SAINT CLOUD — The postseason is here.
Minnesota high school football playoffs start Tuesday with the opening games of section tournaments. The St. Cloud area has several teams hosting and playing on the road. Playing at home are St. Cloud Cathedral (5-3), Kimball Area (3-5), Holdingford (8-0), Foley (4-4) and St. Cloud Tech (2-6).
Royalton (3-5), St. Cloud Apollo (0-8) and Sauk Rapids-Rice (1-7) are on the road and Albany (7-1), Becker (4-4), ROCORI (7-1) and Sartell-St. Stephen (4-4) have a bye to the semifinals on Saturday.
Read below for times, locations and live score updates for section tournament games around central Minnesota.
Class 2ASection 5-2A seedTeam (record)First game1.Eden Valley-Watkins (6-2)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.St. Cloud Cathedral (5-3)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. ACGC3.Redwood Valley (6-2)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. KMS4.Kimball (3-5)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Paynesville5.Paynesville (4-4)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Kimball6.Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (1-7)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Redwood Valley7.Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (0-8)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Cathedral
Section 5-2A is winnable for St. Cloud Cathedral, seeded behind Eden Valley-Watkins (6-2) after a close loss to the Eagles on Sept. 26 on the road. In the quarterfinal Tuesday, the Crusaders will play a team they already beat — Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (0-8) — 49-8 in a Week 2 road game.
Should they win, the Crusaders will again have home field advantage Saturday, but at their home field Clemens Stadium at St. John’s University, the Division III Johnnies are hosting Carleton.
Besides the 18-12 loss to EV-W, Cathedral beat every team in its section, the closest game being a 21-14 win over Redwood Valley (6-2) last week.
Section 6-2A seedTeam (record)First game1.Pillager (8-0)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.Holdingford (8-0)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Menahga3.Staples-Motley (8-0)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Wadena-Deer Creek4.Osakis (7-1)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Royalton5.Royalton (3-5)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Osakis6.Wadena-Deer Creek (2-6)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Staples-Motley7.Menahga (0-8)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Holdingford
The top four teams in the Section 6-2A tournament have one loss between them. Osakis (7-1) lost to Holdingford on Sept. 20.
With all the top dogs, the section will surely be a difficult one to win at the championship Oct. 31 in the Fargodome.
First, Holdingford has to beat the only team in the section without a win. The Huskers have not faced Menahga (0-8) yet this season, but scoring statistics are expectedly lopsided. The Braves have given up 41.8 points per game while the Huskers have held all but two opponents to one touchdown or fewer. Osakis scored 14 on Holdingford and Melrose Area (4-4) had several TDs in a 61-26 game Oct. 3. Holdingford got its first shutout in the last week of the regular season, something the Braves have refused to let happen to them.
Twice has Holdingford scored 61 points and the Huskers have only scored fewer than 39 once.
Royalton
Class 3ASection 5-3A seedTeam (record)First game1.Annandale (8-0)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.Spectrum (6-2)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 3 and 63.Foley (4-4)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Milaca4.Pine City (2-6)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Mora5.Mora (1-7)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Pine City6.Milaca (1-7)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Foley
Despite ending the season with a loss to Albany last week, Foley secured a home section quarterfinal. When the Falcons hosted Milaca (1-7) for Week 6, the Wolves were the last of three 35+ point wins for Foley. But the only other section opponent Foley faced this year, Annandale (8-0), blew the team out 40-6.
If Foley wins, Spectrum (6-2) will host the semifinal at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Section 6-3A seedTeam (record)First game1.Albany (7-1)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.Litchfield (5-3)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Montevideo3.Melrose (4-4)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Apollo4.New London-Spicer (3-5)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Sauk Centre5.Sauk Centre (0-8)7 p.m. on Tuesday at NL-S6.St. Cloud Apollo (0-8)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Melrose7.Montevideo (0-8)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Litchfield
With three winless teams, Section 6-3A is Albany’s to lose. The Huskies only loss, Pierz (8-0), is in Section 7-3A with Pequot Lakes (8-0) and schools in Northeast Minnesota.
