High School Football: Picks for Stillwater-Mounds View, Chanhassen-STA and more

Week means specific subdistrict title chases are heating up while others are just getting started midway through the regular season Here are the best East Metro matchups of Friday night Stillwater - at Mounds View - p m The best matchup of - teams in the state this week Stillwater and Mounds View are both casualties of treacherous non-subdistrict schedules with both eating losses to defending champion Maple Grove while the Mustangs also lost to Lakeville South and Stillwater fell to Shakopee Those can be learning experiences and scrapped now as the games that will determine the Metro East title race and section seeding begin This tournament is massive in that sense but also because the loser will be - midway through the season which just doesn t feel good regardless of the circumstances Our pick Mounds View Stillwater Chanhassen - at St Thomas Academy - p m Chanhassen and St Thomas Academy look like Class A title contenders What else is new Nathan Ramler has been excellent at quarterback for Chanhassen averaging yards and three touchdowns through the air Can St Thomas Academy run the ball well enough with star back Dominic Baez to keep Ramler and Co off the field Our pick Chanhassen St Thomas Academy Woodbury - at Forest Lake - p m Woodbury has various offensive skill in quarterback Emmett Snuggerud and running back Mark Mathis The Royals are averaging points per battle through three weeks But Forest Lake s defense led by Gophers commit Howie Johnson on the defensive front is a different animal Rangers star running back Mack Jurkovich has missed the past two weeks with an ankle ailment but could return Friday Our pick Forest Lake Woodbury White Bear Lake - at East Ridge - p m White Bear Lake running back Easton Miles runs past Farmington linebacker Max Blandin during the second half of the challenge at White Bear Lake High School in White Bear Lake Friday Sept Farmington won - Craig Lassig Special to the Pioneer Press With quarterback Cedric Tomes out with an injury East Ridge has gone run-heavy through three games this season with mixed results White Bear Lake faced a similar approach last week against Farmington and held up reasonably well up front even in defeat The question in this one Can White Bear Lake convert the necessary explosives to put up enough points to win Our pick East Ridge White Bear Lake South St Paul - at Simley - p m The Packers entered the season confident this is the year they could return to subdistrict and section title contention The early results prove that belief to be warranted But the Spartans even amid a slow start to the fall represent a step up in competition Winning the classic rivalry bout would show South St Paul is for real Our pick South St Paul Simley Lakeville South - at Farmington - p m A ground-and-pound affair is in order for these South Suburban rivals Lakeville South has demonstrated that armed with a fearsome offensive line it can run the ball against anyone this fall But can they stop it The answer to that question is still up in the air and will need to be answered against Farmington s variation of the single-wing offense Our pick Lakeville South Farmington Concordia Academy - at St Croix Lutheran - p m Wyatt Couenhoven leads a Concordia Academy rushing attack that has determined success through the first three weeks the Beacons have scored -plus points in their three games to date But the Crusaders offense looks equally dynamic with Colin Avery and Elijah Larson each averaging north of rushing yards per competition to go with a big-play passing battle Every indication suggests Friday s bout is for the Skyway-Orange subdistrict crown Our pick St Croix Lutheran Concordia Academy