Minnesota High School Football Playoffs Open Tuesday With Section Quarterfinals

The Minnesota high school football playoffs begin Tuesday, when section quarterfinals get under way across most classes. Brackets in every section will be updated as teams advance toward the state tournament.

In the Rochester area, Class 5A Section 1 opens with two games at 7 p.m. at the better seed. No. 4 New Prague meets No. 5 Rochester Century, and No. 3 Rochester Mayo faces No. 6 Rochester John Marshall. The winners advance to Oct. 31 semifinals, where top-seeded Owatonna will host the New Prague and Century winner and No. 2 Northfield will take on the Mayo and John Marshall winner. The section final is set for Nov. 6 at the better seed.

Class 4A Section 1 also starts Tuesday at 7 p.m. No. 4 Winona plays No. 5 Faribault, and No. 3 Kasson-Mantorville plays No. 6 Austin. Top seed Byron and No. 2 Stewartville wait in the Oct. 31 semifinals, both scheduled for 1 p.m. The section final is Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at Rochester Mayo High School.

In Class 3A Section 1, No. 4 La Crescent-Hokah plays No. 5 Red Wing and No. 2 Zumbrota-Mazeppa plays No. 7 Lake City, both at 7 p.m. No. 3 Cotter/Hope meets No. 6 Plainview/Elgin/Millville at 7:30 p.m. No. 1 Pine Island plays the La Crescent-Hokah and Red Wing winner in the semifinals. The final is Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., with the site still to be determined.

Class 2A Section 1 has three quarterfinals at 7 p.m. No. 4 Rushford-Peterson faces No. 5 Triton, No. 2 Dover-Eyota faces No. 7 St. Charles, and No. 3 Chatfield faces No. 6 Rochester Lourdes. Top seed Caledonia enters the semifinals on Oct. 31. The section final will be played Nov. 6 at Paul Gield Field in Winona.

In Class 1A Section 1, No. 4 United South Central meets Lewiston-Altura at Wells at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Top seed Southland then plays the winner on Oct. 31 at Adams, while No. 2 Fillmore Central takes on No. 3 New Richland-H-E-G at Harmony.

Class 6A follows a different schedule. Its four quadrants begin first-round play on Oct. 30 at the better seed, with second-round games on Nov. 6. Champlin Park, Shakopee, Moorhead and Mounds View are the No. 1 seeds in Quadrants 1 through 4. In Quadrant 1, Champlin Park plays Eastview, White Bear Lake plays Wayzata, Eagan plays Rogers and Forest Lake plays Edina.

The 6A winners advance to state quarterfinals at neutral sites. Quadrants 1, 3 and 4 play Nov. 12 at Spring Lake Park, Osseo and Eastview high schools, respectively. Quadrant 2 plays Nov. 13 at Farmington High School. All of those games start at 6 p.m.

Most section finals in Classes 5A through 1A are scheduled for Nov. 6. Exceptions include Class 3A Section 7, which plays Nov. 5 at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and Class 2A Section 7, which plays Nov. 5 at Esko Stadium Field. The Fargodome will host three finals: Class 3A Section 8 and Class 2A Sections 6 and 8.