Football schedule preview: Holdingford has winnable schedule; EV-W looms

HOLDINGFORD – Football season is finally here and Holdingford will soon be back in action after a Section 5-2A championship loss to Class 2A champion Eden Valley-Watkins.

The Minnesota high school football season starts Thursday, August 29 and the football Huskers are hoping to recreate or improve on a 2023 record of 7-4 record. This year Holdingford’s schedule is back-heavy with Weeks 1-4 featuring four-straight games against teams that had a losing record last season.

The Huskers close their regular season with a showdown on Oct. 16 playing defending Class 2A champion Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles beat the Holdingford twice last year by a combined score of 100-19.

Below, let's take a quick look at this year’s contest, and others across Holdingford's 2024 football schedule.

Non-section road matchup with Osakis

The Huskers are hoping to be fully tuned up before their Week 5 Sept. 27 game against the team that gave them their first loss last year. Osakis beat Holdingford 34-22 in 2023, finishing with a record of 9-2 and winning the Section 6-2A tournament without too much difficulty. They shut out Wadena-Deer Creek in the semifinal and beat Staples-Motley in the championship 42-13.

The Silverstreaks lost a state quarterfinal by eight points to runner-up Barnesville.

Homecoming section semifinal rematch against Kimball

Last year Holdingford got the last laugh – the team beat No. 2 seed Kimball in the section semifinal 34-26 on Oct. 28, but during the regular season the Cubs cleared the Huskers 30-28 at home. This year the former Central Minnesota Conference rivals will meet Oct. 4 during the regular season

Season finale versus Eden Valley-Watkins

Holdingford's last game has a lot of gravity. More than any of the previous eight games the result will tell us if Holdingford can compete for a section or maybe a state title. On paper the Huskers won't even need to win Week 8 for anything but seeding, but the boxscore can often show more than numbers. The Eagles beat Holdingford 56-6 in last year's final regular-season game, foreshadowing a section final which had a deficit the Huskers at least cut to 31.

Kimball gave EV-W it's closest game last year, and the undefeated Eagles still won by 12. Eden Valley-Watkins won the state title 24-6 after scoring 60 and 42 points in the first two rounds of the state tournament. The Eagles offense averaged 44 points per game last year and its defense gave up less than four. Cannon Falls was the only team to core more than two touchdowns against EV-W. It lost in the semifinal 42-24.

Full Schedule

Each team's 2023 record is noted in parentheses.

Aug. 29 Sauk Centre (3-7) at Sauk Centre High School

Sept. 6 Royalton (3-7) at Holdingford High School

Sept. 13 St. Cloud Cathedral (4-6) at Saint John's University

Sept. 20 Maple Lake (0-9) at Holdingford High School

Sept. 27 Osakis (9-2) at Osakis High School

Fri Oct. 4 Kimball (6-3) at Holdingford High School (Homecoming)

Oct. 11 Paynesville (1-8) at Holdingford High School

Oct. 16 Eden Valley-Watkins (13-0) at Eden Valley Watkins High School

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Football schedule preview: Holdingford has winnable schedule; EV-W looms