What to watch for in Week One
It’s officially football season in Steele County and as Week One approaches in just mere days, it’s time to take a look at each local team’s first matchup.
Owatonna
The Huskies are hungry to get back to the big stage at U.S. Bank Stadium after a state playoff berth last season, but the team’s first game of the season will also double as one of its toughest.
Mankato East brings serious athleticism and firepower to the table and has been a perennial Class AAAAA contender.
The Cougars are coming off of a 21-14 section championship loss to Chanhassen – a team they beat 43-19 on the road earlier in the season – and will surely have a bad taste in their mouth after having their state dreams dashed in 2024.
Owatonna and Mankato East faced similar opponents in 2024 with each team boasting wins over Chanhassen, Rochester John Marshall, Apple Valley and Mankato West.
The Huskies took a huge hit losing a strong senior class, but fortunately will face a Cougars’ side that lost plenty of key contributors as well.
Mankato East runs a spread attack that likes to balance the passing and running game, but will have to do so without all-star quarterback Ganden Gosch and running back Zachary Bosse.
Owatonna will be in a similar position working out its own quarterback battle and deploying a nearly all-new receiving core.
Expect both offenses to have struggles finding their footing early on, and for defense to be the key to winning a low-scoring game.
In a battle that will likely come down to coaching and strategy, expect Owatonna to always have the edge with head coach Jeff Williams at the helm.
Blooming Prairie
The Awesome Blossoms get started a day earlier than any other local squad traveling to Lewiston-Altura on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Blooming Prairie will face a run-heavy Cardinals team that finished 7-3 in 2024 and will hope to punch the Awesome Blossoms in the mouth early on.
According to the Star Tribune’s Minnesota Football Hub, Lewiston-Altura ran the ball 393 times last season for 2,802 yards (7.1 yards per attempt) and 38 touchdowns.
The Cardinals are a team that was not hit hard by graduation. Top rusher Eli Jensen returns as a senior in 2025 after posting 777 yards on 118 attempts and scoring seven touchdowns.
He will be joined by an experienced line that figures to be a two-way threat on defense as well.
On the other hand, Blooming Prairie will have a new starting quarterback in Gabe Staloch and an offensive line that is in need of gaining varsity reps.
The Awesome Blossoms can ill-afford to give the Cardinals control of the game in the first half if they are hoping to start their season 1-0.
NRHEG
The Panthers are one of the conference’s wild-card teams in 2025 due to the fact that the squad will have plenty of new faces in its lineup.
NRHEG lost multi-year starters all throughout its lineup but does have a collection of athletes that found success in other sports throughout last year.
A Week One matchup with St. Clair is not necessarily the scariest opponent that the Panthers have on the schedule.
St. Clair finished last season 2-6 overall and got shutout by NRHEG 34-0 in the process.
The Spartans were a young team in 2024 with just eight seniors on roster, but majority were in critical skill positions.
While the line may have more experience in 2025, the team will have to revamp its quarterback, running back and receiver roles if it has hopes of staying competitive offensively.
St. Clair finished last year being outscored 119-13, so even if NRHEG struggles on offense in its first game back, expect there to be plenty of time to find answers against a sputtering St. Clair side.
Medford
The Tigers also have a fairly soft Week One matchup when the team travels to Hayfield for a battle with the Vikings.
Medford finished last season 0-8 overall for its second consecutive winless season, but the Vikings were not too far behind after going 2-7 in 2024.
Hayfield’s offense will run through standout running back Chase Escamilla, who could even be upgraded to a wildcat quarterback in 2025 after the departure of starting quarterback Hunter Simonson.
Escamilla is a physical rusher who batters opponents with his 200-pound frame and is coming off of a sophomore season where he shouldered most of the load for Hayfield’s offense.
If Medford is going to be competitive, the team must be ready to shut down the run.
There are holes in the Vikings’ defense – primarily in the secondary – that the Tigers will have to exploit in order to be able to leave with their first win in two years.
Look for Medford Head Coach Jerome Johannes to give his quarterback Landon Seiler the opportunity to air it out in what feels like a big game out of the gates for the Tigers’ confidence.