For the first time since the start of the state tournament format in 1972, there will be no state tournament and Prep Bowl due to the COVID 19 pandemic. However, the last season without a state tournament was 1971 and HSGN will go back to the last full season without a state tournament.
It was the fall of 1971, Bud Grant was coaching the Minnesota Vikings, All in the Family was a groundbreaking sitcom on prime time TV and Minnesota high school football was in the final season minus a state tournament. What was high school football in Minnesota back then? Here are some of the top teams around the state.
Starting off with the Minneapolis City Conference, the Washburn Millers under head coach George Wemeier were one of the area's dominant teams. Not only did they go unbeaten in eight games, they won six of eight via shutout, thanks to a very solid defense. In addition to the Millers, there was also the Edison Tommies, located in the northeast part of the city. Because a lot of the schools home fields did not have lights, some games were played under the bright lights at Parade Stadium, which would later become the site of the Class AA championship games.
Like the boy band of the 80s, there were new kids on the block in 1971. Head up Brooklyn Blvd. to Brooklyn Park and there would be the home of the Park Center Pirates. The Pirates went 6-1 in their maiden voyage and tied with the Fridley Tigers for the Skyline Conference title. Park Center's head coach would later go on to a long and successful tenure with the Brainerd Warriors, Ron Stolski. The other newcomer, though in its second season was the Armstrong Falcons, based in Plymouth and part of the Robbinsdale district. Back then, Armstrong as well as Robbinsdale and Cooper would play their home games at Mielke Field, now the site of a Cub Foods store. The Falcons were led by Jerry Haugen, who led the Lake Conference with 124 points, second to Jerry Pelletier of Bloomington, who later played for Minnesota.
And speaking of Robbinsdale, the Robins were one of the top teams in the Lake Conference. Head coach Irv Nerdahl, in his 30th season leading the Robins would help guide the school to its 10th Lake title and their first unbeaten season since 1960. Robbinsdale also got statewide TV exposure when they were on WTCN's(now KARE) high school game of the week. They faced the Bloomington Jefferson jaguars, coached by Bruno Waldner and won 20-14.
Over in the capitol city of St. Paul, there was a three way deadlock for the city conference title with Harding, Murray and Highland Park finishing with identical 7-1 records.
What about some schools outside the Twin Cities area? In the Big Nine Conference, there were the Albert Lea Tigers, who were undefeated in 1970 and under the veteran leadership of Jim Gustafson. Also in the southern portion of Minnesota, there was the small town of Bricelyn, where the Braves went unbeaten to extend their winning streak to 19 games.
The 1971 season would be monumental for Montevideo, unbeaten and on a quest for their first undefeated season since 1917 and their first West Central Conference title since 1951.
But the team that the Minneapolis Tribune would dub the mythical state champion was located in northwestern Minnesota. The Moorhead Spuds, coached by Jim Gotta since 1959 went unbeaten and lost only one game in three years. One member of the Spuds, Brad Atchison would be the starting quarterback on the Spuds first state tournament team in 1972, losing to the Minneapolis Washburn Millers at Met Stadium in Bloomington. Atchison would later be the head coach of the Willmar High School girls basketball team. He headed the Cardinals for 35 seasons until he retired in 2012.
So that was what the state of Minnesota high school football was like in 1971. The following season, the Minnesota State High School League enacted a five class (now seven) state tournament format. Championship games would be at sites throughout the state until the Prep Bowl debuted in 1982 at the Metrodome. But in 1971, when state titles were nonexistant, it was just the regular season and that was it.
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