H.S. Football Picks: Section Finals Edition

FELDY: I guess my hot streak (well, hot, for me) had to come to an end at some point. After a few weeks of 6-1 or 5-2, I slipped back to 4-3 last week and lost another game to Phersy, who went 5-2. He's up by four games on me with just four rounds of games left. Phersy is 47-23; I'm 43-27. Here are the games; Phersy's turn to pick first (all of these games are section championships):

SECTION 1AAAAA
Lakeville South (7-3) at Lakeville North (7-3)

SECTION 1AAAA
Northfield (7-3) at Winona (7-2)

SECTION 1AAA
Lourdes (8-2) at Plainview-Elgin-Millville (10-0)

SECTION 1AA
Caledonia (9-1) at Zumbrota-Mazeppa (10-0)

SECTION 2AA
Triton (9-1) at Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (10-0)

SECTION 1A
Blooming Prairie (8-2) at Rushford-Peterson (8-2)

SECTION 1 9-MAN
Lanesboro (8-2) at Houston (10-0)

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PHERSY: See, now Feldy is trying to cheat. He's throwing games in our picks that don't even include local teams. He's really stretching for victories at this point. Some good games in here, though:

1AAAAA

Lakeville South 20, Lakeville North 14: North knocked off Owatonna, but I just can't get it out of my head that South almost beat Eden Prairie. Either way, this is going to be close.

1AAAA

Northfield 30, Winona 21: I think Northfield's defense will be able to slow Winona just enough.

1AAA

P-E-M 30, Roch. Lourdes 28: Toughest game for me to pick. On one hand, Lourdes is playing great right now, showing what they can do last week against K-M. On the other hand, P-E-M is good, really good. This will be a close game, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lourdes pulled off another upset.

1AA

Z-M 14, Caledonia 13: Can Willie Rauen find one more magical game? I think so. The Cougars get it done with good defense.

2AA

WEM 33, Triton 22: The Cobras have a great offense, but so do the Bucs. Big Green takes it!

1A

Blooming Prairie 37, Rushford-Peterson 28: I said it would be the Austin Moe show last week, and he delivered. The super senior will come through once again and finally lead the Blossoms into the state tournament.

Nine-man

Houston 60, Lanesboro 20: The Hurricanes can't be stopped. The Boros had a nice run, and knocking off M-C was big for that squad. But the run ends this week.

* * *

FELDY: Wow, Phersy isn't making this easy on me; he took just about all of the teams I wanted, but I guess there are no real underdogs at this stage. You can make arguments for any of these teams to win their games; even Lanesboro going up against a ultra-powerful Houston squad. The Burros moved the ball very well on the road last week and have to be playing with confidence after stomping Mabel-Canton. That said ...

SECTION 1AAAAA
Lakeville North 27, Lakeville South 17: For some dumb reason these teams don't play one another in the regular season, but the rivalry gets rekindled tonight at North.

SECTION 1AAAA
Northfield 43, Winona 24: The Winhawks' turnaround comes up a game shy of state.

SECTION 1AAA
P-E-M 33, Lourdes 20: The Bulldogs are just rolling too well right now on both sides of the ball.

SECTION 1AA
Caledonia 22, Z-M 20: Like Phersy, I think this one comes down to the final minute, but the Warriors hang on.

SECTION 2AA
Triton 28, W-E-M 21: From what I understand, W-E-M's coach is very confident in his team's chances, and hasn't been shy about saying so. Triton's coaches and players know it, and they'll bottle up that energy and let it out on the field.

SECTION 1A
Blooming Prairie 29, Rushford-Peterson 23: R-P has been on the winning end of a bunch of close games this season. That streak gets halted here, and the Awesome Blossoms are on to state.

SECTION 1 9-MAN
Houston 55, Lanesboro 16: The Hurricanes get one step closer to the state title game I'm hoping to see: Houston vs. Stephen-Argyle.