Photo by Jake McNeill Minneota’s Hunter Carstensen (76) and Easton Johnston (4) celebrate after Johnston scored a touchdown during a prep football game against Eden Valley-Watkins at K.P. Kompelien Field in Minneota on Sept. 5. The Vikings earned the top seed and a first-round bye in the 2025 Section 4A tournament.

MINNEOTA — In pursuit of its sixth consecutive section championship, the Minneota football team enters the Section 4A tournament as the top seed once again. The Vikings receive a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the semifinals as a result of earning the No. 1 seed in the seven-team tournament.

Minneota enters the tournament at a perfect 8-0 on the season and currently is on a 41-game win streak dating back to 2022.

Minneota will play the winner of No. 4 Canby and No. 5 MACCRAY in the semifinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. at K.P. Kompelien Field in Minneota. The Vikings defeated Canby 69-0 and MACCRAY 64-0 during the regular season.

Canby hosts MACCRAY for the teams’ quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Lancers enter the postseason at 3-5 while MACCRAY enters at 2-6. When the two teams last met on Sept. 5, Canby pulled out a 10-6 win.

The Lancers have won a section quarterfinal game in each of the last two seasons, and were the last team to defeat Minneota in the section tournament back in 2019.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Dawson-Boyd was seeded second in 4A with a 6-2 record on the season, falling only to the top two teams in Class A based on the most recent Minnesota Associated Press poll.

The Blackjacks lost 34-7 to Springfield on Sept. 19 and 34-3 to Minneota on Oct. 15. Dawson-Boyd outscored its other six opponents by an average margin of 28.5 points per game.

The Blackjacks will host Yellow Medicine East (1-7) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Dawson-Boyd won the teams’ regular-season battle on Sept. 5 by a score of 49-0.

One year after finishing 3-6, Lakeview finished this season 5-3 to receive the No. 3 seed and home game in the 4A quarterfinals. Lakeview will host Lac qui Parle Valley (1-7) in Cottonwood on Tuesday after defeating the Eagles 52-12 in the regular season.

The Lakers enter the postseason in search of their first win in a section tournament game since 2022, when they defeated Canby and Dawson-Boyd before falling to the eventual state champion Minneota Vikings in the 5A championship game.

Both semifinal games of the 2025 section tournament will be played at the home site of the high seed on Saturday at 3 p.m. The section championship match is slated to be played at Southwest Minnesota State University’s Mattke Field on Oct. 31 at 10 a.m.