The Grand Meadow Superlarks captured their fourth straight state championship in nine-man football and their 50th consecutive win Friday morning at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Superlarks scored a 41-21 victory over the Cleveland/Immanuel Lutheran Clippers in the first high school title game to be played in the new Minnesota stadium.

Stephen-Argyle had an incredible run of five straight titles in nine-man football from 2003-07. Grand Meadow still has a way to go to catch Stephen-Argyle for the longest winning streak (76 games).

Minneapolis Washburn amassed a winning streak of 60 straight between 1966 and 1973. Actually it was 58 wins and two ties during the period but no losses.

Senior running back Chritopher Bain led the way with 36 carries for 278 yards and four touchdowns. The total rushing yards for Grand Meadow was 353 yards.

The Superlarks led 20-14 at the half.

Clevland/Immanuel Lutheran junior quarterback Carter Kopet was 22 of 34 for 238 yards and three touchdowns. It was the Clippers' first loss of the season.

Another Section 1 title holder repeated as state champion in Class 2A when the Caledonia Warriors had their way with Eden Valley-Watkins 61-12.

Junior quarterback Owen King threw for five touchdowns, one shy of the record held by Triton's Kirk Midthun in 1994. King was 17 of 25 for 328 yards and the Warriors amassed 523 total yards.

The game was not in doubt at the half with Caledonia ahead 40-0. The Warriors win their eighth state title and have won seven of them in the past 10 years. Eden Valley-Watkins suffered their second defeat of the season.

Class 4A Section 1 representative Winona came oh so close to continuing the Section 1 state dominance but fell to Benilde-St. Margaret's 31-28 in a great high school football game.

The Red Knights had three losses during the season but won the time of possession battle 31:06 to 16:54.

It did not look good for Benilde-St. Margaret's early when their leading rusher went down with an injury and was unable to return. Senior running back Ricky Floyd left the game in the first quarter and returned to the sidelines with his arm in a sling. Junior running back Liam Ford came in and ran the ball 18 times for 81 yards and two scores, including the game winner with 4:50 to go in the game.

Even though the Red Knights dominated in time of possession the stats were nearly  even. Winona had 132 yards on the ground and 198 through the air and Benilde finished with 188 rushing yards and 153 passing for totals of 330 and 341 respectively.

Another key state for BSM was their 7 of 18 third down conversions and 3 of 4 fourth down conversions in the game. Winona was 2 of 9 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down.

Senior running back Alex Franzwa had 105 yards rushing for the Winhawks on 10 carries.

Winona finished the season with two losses. It is the first title for Benilde-St. Margaret's in football.

The Class 6A title game featured unbeaten and top ranked Totino-Grace against Eden Prairie in a game featuring two Eagles teams. Totino-Grace opened the season with a 17-14 win over Eden Prairie and scored twice in the final 5:38 to win their 10th title 28-20.

Totino-Grace threw for 20 yards in the game and held Eden Prarie to 74 yards rushing. Eden Prairie finished with 155 yards through the air and Totino-Grace rolled up 263 yards on the ground. The difference in the game was two costly Eden Prairie turnovers.

Totino-Grace finished their season unbeaten and win their 10th title.

Eden Prairie led 7-0 after the first quarter and it was tied at 14 at the half. Eden Prairie scored the only touchdown of the fourth quarter to take a 14-7 lead into the final quarter.

After an Eden Prarie fumble scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:28 to go and added another with 1:30 to go. Eden Prairie had a 10-play 70-yard drive and scored on the last play of the game to make the final 28-20.

The final three games of the high school football season are Saturday at US Bank Stadium with the Minnesota High School All-Star Game scheduled for next Saturday.

Football helmet and ball
Yuriy Chaban
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