OLIVIA – Minneota and B.O.L.D. went into their Friday night matchup as the two top-ranked teams in Class A. The No. 1 Vikings had outscored their first two opponents by a combined total of 93 points and the Warriors had outscored theirs by 97 points. Yet, it was Minneota that came out on top Friday with a 42-28 win on the road to establish themselves as the class of the class.

“We expected a physical game but I don’t know if I was expecting this type of scoring event by both teams,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said, referencing the Vikings’ 22-0 defeat of B.O.L.D. in last year’s 5A semifinals. “Two definitely physical teams with a lot of weapons. I mean, that was pretty explosive today.”

Leading the charge for Minneota was running back Ryan Meagher. The Minneota junior rushed for 248 yards on the night on 27 attempts. His first touchdown, a six-yard run in the first quarter, gave Minneota a 14-7 lead and his second touchdowns, a 19-yarder in the third quarter, made the score 28-14. He also had a 12-yard run to ice the game at 42-28.

“I think we did a nice job of blocking. You always talk about winning in the trenches, well I think we did that technically on both sides of the ball,” Johnston said. “We controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well, we created good holes for him. That’s not to say that he didn’t have to create some of the runs himself, he had a lot of guys bouncing off of him, but he’s a physical, strong runner.”

Minneota turned the ball over twice on interceptions but took back a pair of their own, courtesy of Eli Gruenes and Lincoln Jerzak. The latter’s pick came in the endzone in the fourth quarter to stop a potentially game-tying drive from the Warriors.

Adam Devlaeminck also recovered a fumble to give Minneota a 3-2 advantage in the turnover battle. He finished the day with five total tackles, trailing only Max Rost’s five and Adam Lipinski’s six. 

Rost also caught three passes for 81 yards. One of those catches was an 18-yard reception to give the Vikings a 21-14 lead at halftime and the other was a 62-yard catch to give Minneota a two-possession lead heading into the fourth quarter. He also had a 30-yard run to give Minneota a 7-0 lead early.

Ryan Dalager threw eight passes for 97 yards on the night for the Vikings. 

Minneota (2-0) will return to its home field on Friday to host Canby at 7 p.m.

Canby 28, MACCRAY 20

CANBY — The Canby football team continued its impressive start to the season on Friday night, using a big night on the ground from Dylan Houseman to fight off MACCRAY for a 28-20 win to stay undefeated.

The game was a 2-point game in the final minutes before Houseman took a handoff for a 56-yard touchdown to give the Lancers a 28-20 lead with 1:17 remaining. The game was still in reach for the Wolverines after Canby missed the extra point, but Lancer defense came up with four consecutive stops to get the ball back and end the game with a Wagner knee.

MACCRAY scored on two of its first three possessions of the game to take a 13-0 lead before the Lancers came charging back. The comeback started when Nick Wagner dropped back and completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Guzman on a third-and-22 to make it a one-score game 34 seconds before halftime. 

With under 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Houseman had another touchdown run, this time for three yards, to make the score 13-12. Houseman then converted the 2-point conversion to give the Lancers their first lead of the game. Houseman finished the day with 211 yards on the ground on 22 attempts. 

Houseman also had nine tackles on the day, trailing only Wagner and Sam Drietz’s 10. Wagner also forced a fumble while Dritez had a sack.

Bryant Hansen had eight tackles and a fumble recovery for the Lancers.

Still not done doing damage, Houseman took a 34-yard run to the house on the next drive to make it 22 unanswered points for the Lancers after Wagner connected with Evan Engesmoe on the 2-point try. 

Nick Wagner passed for 99 yards on 13 attempts on the night while Guzman had a pair of catches for 73 receiving yards. 

The Wolverines scored one more touchdown and converted the PAT to make it a 2-point game with four minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late for MACCRAY.

Canby (3-0) has looked strong so far but will now have the tall task of taking down No. 1 Minneota (3-0) at K.P. Kompelien Field on Friday at 7 p.m. The Vikings defeated No. 2 B.O.L.D. in Olivia on Friday 42-28.

Dawson-Boyd 33, Lakeview 0

DAWSON — After a tough first few games, the Dawson-Boyd football team found its rhythm against Lakeview on Friday night. The Blackjacks had lost their opener against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in a 50-41 shootout before dropping a defensive battle against Lac qui Parle Valley 13-7. Yet, the Blackjacks combined their offense from their opener with their defense from last week to rout the Lakers 33-0 in their first home game of the season.

The Lakers ended the Blackjacks’ season last year with a 38-32 loss in the 5A semifinals, but Dawson-Boyd looked ready from the jump and got the last laugh on Friday.

Nathan Hansen was a problem for the Lakers to try to contain early. He caught an 83-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Liebl in the first quarter and doubled down with a 66-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter to put the Blackjacks up 14-0 quickly. Hansen finished the game with three catches for 156 yards. 

Far from a one-man wide receiver room, Brayson Boike got in on the action with five catches for 103 yards. He notably had a 39-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter to bolster the Blackjack lead to 33-0.

Liebl had himself a night as well, throwing for 291 yards on 16 attempts with just one interception. He also ran for 53 yards on eight attempts, including a 10-yard touchdown near the end of the first half.

Both Boike and Hansen had big nights defensively as well. Each of them, as well as Grayson Olson, finished the night with an interception. Hansen also recovered a fumble.

