SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP THURSDAY: Minnesota High School Football Highlights and Postgame Reactions

FOUR TEAMS PUNCH THEIR TICKET TO STATE IN MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL AT THE FARGODOME.

FARGO (KVRR) – Three 9-player teams and one Class A team punch their ticket to the State Tournament in Minnesota High School football Thursday at the FargoDome.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Mahnomen-Waubun’s 21-7 win over Red Lake County (Class A Section 8) -5th straight trip to State

Senior QB Blake McMullen: “You know it feels great right now in the moment. It’s just continuing the tradition and legacy of this incredible football program, it feels good. I am just excited to get another chance at the State Tournament, make a deep run and see what we can do. We are just going to keep on going and we are not going to stop until we get that state championship.”

• Hillcrest Lutheran Academy’s 34-14 win over Border West (9-Player Section 4) – 1st trip to State since 2016

Senior QB Ethan Swedberg: “That’s meant so much to us and us guys. We have a big senior group, and being working all off season, always thought about this afternoon was showing up here and winning. That’s what we thought about this team chemistry.”

Head Coach Korey Fry: “We had a few down years, but these guys put together four years of just growing, growing, growing, and it finally paid off for us and and what you seen out here today was four years of growth and development on the field. So we’re really excited about it, really happy about it, and now we’re ready to just push that, to see how far we go with it.”

• Kittson County Central’s 22-14 win over Stepen-Argyle Central (9-Player Section 8) -1st trip to State since 2022.

Junior QB Eli Peterson: “Man, it’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid, just watching all those groups come up. And now it’s our turn, and it’s just surreal to be out here and winning it.”

Head Coach Cory Waling: That was the goal, and then a dream of those seniors, because the last time we played here, they were running around with carrying water bottles and doing all that stuff, and they wanted to get back here. And that’s what they’ve been working their butt off for three years to get back here. And those underclassmen to help push those guys into reach one of their goals. So happy for them.”

• Fertile-Beltrami’s 56-0 win over Fosston (9-Player Section 6) -5th straight trip to State

Head Coach Brian Nelson: “They just don’t give up, you know? I mean, we the adversity we went through. We lost our first two games. The second game was against a very good team, and we scored with 41 seconds left. Ended up losing in overtime, even though we were up six, you know, and you know, everybody’s down and everybody’s hanging their heads, but they never quit. They just picked up their heads, worked hard, and here we are, five in a row. It’s just unbelievable.”

Minnesota High School state tournaments begin next week. Brackets and matchups and will be posted to our Facebook (KVRR-News).