Top games of Minnesota high school football in week 6

Here are the top-10 games of week 6.

No. 20 Waconia at No. 19 Chanhassen, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Waconia travels to Chanhassen Friday in what should be a great game. Both teams only loss on the season have come at the hands of Robbinsdale Armstrong.

Waconia has rattled off four straight victories on the legs of running backs Max Mcenelly and Alex Riley. Waconia has only thrown the ball 62 times in five games, and it does not make it a secret what it tries to do on the field.

Chanhassen started out the season 4-0 but lost a nail biter to Robbinsdale Armstrong last week 34-29. Running back Maxwell Woods continues to pace the Storm.

This game will have massive implications for both teams in the rankings and playoff seeding with only two games left.

No. 3 Stillwater at No. 7 Forest Lake, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Stillwater travels to the most surprising team of the year in Forest Lake on Friday. Stillwater pulled out a close victory over White Bear Lake at home last week 35-28 and Forest Lake is coming off a drubbing at Hopkins 72-7. Both teams are undefeated and have an opportunity to position themselves for seeding come playoff time.

Forest Lake’s has not played a team the caliber of Stillwater yet this season. This will be a true test to see if Forest Lake is a Class 6A contender. The Rangers have 13 sacks on the season and will need to pressure Stillwater to pull the upset at home.

Stillwater has Forest Lake and Eden Prairie left on its schedule. The Ponies, and the Rangers, both have an opportunity to finish the regular season undefeated. Stillwater has an edge on offense but Forest Lake also plays great defense. There’s no doubt that Forest Lake will be rocking on Friday night with this one.

No. 10 St. Thomas Academy at No. 11 Mahtomedi, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Another matchup of undefeated teams, this time in Class 5A, pits St. Thomas Academy against Mahtomedi.

Mahtomedi running back Corey Bohmert leads all of Minnesota in rushing yards with an outrageous 1,101 yards in five games.

St. Thomas Academy has only given up 27 points the entire season. The Cadets have yet to face a team like Mahtomedi, and it will be difficult to beat the Zephyrs at home.

Mahtomedi had a difficult game last week against Spring Lake Park, St. Thomas this week, and an underrated and undefeated Simley next week to get through the end of the year gauntlet.

No. 4 Eden Prairie at No. 6 Shakopee, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Eden Prairie rebounded last week after a tough loss to Rosemount, defeating a good Prior Lake team 28-14. The sledding does not get any easier when they travel to Shakopee this week.

Eden Prairie’s defense has played fantastic all year. Opponents have possessed the ball for 49 minutes, 21 second in comparison to 24:32 for Eden Prairie. Drives for opponents seemingly take forever against the Eagles and do not amount to touchdowns a lot of the time. Eden Prairie has been running the ball extremely effectively and look to hopefully finish the year with only one loss.

Shakopee, also an only one loss team, has been playing fantastic defense. Shakopee lost a close game to Prior Lake week two but otherwise has been on a tear. Shakopee features one of the most, if not the most, run heavy offenses in the state.

No. 8 Lakeville South at No. 5 Prior Lake 10/7 7 p.m.

Prior Lake lost their first game last week to Eden Prairie 28-14. Prior Lake has a tough stretch of games having already played Eden Prairie, Lakeville South this week, and Rosemount next week. The Lakers will likely have to win two out of three of those games to maintain pace with all the other top tier teams in the state.

Lakeville South has fallen all the way from #1 a few weeks ago to #8 in the SBLive MN power rankings. Facing one of the tougher schedules in the state, the Cougars still have a chance to finish the season possibly 6-2 with victories over Prior Lake, Shakopee, and Hopkins.

No. 15 Sauk Rapids-Rice at No. 14 St. Francis, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Another game with two undefeated teams facing each other late in the season. Sauk Rapids-Rice travels to St. Francis to face the Fighting Saints.

Sauk Rapids-Rice combined record of opponents is 5-22 while St. Francis is a little more battle tested, defeating teams like Andover and Monticello.

Sauk Rapids-Rice is listed at No. 15 in the SBLive Minnesota football power rankings, but until it beats a team with the resume of St. Francis, it seems overrated.

No. 23 Centennial at Blaine, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Both Centennial and Blaine likely thought they would be in a better position at this time of the year. Instead, Centennial has a 3-2 record with two tough losses to powerhouse teams in Stillwater and Maple Grove. Centennial continues to display one of the better defenses in the state and held Maple Grove and Stillwater to their lowest point totals of the season.

Blaine comes in at 3-2 on the season with wins over White Bear Lake, St. Michael-Albertville and Totino-Grace. Both losses for Blaine have been within one score.

Once again, these type of games could make a huge difference for both teams down the stretch and playoff positioning. Centennial has a huge opportunity to upset some teams in the playoffs with a victory at Blaine

No. 22 Stewartville at Kasson-Mantorville, 10/7,. 7 p.m.

Stewartville might be unstoppable in the Big Southeast-Blue this year. The Tigers have blown out opponents by an unreal 282-23 points this season. Next on its list is Kasson-Mantorville.

Kasson-Mantorville has a record of 4-1 and have been blowing out opponents at a similar pace this season. With only one week one loss to a tough Byron squad, Kasson-Mantorville could provide a tough test to Stewartville.

Stewartville has Winona left, another 4-1 team, otherwise could finish the regular season undefeated.

St. Paul Highland Park at No. 18 Mound Westonka, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Mound Westonka shot up the power rankings this week and have been overlooked all season. Mound Westonka is undefeated and it has a legitimate chance to finish the season without a loss. Mound Westonka only had one loss last year, to Orono, and has quietly put together two of the best years in high school football.

St. Paul Highland Park has also quietly put together a stellar season. Coming into this game at 4-1 they have a chance to upset the fast rising White Hawks. Stopping the run game of Mound Westonka, or at least limiting it, will be the key to victory for St. Paul Highland Park.

Caledonia at Chatfield, 10/7, 7 p.m.

The last battle of undefeated teams. A pattern for the week. Caledonia travels to Chatfield Friday night for Three Rivers Conference supremacy.

Both teams have dominated opponents this year and Chatfield has an opportunity to win the conference and repeat as 2A champions this year.

Caledonia will look to avenge a 30-0 loss to Chatfield last season and cement its place atop the conference.

Other games to watch:

Maple Grove at Wayzata, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Watertown-Mayer at Litchfield, 10/7, 7 p.m.

Becker at Monticello, 10/7, 7 p.m.