3 Thoughts from Friday (and Saturday) headline Week 2’s High School Football Focus

Two weeks into the high school football season, were down to just 13 unbeaten (2-0) teams remaining in the Post Bulletin coverage area.

That number will assuredly shrink this week, as there are two matchups of unbeaten teams: Blooming Prairie plays at Wabasha-Kellogg and Caledonia goes to Chatfield.

One local section Section 1, Class 4A has some talented teams but it doesnt have a single 2-0 team.

ADVERTISEMENT The other nine local unbeatens John Marshall, Pine Island, Stewartville, Triton, Cannon Falls, Goodhue, Mabel-Canton, LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli, and Spring Grove will look to get to 3-0, with unbeaten teams looming on their schedules down the road.

We head into what should be an entertaining Week 3 by offering three random thoughts following Week 2s games: Blake Schiltz wasnt a secret to opposing coaches before.

The North Dakota State University commit is no longer a secret to fans across the area, either.

But the standout senior linebacker for Pine Island who missed his junior season while recovering from a knee injury is one of a number of standouts on the Panthers roster this year.

Receiver/DBs Drew Sailer and Owen Harstad, RB Nick Thein, and physical defenders who fly to the ball such as Jackson Hudson, Thein, Mason Jasperson, Alden Smith, Corrin Pike and Cody Schiltz, have helped the Panthers win their first two games.

Well find out more about the Panthers in the coming weeks, with games at Stewartville, at Lourdes and at Caledonia still to come.

For now, though, Pine Island can revel in its first 2-0 start since 2016.

A win at home this Friday against Red Wing would give the Panthers their first 3-0 start in more than 20 years.

Speaking of strong starts, Wabasha-Kellogg is 2-0 for the first time since 1996.

Its no fluke, either.

The Falcons are stacked with multiple classes of talented athletes and theyre led by a senior QB who has been champing at the bit for a year to get back on the field .

Senior Garret Pavelka is 32-for-45 (71.1%) for 496 yards and 6 TD passes.

All of those scoring strikes have gone to classmate Owen Olcott.

The speedy receiver has baffled defenses so far this fall; he has 342 receiving yards and 6 TDs through two games.

He also had a punt return for a TD last Friday in a 40-6 win at Hayfield.

W-K will prepare for its biggest game in years this Friday, when it hosts fellow unbeaten Blooming Prairie at 7 p.m.

While on the subject of Blooming Prairie, its clear the Blossoms are back as a section and state title contender if they ever had gone away.

The 2-0 Blossoms have faced quite a challenging schedule so far, edging fellow Section 1, Class 1A title contender Rushford-Peterson 21-18 in Week 1, then going overtime this past Saturday to earn a 42-34 win against two-time defending section champ Fillmore Central.

Led by senior QB and University of Sioux Falls commit Brady Kittelson, Blooming Prairie has hopes of winning the section for the first time since 2019, when it won its first-ever football state championship.

Kittelson accounted for five TDs against Fillmore Central, as he passed for 133 yards and two scores, and ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns.

Kittleson is a gamer, Blooming Prairie coach Chad Gimbel said.

He was hurting at the end of the game, but kept fighting and pushing.

When we asked him to make plays, he made them.

He kept digging deep.

Bryce Berns, Spring Grove: The Lions quarterback turned in big play after big play in a 35-14 win against Houston on Friday.

He finished with 357 yards of total offense and had a hand in all five of his teams TDs.

Berns ran for 245 yards and four TDs (67, 4, 87, 49 yards) and passed for 112 yards and a TD.

Berns turned in three big plays in fewer than two minutes that turned it from a 14-0 Lions lead to 28-0 at halftime.

He ran for an 87-yard TD (and a 21-0 lead) with just less than two minutes to go in the second quarter.

Two plays later he intercepted a pass.

Then, in the closing seconds of the half, Berns threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Jahnke to make it a 28-0 lead.

Owen Olcott, Wabasha-Kellogg : Olcott was all but unstoppable as the Falcons beat Hayfield 40-6 to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 1996.

W-K quarterback Garret Pavelka threw for 298 yards in the win, and standout receiver Olcott was on the back end of most of those yards.

Olcott finished with 207 receiving yards and three touchdowns (73, 9, 67 yards) and he scored on a 68-yard punt return.

The Falcons appear to be a force to be reckoned with.

ADVERTISEMENT Kale Tollefsrud, Mabel-Canton : Tollefsrud was a one-man wrecking crew Friday.

He had a huge game for the Cougars, rushing for 289 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries.

His longest run went for 65 yards as Mabel-Canton improved to 2-0 by beating Lanesboro 44-26.

Carson Heimer, Byron : The 6-foot-1, 175-pound junior running back is getting looks from some big-time college programs, and its easy to see why.

Heimer ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns, and he returned a fumble forced by University of Minnesota commit Colin Hansen for a touchdown as Byron rolled to a 35-0 win at Benilde-St.

Margarets on Friday.

A day later, Heimer was a game-day invitee to the University of Wisconsins 27-13 win against South Dakota.

Pierce Petersohn, Triton : The junior QB was instrumental in the Cobras rolling up 576 yards of offense in a 60-14 thumping of Blue Earth Area.

Petersohn passed for 224 yards and four TDs, on throws of 61, 6, 36 and 50 yards.

Ben Carrier, Chatfield : Carrier shifted from his wideout position into the Gophers backfield on Friday night without a hitch.

