KROX Radio/KROXAM.COM is compiling area Section Football coaches polls and releasing them throughout the next week. The first coaches poll is the Section 8AAA Football poll. We polled all eight coaches and they tabbed the defending section champion Perham Yellow Jackets and the Pequot Lakes Patriots as the teams to beat. The coaches think it will be a four-team race for the top spot. The poll and team previews are all below.
| Team | Points |
| 1. Pequot Lakes (3) | 41 |
| 1. Perham (1) | 41 |
| 3. Fergus Falls (2) | 39 |
| 4. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (2) | 38 |
| 5. East Grand Forks | 25 |
| 6. Park Rapids | 19 |
| 7. Thief River Falls | 13 |
| 8. Roseau | 8 |
CLICK HERE FOR THE SECTION 8AAA MASTER SCHEDULE
PERHAM YELLOWJACKETS – Coach Scott Knutson
The Perham Yellowjackets are the defending Section 8AAA champs going 9-3 last year. They beat EGF in the section championship and beat Two Harbors 48-17 in the first round of the state tournament and lost to Fairmont 29-14 in the semi-finals. They lost some great players, but they have a lot of athletes (they always do) coming back. They lose one of the best quarterbacks with the graduation of Jenson Beachy (now at Minnesota State Moorhead) and that will be a big hole to fill because he could run and throw as good as anybody.
Top returners -Finn Diggins, Colton Hackel, Titus Mycke, Rowdie Lindquist, Dawson Kellogg
Season Outlook according to Coach Knutson – We hope to finish in top half of the conference and make a State run again.
FERGUS FALLS OTTERS – Coach Steve Olson
The Fergus Falls Otters were 4-5 in Class AAAA last year with a first-round playoff loss to Rocori (14-7). They will drop down to Class AAA this year and play a lot of the same opponents.
Top returners – Ethan Olson SR QB, Brenden Adams SR OL/DL, Dustin Portales SR OL/DL, Parker Jacobs SR RB/LB, Cody Norgren SR WR/DB, Dominic Aguialr JR WR/DB, and Kaden Hartwell JR RB/DB
Top newcomers – Abel Aho JR WR/DB, Jack Uhrich JR OL/LB, Jack Vogl JR OL/DL, Bryce Burrill Jr TE/DE
Season Outlook according to Coach Olson: We will put a lot on Ethan’s (Olson) shoulders in the passing game as a second-year starter. We need to be better in the run game as we struggled last year to move the ball on the ground. Defensively, we should have good quickness and need to show some physicality. Depth up front on both sides of the ball will be a concern.
DILWORTH-GLYNDON-FELTON – Coach Aaron Soderberg
The Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Rebels were 5-5 last year and they beat Thief River Falls in the first round of the playoffs and lost to East Grand Forks 14-8 in the semi-finals. This year, DGF returns 14 starters, including the quarterback and FIVE offensive linemen that started last year.
Top returners – Sr. Aiden Leach (QB) 1,324 yards passing, Jr. Justin Wang (RB) 842 yards rushing, Sr. Carter Kohler (WR) 26 receptions for 510 yards. Other top returners – Jacob Strand, Carter Bohn, Drew Coalwell, Ben Edeen, Jacob Ewen, Ethan John, Tristan Olson, Carter Schmidt, Levi Skjerven, Cade Sogge, Logan Tucker, Blake Cota, Brandon Watt, Ben Ellenbaum, and Preston Johnson.
Season outlook according to Coach Soderberg: With a small senior class last year, we are returning a lot of experience on both sides of the ball. If we can stay healthy and come together as a team, we should be right in the mix for the top three in the section. The kids have been working hard in the offseason and are looking forward to the season to start.
PEQUOT LAKES PATRIOTS – Coach Bill Magnusson
The Pequot Lakes Patriots were 5-5 last year, beating Thief River Falls in the first round of the playoffs before losing to East Grand Forks 14-8 in the semi-finals. They have a lot of players coming back and looking for an improved season this fall.
Top returners – The Patriots have 29 letter winners (8 offensive and five defensive starters) returning this fall. They have nine seniors and a huge junior class of 17 that will help lead the way. The Patriots also have 20-plus players that didn’t letter that are fighting for playing time and should provide a lot of competition. The seniors leading the way are – Josh Pettit (OL/DL), Anthony Sullivan (OL/DL), Jacob Faacks (OL/DL), Myca Reynolds (OL/DL), Cale Wolf (QB), Zachariah Jorgens (RB/LB), Dylan Collins (WR/DB), Braden Holmes (WR/DB), Daltin Ackerman (WR/LB).
Season outlook according to Coach Bill Magnusson: With the return of 29 letterwinners including 8 starters on offense and 5 on defense the 2019 Patriot Football team has high expectations for the season. Many returning players saw action in varsity games last year and that experience will pay off and help with depth. The players returning are excited to take the field with a second year in the offense and defense so confidence is high to continue the proud Patriot Football tradition.
