Monday was our coldest day of November and our thermometer said 11 degrees when I left the house for Cenex. The snow, which fell Saturday night and Sunday morning didn’t amount to much and was hardly measureable (about a half inch.) The meteorologist says warmer days are ahead and that’s okay with me. Steve Loch said Jude lake, where he lives, froze over as did Mud Lake across from the swimming beach. The east end of Maple Lake was also frozen over and we’ll have to wait and see if any anglers hit that early spot by the weekend. I don’t think they will considering the predictions, but I wouldn’t bet the kitchen sink on it!
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It was a good weekend for watching football with seven games on Friday and Saturday as they fought for High School football honors. I watched most of the games, some-times the whole game but not always. Annandale played Saturday against Stewartville and lost 43-13. The Cardinals played a good first half, but they couldn’t handle the beefy guys from southern Minnesota. It was Stewartville’s first state title.
Another game, Minneota (14-0) and Springfield (12-2), 43-22, was another example of what it means to have a physically larger team and Minneota has proved that with it’s ninth state title in the school’s history and second straight championship. Running back Ryan Meagher rushed for his first of five rushing touchdowns of the day — tying a Prep Bowl record — to give the Minneota Vikings a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
On one of our pheasant hunting trips we decided to drive through Minneota to see why they do so well in high school sports as well as that area (Lyon County) was good for pheasant hunting. The town has a population of 1392 and school enrollment of 520 students (k-12). The town was attractive, but there weren’t any hints why the kids grow bigger, and we don’t think it was the water, more likely something to do with the genes!
Other results were: Class 6A, Centennial 28-Edina 27; Class 5A, Chanhassen 34, St. Thomas Academy 31 in overtime; Class 4A, Hutchinson 14, Rocori 6; Class 2A, Eden Valley Watkins 24, Barnesville 6; Class 1A, Menneota 43, Springfield 22; and Nine-man, Nevis 13, Kingsland 12.