sailor. mnsun. com Fall Football Preview • Thursday, August 28, 2025 Page 27
After 53 years, what’ s next for for high school football?
Edina High’ s football opener is under the lights tonight at Hopkins. I will be there to report on the action.
Strangely, it doesn’ t seem that long ago when I covered my first prep football opener. It was the first week of the 1972 season and the game was Edina-East vs. Edina-West.
Anyone born after 1990 most likely won’ t remember that Edina had two high schools for the first time that year. Matter of fact, several of the Lake Conference communities had more than one high school. District 281 had three schools – Robbinsdale, Armstrong and Cooper. Bloomington was also a three high school town with Jefferson, Kennedy
John Sherman
Sports Editor
John Sherman is a sports editor for APG of ECM. Contact him at john. sherman @ apgecm. com.
and Lincoln. And even Hopkins had a pair of high schools – Eisenhower and Lindbergh.
Rivalry games probably meant more in 1972 than they do now. Most of the students came to the football games and sat in rickety bleachers at places like Mielke Field in Robbinsdale, Bloomington Stadium and Maetzold Field in Hopkins.
Fans paid cash for admittance to games. Now that we all have cell phones, that’ s the new way to pay. And you don’ t need cash for concessions at most locations. Just use your credit card.
SPORTS LIMITED
In this generation, the Minnesota State High School League has 28 sports. When I became a sportswriter in 1972, there were only three sports for boys – Football, of course, and also soccer and cross country. Girls sports were just starting that fall with the arrival of Title IX. Some schools had girls swimming teams that fall. Then gymnastics was the winter sport. Track was the girls spring sport in 1973. Girls basketball would follow, and much later, girls soccer and hockey.
THE ALL-AROUNDERS
What is the biggest difference between prep sports in 1972 and 2025, other than the resurrection of varsity girls sports? Many current sports fans might not remember that Minnesota had girls sports in the 1920s and early 1930s that were discontinued because many educators were opposed to them.
Most boys who played sports in 1972 actually played three sports. The most common scenario was football in the fall, basketball or hockey in the winter and baseball or track in the spring.
In 2025, you’ ll still see some three-sport athletes. Prime examples are Wayzata football quarterback Matthew Berkland, who also plays basketball and baseball, and Edina halfback Chase Bjorgaard, whose other two sports are hockey and baseball.
There are a great number of two-sport athletes excelling now. One example I can think of in the Lake Conference is senior Jayden Moore of Hopkins, who’ ll have his choice of NCAA Division I schools in football or basketball. Another example is Edina football quarterback Mason West, whose hockey future is just as bright, or brighter, than his prospects for gridiron stardom.
YEAR-ROUND FOOTBALL?
There are many athletes of today who only play football.
However, football is harder to specialize in than soccer, hockey or basketball. Soccer players can find leagues 12 months of the year. Same for hockey. Same for basketball. If you can’ t find a team in those sports, you aren’ t trying.
College football has camps that players can attend in the summer. A Minnesota boy who plays well enough at a camp is often offered a scholarship.
The other development that has helped Minnesota high school football is the emergence of 7-on-7 passing leagues. Almost every school in the metro area has at least a couple of 7-on-7 teams, which are mainly live practice sessions for quarterbacks and their receivers.