EAST GRAND FORKS GREEN WAVE – Coach Ryan Kasowski
The East Grand Forks Green Wave were 6-4 last year (5-2 in Section play) with their only regular-season losses to Detroit Lakes, Perham and Fergus Falls. The Green Wave won their first-round playoff game and beat Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in the semi-finals 14-8 before losing to Perham in the championship game. After graduating a huge class of seniors, the Green Wave have a lot of guys who will need to prove themselves this season. Many will be getting their first varsity action. “We are excited about our skill guys, we have challenged our new offensive line to be physical every game,” said Coach Kasowski. “They will be a major part of our team being successful. Our kids will need to gives us everything they have in every game and we must eliminate mistakes.”
Top returners – Sr. Julian Benson, Sr. Tyler Aamodt, Jr. Brody Schultz, Jr. Sam Votava, and Sr. Kaden Robinson
Season Outlook according to Coach Kasowski– As always, we will ask our kids to play with great effort and give us everything they have. We lost a lot of really good players from last year. Our players this year have been waiting for their opportunity to play varsity football. Our offensive line will need to step up and allow us to move the football. We also need to be able to stop the run on defense.
PARK RAPIDS PANTHERS – Coach Jeremy Nordick
The Park Rapids Panthers were 2-7 last season with wins over Thief River Falls and United North Central in the first two games of the season and lost the last seven games, including the first-round playoff game against Pequot Lakes. They lose 17 seniors from last years team and that is obviously going to be tough to fill the void the big class left behind.
Top returners -Quarterback/Linebacker Jens Anderson (Sr), Wide Receiver/Linebacker Jeff Haas (Sr), OL/DL Joe Stachowski (Sr), Runningback/Linebacker Caleb David (Jr), Wide Receiver/DB James Hartig (Jr), OL/DL Shawn Ohm (Sr), Tight End/DL Nick Michaelson (So)
Season Outlook according to Coach Nordick – We will have 11 Seniors to lead us this season, with a mix of some young guys that will need to step up and play a major role on both sides of the ball. We are excited that the kids worked hard over the summer with our strength and conditioning program and had a great first week of practice. There is much more of a comfort zone with players and coaches now. Last year was our first year together, so there were some growing pains. The kids are much more understanding of the terminology and philosophy our second year. We’ve got an extremely tough schedule ahead, opening up with Ottertail Central, Detroit Lakes, and Perham. So we will get a pretty good idea of where we are at after playing some traditionally strong football teams. We know that for us to compete with such high-level teams, we will have to be disciplined, work very hard and grind things out.
THIEF RIVER FALLS PROWLERS – Coach Bryce Lingen
The Thief River Falls Prowlers are still trying to rebuild the program and struggled last year going 0-9. They were shut out four times and only scored seven points in three games. The Prowlers lost to DGF in the first round of the playoffs last year. They are still a little young, but it sounds like they should be more competitive in the next couple of years.
Top returners – Sr. Grant Hartmann (Starting QB), top receivers Sr. Aaron Bruggeman and Sr. Gunner Zutz. All-District DB Sr Cole Johnson, LB/DL Sr. Storm Manning, DB Sr. Matt Kolden, DL Sr. Jon Hulst, and LB Sr. Zach Praska.
Season outlook according to Coach Lingen: We are really looking forward to this season. We have solid experience coming back from our skill positions and will need those student-athletes to lead, especially early on. We will be pretty young overall, especially on our line. Will take a bit to get those underclassmen up to speed, but we are liking the effort and attitude from our entire squad thus far. A hardworking group who are very team-first oriented (love seeing that!). We are looking forward to seeing this group come together and seeing the improvements as the season progresses.
ROSEAU RAMS – Coach Matthew Heddan
The Roseau Rams were in Section 8AA last year (the second year of being in AA) and now they are back up in 8AAA. Last year they were 4-6 with a first-round playoff victory over Crookston (23-12) and a semi-final loss to eventual champion Barnesville (53-0). They graduate a great senior group led by Jacob Lindemann (now at UND).
Top returners – Sr. Danny Wensloff (QB/LB), Jr. Ben Olson (RB/LB), Sr. Jace Hulst (WR/LB), Jr. Waylon Teague (OL/DL). Top newcomers – Jr. Aidan Walsh (RB/LB), Jr. Jed Dunham (WR/RB/S), Jr. Race Knochenmus (RB/LB), Soph. Steele Walsh (RB/LB)
Season outlook according to Coach Heddan: We graduated 15 seniors last year and will have a Junior dominated lineup this year. We have lots of speed and skill, but we will be lacking in size. Lots of young players having to play with only four seniors. We have a three-year starter at QB with Danny Wensloff and return our leading rusher Ben Olson, who rushed for 951 yards and 11 TDs last year. Still looking to remain competitive in sub-district games. Making the leap up in playoffs again back to AAA football.