Greg Schafer led the Lakers in rushing and receiving. He took 25 carries for 88 yards and two catches for 27 yards. Tyden Marczak also threw 15 passes for 57 yards.

Kamerson Sather caught the Blackjacks’ other touchdown pass, a 10-yard reception to make the score 21-0. He also had 10 total tackles and a tackle for loss, second to Parker Bothun’s 11 total tackles. Holland Schacherer had two tackles for loss for the Blackjacks. 

Lakeview took down St. James Area 13-0 in its opener but has now lost two in a row after a 12-6 loss to Canby last week.

Dawson-Boyd (1-2) will look to keep the momentum going when it hosts Yellow Medicine East on Friday at 7 p.m. while Lakeview (1-2) will try to turn the ship around back in Cottonwood against MACCRAY.

MCC 35, Windom Area 28

SLAYTON — The Murray County Central football team withstood a late rally from Windom Area Friday night to hold on for a 35-28 win.

The Rebels held a 28-6 lead after a Teague Meyer rushing touchdown to open the third quarter. Yet, the Eagles stormed back with a 22-7 run to make it a one possession game. It was Ross Engelkes’ 14-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter that broke up the run and ended up being the difference for MCC.

Windom scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown followed by a successful 2-point conversion to make it a one-possession game, but that ended up being the only fourth-quarter score for either team as the Rebels maintained their lead.

Meyer and Engelkes were a near unstoppable duo on the ground. Meyer had 250 rushing yards in a 35-34 win over Lac qui Parle Valley in week one and looked just as unstoppable this time around, taking 19 carries for 143 yards. The difference on Friday, though, was the depth of the backfield; Engelkes also ran for 131 yards on just 15 carries while scoring three touchdowns.

In addition to his third-quarter score, Engelkes also had a 57-yard run to the house in the second quarter and a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the first, which was followed by a 3-yard run from Meyer for the conversion.

In the passing game, Aidan Dierks caught all three of the Rebels’ completed passes for 39 yards. He also had four tackles, trailing only Englekes’ seven and Andrew Holm’s 4.5.

Gavin Gillette and Jordan Sturges each had an interception in the game. Gillette returned his for a 45-yard gain.

Murray County Central (2-1) will head to Adrian to face the Adrian/Ellsworth Dragons on Friday at 7 p.m.

YME 24, LQPV 13

MADISON — The Yellow Medicine East football team grabbed its first win of the season on Friday night, going on the road to steal a 24-13 win against Lac qui Parle Valley behind a pair of touchdowns from Brady Dahlager. 

Dahlager scored the game’s opening touchdown on a 16-yard reception from Andrew Flaten in the second quarter. In the same period, he also picked off an Eagles pass on the defensive end and returned it for a 41-yard touchdown to give the Sting an 18-0 advantage. 

Dahlager was also the game’s leading rusher. He finished with 95 yards on 27 attempts. LQPV finished with a team total of 91 yards on the ground.

If one pick-6 wasn’t enough, Jacob Peterson gave the Sting a 12-0 lead in between Dahlager’s pair of touchdowns with a 91-yard interception return of his own. 

Flatten threw for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns on an efficient five attempts. His other pass attempt came in the fourth quarter, connecting with Connor Fagen for a 10-yard touchdown to increase the YME lead to 24-7. 

The Eagles scored a 60-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put some window dressing on the loss. 

Owen Cherveny led the YME defense with seven total tackles and a pair of tackles for loss. Eric Jimenez also had a pair of tackles for loss on four total tackles. 

Yellow Medicine East (1-2) will try to make it two wins in a row when it goes on the road to face Dawson-Boyd (1-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.

Waseca 28, Marshall 0

WASECA — The Marshall football team was unable to carry the momentum from last week’s road win over Willmar into its Friday-night matchup against Waseca, falling 28-0 to the Bluejays. It marked the first time the Tigers had been shut out during Terry Bahlmann’s tenure as the Marshall head coach.

Josh Kraft led the Tigers’ rushing attack, toting the ball10 times for 65 yards. Mason Eickhoff also took nine carries for 43 yards.

The Tigers’ passing attack, however, was less potent. Kraft completed seven of his 22 attempts for 21 yards. Jackson Baynard finished as the team’s leading receiver with 15 yards. 

Tate Condezo led the Marshall defense with 12 tackles on the night while Kraft came away with an interception.

Marshall (1-2) will try to bounce back when it hosts Tri-City United for its next matchup on Friday at 7 p.m.

SEU 26, Wabasso 0

SLEEPY EYE — The Wabasso football team was never able to get anything going on the offensive end on Friday night, falling 26-0 against Sleepy Eye United.

Sleepy Eye jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and never allowed Wabasso to get back into the game.

The shutout loss makes for the third straight game the Rabbits have failed to get multiple scores to start the season after a 47-7 loss to MACCRAY and a 20-7 loss to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.

Calvin Hanna ran for 90 yards on 15 attempts for the Rabbits while Kaysen Harms accounted for 42 of the team’s 59 receiving yards on just two receptions. 

Harms also had an interception and four total tackles on the defensive end. Boston Brand led the team with a total of 17 tackles. 

Wabasso (0-3) will go on the road to face No. 3 Springfield on Friday at 7 p.m.