Believe it or not, it is time for high school football.  The season begins next Friday night.  Locally, the Central Lakes Conference is ready for another fantastic, and competitive, season.

Last year, the Brainerd Warriors were the class of the league.  They finished the regular season a perfect (9-0), and made it all the way to the state semi-finals, where they eventually fell to Rosemount.  Included in that tremendous playoff run, were wins on the road, at Buffalo, at Moorhead, and at Eden Prairie.  They will, once again, be extremely tough to beat in the CLC.

The surprise of the Central lakes Conference last year was Sauk Rapids-Rice.  The Storm finished the regular season at (4-3) in the conference, only good enough for fifth place.  But the Storm went on an impressive post-season winning streak, with wins versus; Sartell-St. Stephen, Little Falls, and an overtime thriller against Alexandria.  The run eventually ended in the state quarter finals, at the hands of Totino Grace.  Most of the Storm will be back for the 2011 season.

The Sartell-St. Stephen Sabres only had one loss in league play during the regular season last year, and return several key players.  Alexandria is another team that is always in the mix come playoff time, and they especially have a big home field advantage when in Alexandria.

Willmar and Little Falls are both teams with a lot of potential, that let some games get away last year.  It wouldn't take much improvement for either one to be very big players in how the CLC standings unfold this year.

St. Cloud Tech and Rocori each finished up last year with a record of (2-7).  But both schools are loaded with great, young athletes - and both schools lost some close games last year, that could've went either way.

Apollo had only one win last year, and Fergus Falls went winless.  Both teams, however, are optimistic for great improvement in 2011.

It's going to be another great year of high school football in our St. Cloud area this season.  Make sure to follow, and support, your local team.

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