Could Owatonna and Blooming Prairie be Playing Football in December?

The high school football season gets a little closer every day. The kickoff is less than 30 days away. However, for teams fortunate enough to make it to the Prep Bowl, that date has just been pushed back. The Minnesota State High School League announced this week that due to a Vikings home game on Thanksgiving Day, the Prep Bowl will be staged on December 2 and 3 at US Bank Stadium instead of its traditional spot over the holiday weekend.

Owatonna has won state titles three times since 2013, including championships in 2017 and 2018 at US Bank Stadium. Blooming Prairie won a state title in 2019. Mankato West won a championship last season. Kasson-Mantorville reached the Prep Bowl. High school fall sports practice begins on August 15. Football teams play their first game on September 1 or 2.

Huskies schedule:

• Fri, Sept 2 versus Mayo
• Fri, Sept 9 at Century
• Fri, Sept 16 versus Mankato West
• Fri, Sept 23 at Austin
• Fri, Sept 30 versus Northfield
• Fri, Oct 7 at Rochester JM
• Thurs, Oct 13 versus New Prague
• Wed, Oct 19 at Kasson-Mantorville

Awesome Blossoms schedule:

• Fri, Sept 2 versus Hayfield
• Fri, Sept 9 at Lester Prairie
• Fri, Sept 16 vs United South Central
• Fri, Sept 23 at Waterville-Elysian-Morristown
• Fri, Sept 30 at St. Clair/Mankato Loyola
• Fri, Oct 7 versus Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop
• Thurs, Oct 13 at New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva
• Wed, Oct 19 versus Medford

The high school league also announced several Spring Sport Advisory Proposals.

• For baseball and softball, a proposal "would increase the number of regular-season games from 20 to no more than 24. Those four additional games are intended to be played on Friday nights, Saturday, or when member schools have mutual days off from school."
• A clay target proposal "would add a girls-only division to the individual competition of the state tournament. Currently, the top 100 participants, boy or girl, based on their conference season average, qualify for the individual competition. The proposal keeps the top 100 open competition and would add an additional 25 female participants that would compete in a girls-only division."

The next Board of Directors meeting for the high school league is October 6, 2022.