Moving Football Might be Best Chance to Have a Season

The Minnesota State High School League voted to move the prep football and volleyball seasons to next spring. Football will likely be limited to a six-week season and playoffs are uncertain at this point. Other fall sports will start as scheduled with practice on August 17, also with reduced seasons and questions about the postseason.

Owatonna football coach Jeff Williams commented on the move, "From an intellectual stand point, I think it makes the most sense to go to the spring. Greatest chance to hopefully have the virus under control. We're going to run a grand experiment this fall bringing kids back into classrooms. This is going to give us an opportunity to see what we're able to do, what we're not, what we're successful with, what we're not."

"So hopefully by March we have a better handle on how we tackle this. That's seven months from now. We're five months into the pandemic now...Just from the stand point of the greatest opportunity to get a season in, I think spring makes the most sense."

The Huskies held their team camp in early August and Williams likes what he saw, "Boy. I was really pleased with the kids. We had great numbers out here...Lot of athleticism returning, good receiver group, running back, quarterback, half of our defensive secondary, kids with experience at linebacker."

He said his annual concern is "do we have enough linemen. Is there enough depth in the offensive and defensive line so we can limit the number of kids that are going both ways. We've certainly got linemen. But do we have enough of them?"

The team is holding its annual youth football camp this week, ending Thursday, August 13. The camp was limited to 200 participants this year in order to follow safety and health protocols.

Owatonna football also announces the 19th annual Key Bey Golf Classic fundraising event is scheduled for Saturday, September 26 at Brooktree Golf Course in Owatonna. For more info on OHS football, visit owatonnafootball.com.