Page 2 Edina Falls Sports Preview • Thursday, September 3, 2026
JOHN SHERMAN john. sherman @ apgecm. com current. mnsun. com
New opportunity for EHS football playmakers
What happens when a high school football team loses the all-time leading passer along with the alltime leading rusher the same year?
Edina will try to answer that question during the 2026 season, which begins at 6 p. m. Friday, Sept. 3, with the Hornets hosting Hopkins at Kuhlman Field.
Many Edina fans are able to quote the exact stats from last year’ s state-championship season.
Quarterback Mason West, who is now playing Junior hockey for the Fargo Force, completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 2,389 yards and 28 touchdowns. As a threeyear starter, he erased the football passing records of National Hockey League player Anders Lee from 15 years before.
Running back Chase Bjorgaard, now playing baseball for Iowa Central Community College, dazzled fans at the 2025 Prep Bowl last November with 320 yards and six touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Moorhead. For the season, his 1,834 rushing yards broke the school record set two years earlier by his former teammate, John Warpinski.
Edina didn’ t exactly have a textbook state-championship season, however, by the end, the Hornets were the best team in Class 6A.
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Edina junior quarterback Brady Olin fires a long pass downfield during football practice at Bob McCarthy Field.
After a so-so regular season that ended with a 4-4 record, Edina won every close game in the playoffs, beating Farmington 30-17, Forest Lake 31-30, Eden Prairie 23-21, Minnetonka 42-41 and, finally, Moorhead 42-35. It was a bit of a rocky ride with comebacks needed in a couple of the playoff victories, but that’ s what most championship seasons are made of.
Replacing West and Bjorgaard in the backfield is an impossible task for head coach Jason Potts and his offensive coordinator, Josh Flug. At the same time, the Edina coaching staff has had challenges in the past and found solutions. At practice the week before the season opener, junior quarterback Brady Olin was throwing bombs downfield. No one expects him to be Mason West, yet his optimism and leadership are already taking hold.
Olin has earned the confidence of his coaches and has been named QB1 for Week 1.
“ The main thing we want is to get better every week,” Olin said when he took a break from throwing.“ I want to keep the team pumped up.”
How will the playbook change with the change in quarterbacks?
“ We’ ll see once we get into the games,” Olin said.“ We have been running a lot of the same plays as last year in practice. There could be changes when we decide how to attack different teams.”
The most experienced receiver on the Hornets’ roster is senior captain and tight end Luke Ansems. Last season he was a safety valve for West and most of his best work came in the blocking segment of his tight end assignments.
Some of the other receivers expected to contribute in the new
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Sure-handed senior tight end Luke Ansems is one of the key offensive returnees for the Edina High football squad.
Edina offense are Jackson Bell, Connor Johnson and Mason Parks.
Asked which receiver is his favorite, Olin’ s answer was brilliant.“ The one who’ s open,” he said.
While Edina looks for offensive success early in the 2026 season, the line will rally around key veterans and captains, Cashill Carl and Wyatt Perry.
Looking across at the Hornets’ defensive line, the big guns are captains Gage Geyer and Will Granberg.
At 6-5 and 280 pounds, Geyer will get the most attention from opposing coaches. He has committed to play for the University of Minnesota.
“ We need to come out faster than we did last year,” Geyer said the first week of practice.
The Hornets again have a brutally tough regular-season schedule. After facing Hopkins Week 1, Edina plays Wayzata Sept. 10, Eden Prairie Sept. 18, Maple Grove Sept. 25, St. Michael-Albertville Oct. 2, Lakeville South Oct. 9, Minnetonka Oct. 14 and Moorhead in a state title rematch Oct. 23.