on his wrist.
After the game, Head Coach Jeff Williams said that his status is currently “undetermined” and that he will “undergo further evaluation this week.”
It goes without saying that this game potentially will carry some weight in how the conference standings look by the end of the season.
Owatonna will hope to have their squad fully healthy come game time.