Area section football playoff pairings released

The pairings for area section football playoffs have been released, and in Section 1AAAAA, the No. 5 seeded Austin Packers will travel to Rochester Century next Tuesday evening to take on the No. 4 seeded Panthers, and you’ll hear the game on AM 1480 KAUS, with the Austin Packers football pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m., and kickoff from Century High School at 7:00 p.m.  The winner will be back in action Saturday, October 29th at 7:00 p.m. at top-seeded and defending section champion Rochester Mayo.  The other half of the 1AAAAA bracket features Owatonna receiving the No. 2 seed and a bye, and they will host either No. 3 Northfield or No. 6 Rochester John Marshall, who will play next Tuesday night in Northfield at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29th at 7:00 p.m.  The semi-final winners will then play for the Section 1AAAAA title, which will be played at the high seed on Saturday, November 5th at 7:00 p.m.

In Section 1 9-man, Spring Grove is the No. 1 seed, and the Lions will entertain No. 8 seed Houston next Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.  Fourth-seeded Grand Meadow will host No. 5 seed Lyle/Pacelli, No. 2 seed Lanesboro will host No. 7 seed Southland and No. 6 LeRoy/Ostrander will travel to No. 3 seed Mabel-Canton, with all games starting at 7:00 p.m. next Tuesday evening.  The winner of the Spring Grove/Houston game will take on the winner of the Grand Meadow/Lyle-Pacelli game at the high seed on Saturday, October 29th at 2:00 p.m., and the winner of the Lanesboro/Southland game will meet the winner of the LeRoy/Ostrander/Mable-Canton game also at the high seed on Saturday, October 29th at 2:00 p.m.  The semi-final winners will play at a site yet to be determined on Friday, November 4th at 7:00 p.m.

In Section 1AAAA, the Stewartville Tigers, the No. 1 team in the state in the last Class AAAA poll and the No. 1 seed in the tournament will receive a bye into the semi-finals where they will host either No. 4 Byron or No. 5 Red Wing, who will play in Byron next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29th.  No. 2 seed Kasson-Mantorville gets the other bye in Section 1AAAA, and they will entertain either three-seeded Winona or No. 6 Albert Lea, who will meet in Winona next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.  The semi-final winners will play for the Section 1AAAA title at Rochester Mayo High School on Friday, November 4th at 7:00 p.m.

In Section 2AA, the unbeaten St. Clair/Loyola Spartans are the top seed, and they will play No. 8 Waterville-Elysian-Morristown next Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.  The winner will play either No. 4 seed Blooming Prairie or fifth-seeded Medford, who will meet in Blooming Prairie next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.  The other half of the 2AA bracket features No. 2 seed and defending section champion Maple River hosting seventh-seeded NRHEG next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., and No. 6 seed LeSueur-Henderson traveling to No. 3 seed Blue Earth Area, with kickoff Tuesday, October 25th at 7:00 p.m.  The Section 2AA semi-finals will be played at the high seed at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29th, and the section final is slated for Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton football stadium on Friday, November 4th at 7:00 p.m.