Local high school football programs begin play this Saturday, which to many seems earlier than usual. The reasons for the Aug. 22 games are because Labor Day is late this year and because scheduling issues at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium necessitate the Prep Bowl being played sooner than normal.

 

This year is also the first season of the new district football scheduling plan organized by the Minnesota State High School League.

 

That means no more Granite Ridge Conference for the football squad — they are now in a group of teams under the “Valley” title. Despite the name change, the Bulldogs will still see most of the same opponents they faced in past seasons with the GRC. Familiar foes like Albany, Foley, Little Falls, Milaca and St. Cloud Cathedral with Mora exiting and Zimmerman and New London-Spicer filling out the eight-team league.

 

Becker, the defending Class 4A state champions, have a date this Saturday at home with the 2012 and 2013 state championship teams of Hutchinson, a team that has beaten Becker twice in recent years — a 28-14 win over the Bulldogs in the 2012 state semifinals and a 16-13 overtime win in the 2013 season opener.

 

This year it will be trial by fire for the new Hutch team since the Tigers have one player coming back playing the same position, while the Bulldogs have 16 kids coming back playing the same position.

 

“I think they have nine on defense, and six or seven on offense,” said Hutchinson Head Coach Andy Rostberg. “A lot of their line is back, their linebackers are back, and the secondary.”

 

That bodes well for the Bulldogs who will be looking to repeat and win their third state title.

 

“Repeating as champs is harder than getting there in the first place,” said Becker Head Coach Dwight Lundeen.

 

 Lundeen, who is beginning his 46th season at the school, brings back a team that last year lost only one game — an opening round loss to Minnetonka by a score of 25-24 after the Bulldogs had led the game 24-22 with 21 seconds left — only to see the win slip through their fingers.

 

What hurt the Bulldogs last year in the game against Minnetonka — and just about every game the rest of the way — was the team’s horrible after-touchdown conversion rate. Against the Skippers last August, Becker failed four times in the extra-point category — enough for them to have won the game outright.

 

Last year, the Bulldogs had Michael Veldman at QB and wideouts like Matt Conzemius and Eric Blomgren catching his tosses. They also had the legs, heart and determination of RB C.J. Schwintek and the smarts and talents of one Dawson Brown.

 

This year, Lundeen will be looking to senior Andrew Stanger as his signal caller and the likes of seniors Jake Fobbe, Tyler Thorson, Clayton Gallus and Matt Stone to stretch the field. At RB, expect to see a lot of seniors Alex Meidt and Austin Rasmussen along with Milan Kent and Beau Pauly.

 

Kent should emerge as one of the team’s leaders on defense along with Pauly, Jaylin Hildebrandt and Fobbe.

 

On the line, Becker has three highly-touted big men in Pauly, Casey Vesledahl and Dillon Radunz, who should move offenses and defenses at will and protect Stanger while creating gaping holes for the tailbacks.

 

“They will be the team to beat in 4A,” said Rostberg. “The team everyone is thinking will get to the finals again.”

 

In last year’s semi-final game, DeLaSalle scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to rally past defending champ Hutchinson 35-14 in a Minnesota Class 4A semifinal football game at Prior Lake. 

 

Hutchinson was the two-time defending state champion and entered with a 37-game winning streak.

 

It was a shock to not only the Tigers, but to the Bulldogs, too, who were salivating at the chance to get another shot at Hutchinson in their quest for the state title after they beat Stewartville 39-20 in their semi-final game.

 

Saturday, they get that shot, though not in the scope of a do-or-die situation.

 

“The game is at their place, they’ve never beat us, and they’ll be wanting to get off on the right foot with their veteran bunch,” Rostberg said. “I’m sure they’ll be polished.”