sunthisweek. com Fall Football Preview • Friday, August 29, 2025 Page 3 Football Prep Preview 2025
Football season to kick off
Storylines include class changes, new leaders
Welcome to Sun Thisweek and the Dakota County Tribune’ s Football Prep Preview 2025.
Inside readers will find coverage of each of the teams in public school districts for Burnsville- Eagan-Savage, Farmington, Lakeville, and Rosemount-Apple Valley- Eagan.
That’ s eight teams in all that are covered by our sports reporter Mike Shaughnessy who gets an assist in the preview section from fellow AMM of ECM sports reporter Dominic Bisogno.
Readers can find out about season expectations for each squad.
Mike and Dominic have done a great job finding the storyline for each team, which says a lot about the players’ leadership, dedication and joy for a sport they love to play. That also goes for their coaches who spend a great amount of their time and effort on not only physical development of their players, but also emotional and leadership skills.
There’ s also a great sense of community pride that comes in supporting extracurricular endeavors
of our young people. That comes through clearly when Friday night lights appear at local football stadiums around the south metro.
We hope readers enjoy the section along with all of our other previews for area teams this fall, which will run on the Sports pages in the coming weeks.
And we also hope you take time to support these young athletes by attending a game or performance at one of our local high schools.
Enjoy! – Tad Johnson, managing editor
Photo by Mike Shaughnessy
Lakeville South football players continued their preparation for the 2025 season opener against Mounds View on Friday, Aug. 29. The game will be played at Lakeville South.
Photo by Mike Shaughnessy
Lakeville North is looking to build on a 2024 season in which the Panthers were 9-2 and reached the state Class 6A quarterfinals. They have to replace some key starters but return a number of younger players with varsity experience.
Photo by Dominic Bisogno
Positive energy was in the air last week as the Lightning prepared for their latest season of 6A football.
Photo by Mike Shaughnessy
Grady Recer, a senior captain, returns to the Eagan defensive backfield— and could have roles on offense and special teams, too.