The Hiawatha Preview

Stewartville was undefeated in the Hiawatha last year going 16-0. Lake City, Cannon Falls, and Byron were right there and will be good again plus several of the other programs have talent too so it's going to be a fun season!     Conference Commentary   Top Ten in State: Lake City, Goodhue   We have Lake City at 10th in Class AA to start the season and we believe that between the coaching, the culture of their program, the guys they have returning, and the guys coming up, that Lake City will not fall off as far as many expect. Even though they lost a ton of seniors that were one Breck transfer away from a title, the Tigers are going to be in the thick of things once again.   Goodhue is a Class A State Tournament team that won 14 games outside of the league and had only four wins inside of the league. But they are a team that plays in a very good league and then goes to the Class A level for playoffs, and it gives them a strong edge on other teams in Section 1A. Goodhue lost two seniors but they return four starters and none of them were upperclassmen a year ago.   Top Ten Potential: Stewartville, Cannon Falls, Byron   Stewartville lost three starters and six of their top eight players overall. Bancroft and Wangen were starters though and both will play college football in the NSIC next year. They return as does 9th man Logan Quam. A lot depends on how the upperclassmen coming in from the JV adapt to their roles, and if they do, Stewartville can win the league again.   Cannon Falls won 24 games last year and they return six of their top eight. Now, the two they lost were the best two players but at the same time, the Bombers are a good program that could make another push. Byron won 21 games last season and they return three three-year starters meaning this is a top ten potential team in Class AAA and a team that can win this league.   Compete with Most: Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Kasson-Mantorville, Pine Island, Rochester Lourdes   Zumbrota-Mazeppa was an 18 win team last year but they were also a senior dominated team. They lost all those Senior starters to graduation but they do have some good bench players returning. Kasson-Mantorville should be a lot better as they have one of the best players in the league, a key guy back from injury, and solid role players stepping into bigger roles.   It's tough to know what to say about Pine Island. They have an all league player back from 23-24 in Lucas Sems plus both [player_tooltip player_id='1575330' first='Blake' last='Schiltz'] and Cody Schiltz return from injury. What type of players will they be returning from injury? There is no way for us to know. Last year the Panthers were short handed because of those injuries but they won ten games, but only two in league. This year, they could be very dangerous because there is potential talent there although what they can be is very uncertain.   Rochester Lourdes won eight games last year but two wins in the league. The Eagles battled through some tough games but they do return their best two players.     24-25 Conference Prediction   (1) Stewartville   (2) Byron   (3) Lake City   (4) Cannon Falls   (5) Goodhue   (6) Kasson-Mantorville   (7) Pine Island   (8) Zumbrota-Mazeppa   (9) Rochester Lourdes     Preseason All Hiawatha   First Team   [player_tooltip player_id='1575327' first='Max' last='Dearborn'] of Byron (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2420955' first='Ethan' last='Lee'] of Kasson-Mantorville (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1476739' first='Caleb' last='Bancroft'] of Stewartville (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1198613' first='Parker' last='Wangen'] of Stewartville (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1951088' first='Luke' last='Roschen'] of Goodhue (Jr)     Second Team   [player_tooltip player_id='1874846' first='Gavin' last='Johnson'] of Cannon Falls (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1575330' first='Blake' last='Schiltz'] of Pine Island (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2126464' first='Gavyn' last='Lorenson'] of Lake City (Soph)   [player_tooltip player_id='1939373' first='Colin' last='Hansen'] of Byron (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2104485' first='Will' last='Brian'] of Byron (Sr)     Third Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2394170' first='Alex' last='Loos'] of Goodhue (Fr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2120492' first='Ethan' last='Miller'] of Zumbrota-Mazeppa (Jr)   Lucas Sems of Pine Island (Sr)   Josh Wohlers of Lake City (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1560862' first='Fisher' last='Kruckeberg'] of Byron (Jr)     Fourth Team   Jack Meyers of Cannon Falls (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2464585' first='Grady' last='Babcock'] of Kasson-Mantorville (Jr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1584902' first='Jack' last='Meincke'] of Lake City (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2437341' first='Samuel' last='Theobald'] of Rochester Lourdes (Sr)   Hudson Ohm of Zumbrota-Mazeppa (Jr)     Fifth Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2825741' first='Michael' last='Roschen'] of Goodhue (Jr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2233673' first='Carson' last='Henry'] of Cannon Falls (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2381754' first='Luke' last='Narum'] of Lake City (Jr)   Logan Quam of Stewartville (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2140680' first='Owen' last='Roschen'] of Goodhue (Soph)   Caleb Akinbolu of Rochester Lourdes (Jr)

Stewartville was undefeated in the Hiawatha last year going 16-0. Lake City, Cannon Falls, and Byron were right there and will be good again plus several of the other programs have talent too so it's going to be a fun season!