The 2022 postseason marks the 50th year that the League has used a playoff system for football
Posted: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - 1:29 PM
Fifty-six football programs from member schools will begin a three-week journey to what they hope will result in a Prep Bowl championship.
The quarterfinals will be played over three days this week, beginning on Thursday, Nov. 10 and concluding on Saturday, Nov. 12. Winners advance to the semifinals that will be played indoors at U.S. Bank Stadium from Thursday, Nov. 17 through Saturday, Nov. 19. After a two-week, Super Bowl-type break, the League’s Prep Bowl Championship Series will be played on Dec. 2 and 3. It is the first time in League history that football championship games have been played in December.
The 2022 postseason marks the 50th year that the League has used a playoff system for football.
Since the early 1890’s, Minnesota high schools have played football with grit, passion and unbridled camaraderie, traits that still are ever-present today. The game then had everything you see in today’s game: dazzling plays, powerful tackles, muddy uniforms and toothy grins following a victory.
But one major thing was missing: A state tournament.
Without a formalized state tournament and governing body to direct it, there was no champion. But that didn’t stop the annual proclamations.
- On Nov. 4, 1893, Minneapolis Central defeated Duluth, 26-8, for what everyone believed was the high school football state crown. But that result drew controversy when The Duluth Evening Tribune reported that “Minneapolis Central “rang in” some of the University (of Minnesota) players, who made great runs.”
- In 1900, when Minneapolis Central was unbeaten in nine games, outscoring the opposition 291-5, the Pioneers proclaimed they were the “champions of the Northwest.”
- Seven years, later, Minneapolis North claimed it was the best by going 7-0 and outscoring the opposition 237-0, including two victories over college teams, St. John’s and Hamline.
- In 1922, Rochester defeated Duluth Denfeld 14-0 in a much-ballyhooed game and loudly proclaimed it was Minnesota’s high school state champion.
Rochester’s victory prompted the Minnesota State High School Athletic Association, the precursor to the Minnesota State High School League, to issue a resolution stating,
“Contests to determine state high championships in football, whether official or unofficial, are prohibited by the rules of the Association. The scheduling of a football game after November first with an undefeated team from another section of the state shall be considered prima facie evidence of a violation of this rule and shall render a school liable to suspension from the association.”
Throughout the next decades, despite the urging of notable voices like University of Minnesota football coach Bernie Bierman, a football playoff system was not adopted. In 1947, Ted Peterson, a reporter from the Minneapolis Tribune began naming a mythical state champion until 1972.
Through a partnership with the Minnesota Football Coaches Association, a playoff format for football was approved in 1971 and implemented in 1972. The inaugural plan had the 477 member schools of the Minnesota State High School League divided into five classes. Four teams in each class competed in that debut tournament.
Here were your first official football state champions:
- Class Nine-Man --- Rothsay
- Class C --- Gaylord
- Class B --- Mountain Iron
- Class A --- Burnsville
- Class AA --- Minneapolis Washburn
The Class AA championship game was played at Metropolitan Stadium in front of more than 16,000 fans. Minneapolis Washburn defeated Richfield 26-8 for the Millers’ 46th consecutive victory and extended their unbeaten streak to 60 games.
Fast forward to 2022 and the Minnesota State High School League is celebrating the 40th edition of the Prep Bowl Championship Series. This multiple-game football championship game extravaganza has been the ultimate destination for football teams when they begin each season’s journey. The Prep Bowl Era began play in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in 1982 with the intention of bringing Minnesota’s best football teams under one roof.
Attendance for the first Prep Bowl was 42,610.
The 10-year prelude to the Prep Bowl were championship games that were not only played outdoors, but also played with a sense of grateful thanks for the decades-long wait for an official playoff system to be implemented.
Those first 10 years of playoff football serve as an important piece of Minnesota State High School League history. Fifty years ago, a playoff system laid the groundwork for the excitement and pageantry that we now know as the Prep Bowl.
Information for this year's state tournament including brackets, tickets, apparel and online programs can be found here.