Chatfields top two backs were out with injuries in a 46-7 win at St.

Charles, so Carrier stepped in and ran the ball 12 times behind the Gophers big and strong offensive line, for 182 yards and two TDs.

(Editor's note: These rankings are considered "pound-for-pound" rankings, similar to many rankings systems in boxing and mixed martial arts.

They represent the best teams in southeastern Minnesota, relative to the class they play in.) 1.

LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli (2-0) The Cardinals earned this position in Week 1 by going on the road and topping last years 9-Player state runner-up Kingsland.

The Cardinals did nothing in Week 2 to relinquish the top spot, piling up 404 total yards in a 55-6 win against Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

Two LO/LP players Carter Sweeney and Reid Hungerholt returned interceptions for TDs.

ADVERTISEMENT 2.

Caledonia (2-0) The defending Section 1, Class 2A champion Warriors can score.

They have athletes all over the field.

But Caledonia can also keep its opponents out of the end zone and off the scoreboard.

The Warriors earned their second consecutive shutout on Friday, blanking Dover-Eyota 27-0.

Dating back to last season, thats five shutouts in the past 13 games for Caledonias defense.

3.

Stewartville (2-0) The defending Class 3A state champion a dominant force locally and state-wide for more than a year apparently needed just one week to get its offense fully revved up.

Its defense is already there.

After a 24-6 season-opening win against Waseca, the Tigers rolled to a 48-6 win against rival Kasson-Mantorville on Saturday.

New starting QB Vince Wellik has clearly settled in, and he has an abundance of talented players to throw to.

After a game with section rival Zumbrota-Mazeppa this week, the Tigers will host a Pine Island team that could be 3-0.

4.

Kingsland (1-1) Soooooo, the moral of the story from Kingslands Week 1 loss to LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli is ...

dont tick off the Knights? The defending Section 1, 9-Player champ and state runner-up focused its frustration from the narrow season-opening loss on its Week 2 opponent, roughing up Grand Meadow 58-16.

Kaaleem Reiland threw for three TDs en route to a 44-0 halftime lead.

5.

Cannon Falls (2-0) ADVERTISEMENT Rinse and repeat.

Its hard to say which side of the ball has been more impressive for the Bombers in recent years.

Their dominant run game draws most of the attention and praise rightfully so but Cannons defense has been nearly impressive.

Theyve allowed 12 total points so far this season, while averaging 50.5, in wins at Zumbrota-Mazeppa (55-6) and against La Crescent-Hokah (46-6).

6.

Chatfield (2-0) Its only Week 3, but the battle for the No.

1 seed in Section 1, Class 2A just might be at hand when defending section champ Caledonia comes to Chatfield on Friday.

The Gophers have scored the most points in the section by far (42.5 per game), while Caledonia has allowed the least, by far (zero).

7.

John Marshall (2-0) The Rockets are 2-0, have scored 76 points and could go 3-0 for the first time since 2013 with a win at Northfield this week.

All of that, and the Rockets would likely say they havent played a complete game yet.

There are things to clean up 12 penalties in last weeks 41-16 win against North St.

Paul probably didnt sit well with the coaches but JM has a massive offensive line and some talented players on both sides of the ball who play with just the right amount of a mean streak.

8.

Blooming Prairie (2-0) One of the more highly anticipated games locally in Week 2 turned out to be the best game in the area, as the Blossoms pulled out a 42-34 OT win against two-time defending Section 1, Class 1A champion Fillmore Central.

Theres way too much football left to say anyone is in the drivers seat for the top seed in the section Goodhue, Wabasha-Kellogg, Rushford-Peterson and Fillmore Central will still have a say in that process but the Blossoms already hold wins against R-P and Fillmore Central.

The other two teams on that list await Blooming over the next two weeks at W-K this Friday, then home against Goodhue on Sept.

20.

ADVERTISEMENT 9.

Fillmore Central (1-1) If we learned anything from Fillmore Centrals narrow OT loss to Blooming Prairie on Saturday, its that the top teams in Section 1, Class 1A are as evenly matched as we thought theyd be this fall.

The rest of us also found out what the Falcons already knew their sophomore QB, Bridon Bahl, isnt going to be rattled in pressure situations.

Bahl passed for 322 yards and three TDs against the Blossoms, and he had a pair of 100-yard receivers, Greg Kennedy (120 yards, 1 TD) and Josh Haugerud (102, 1).

10t.

Goodhue (2-0) Sticking in Section 1-1A, like clockwork were talking about the Goodhue Wildcats as a section title contender.

The Wildcats are doing Wildcat things namely imposing their will by running the football, and stopping their opponents from scoring.

Theyve allowed just seven total points through two games, while scoring 80 total points in wins against Lewiston-Altura and Winona Cotter.

10t.

Pine Island (2-0) The upstart Panthers have already matched their combined win total of the past two seasons, and they intend to blow past that mark.

Pine Island has gotten the job done so far with some dudes on both sides of the ball, beating St.

Charles 30-6 in Week 1 and Lake City 26-0 last Friday.

A win this week could set up a battle of 3-0 teams in Week 4, when the Panthers go to Stewartville.

Dropped out : Mayo (1-1) ADVERTISEMENT Next in line (alphabetical order) : Byron (1-1), Kasson-Mantorville (1-1), Mabel-Canton (2-0), Spring Grove (2-0), Triton (2-0), Wabasha-Kellogg (2-0).

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