St. Cloud Apollo was one point away from picking up its first win last week against Little Falls (2-6). The Eagles lost in heartbreaking fashion 9-8 before their section matchup Tuesday against Melrose. The Dutchmen will be a new opponnent for the Eagles and to upset Apollo will have to shut down an offense averaging 31.3 points per game. It will also have to boost its offensive production from the season average of 11.1 points. The last time the Eagles scored more than eight was Sept. 12 against Royalton.
Class 4ASection 2-4A seedTeam (record)First game1.Marshall (8-0)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.ROCORI (7-1)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 3 and 63.Willmar (5-3)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. New Ulm4.Hutchinson (4-4)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. St. Peter5.St. Peter (6-1-1)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Willmar6.New Ulm (2-6)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Hutchinson
It seems like every year ROCORI’s section is loaded. The Spartan’s only loss is to the one-seeded Marshall (8-0), which shut out ROCORI 28-0 in Week 2. Luckily, ROCORI won’t play the Tigers again until the section title game and the Spartans are taking a bye into the second round. The opponent to visit Blattner Field will be decided Tuesday in the matchup between Willmar (5-3) and New Ulm (2-6).
ROCORI eked out two one-point wins in a row against Hutchinson (4-4) and the Cardinals in Weeks 3 and 4 after facing Marshall. The Spartans beat Hutch 21-20 and Willmar 15-14 They have not played New Ulm or St. Peter (6-1-1).
Section 8-4A seedTeam (record)First game1.Fergus Falls (6-2)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.Becker (4-4)1 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 3 and 63.Princeton (2-6)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Little Falls4.St. Cloud Tech (2-6)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Detroit Lakes5.Detroit Lakes (1-7)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Tech6.Little Falls (2-6)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Princeton
After winning the 2024 Class 4A championship, Becker is eyeing another run to the 2025 state tournment. The Bulldogs will take Tuesday off and on Saturday will face the winner of Princeton (2-6) and Little Falls. They beat the higher seed of the two on Sept. 19 by a score of 20-12 and ended with a 33-0 momentum-building win over Detroit Lakes (1-7) on Oct. 15.
But Becker has been challenged in 2025, too. The Bulldogs opened with a 21-0 loss to Orono (5-3) and in the first two games of October lost back-to-back games against last year’s title oppnent Totino-Grace (4-4) and ROCORI. The Eagles won 30-20 and the Spartans won 28-21.
Class 5ASection 8-5A seedTeam (record)First game1.Alexandria (7-1)6 p.m. on Saturday vs. winner of Nos. 4 and 52.Bemidji (4-4)7 p.m. on Saturday vs. Sartell3.Sartell (4-4)7 p.m. on Saturday at Bemidji4.Brainerd (3-5)7 p.m. on Tuesday vs. Sauk Rapids5.Sauk Rapids (1-7)7 p.m. on Tuesday at Brainerd
This year Sartell has fought to stay .500, winning a game after every loss since Week 1. The Sabres are hoping to crest the mark and win two games in a row for the first time in their semifinal Saturday at Bemidji. When Sartell bused to Bemidji State University to play the Lumberjacks (4-4) on Oct. 10 the team lost 42-19.
Sauk Rapids, meanwhile, will play Brainerd (3-5) on Tuesday in the quarterfinal.
Although it saved its only win for Week 7, Sauk Rapids has not been shut out. Besides three blowout losses, the Storm’s average point differential is only -10.4. But Brainerd was one of those blowouts — beating Sauk Rapids 49-14 on Sept. 12. Still, there’s reason to be optomistic. In consecutive games the Storm have scored their most points of the year, including picking up the 32-28 victory Oct. 10 against Cambridge-Isanti (4-4). Sauk Rapids lost last week 45-35 to Waconia (5-3).
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.