MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - It looks like the days of large public schools holding a monopoly on high school football are ending.
Cretin-Derham Hall (5A), Totino-Grace (4A) and DeLaSalle (3A) - all private schools - will travel to the Metrodome this weekend to play in championship games.
That marks the first time in the 35-year history of the Minnesota Prep Bowl that a private school will compete in each of the top three championship games. Cretin will take on No. 1-rated Eden Prairie, Totino-Grace will face Mahtomedi and DeLaSalle will play Glencoe-Silver Lake.
Private schools have always been competitive in the lower classes, but few have been able to compete against the top teams. In fact, a private school has won just one championship in the state's highest tier - Cretin, in 1999.
It's not hard to see why.
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Cretin has 1,319 students in grades 9-12. Eden Prairie, whom they will face in the championship game, has more than twice as many students, 3,229.
The Raiders are the only private school team competing in class 5A, and nearly all the schools they compete against are larger. Yet they are perennially one of the top teams in the state, using a quality-over-quantity formula.
That quality includes an abundance of talent, including four of the top eight Rivals.com 2008 recruits - Michael Floyd (1), Joe Schafer (4), Shady Salamon (6) and John Nance (8).
Private schools, while often overmatched in terms of enrollment, do have an advantage in attracting talent because they can recruit players from their surrounding communities. New rules by the Minnesota State High School League make it difficult for athletes to transfer between public schools.
In 4A, private schools like Totino-Grace, St. Thomas Academy and Holy Angels have steadily built prominence the past few years. At least one of them has appeared in the 4A championship game each of the past four years, three of which have been won by Totino-Grace.
PREVIEWS:
9-Man, Stephen-Argyle Central (12-0) vs. Waubun (11-0):
Stephen-Argyle Central is carrying one of the most prolific streaks in Minnesota football history into the game, having not lost since 2002 - a streak of 66 games. Ironically, that streak started against Waubun in their 2003 season opener. No team has gotten within two touchdowns of the Storm, who have outscored opponents 441-127 this season.
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Class 1A, Goodhue (12-1) vs. Adrian (11-2):
Goodhue comes in as defending champions, finishing the season ranked eighth in the AP Poll. Adrian finished unranked, but they dominated No. 5 Cook County 21-0 in the semifinals.
Class 2A, Caledonia (12-1) vs. Luverne (12-1):
Luverne is playing in its eighth state tournament, but has never won. They have one of their best opportunities this year, playing a Caledonia team that barely made it past the quarterfinals. 2A is the only class in the tournament in which the defending champion will not be playing in the title game.
Class 3A, DeLaSalle (11-2) vs. Glencoe-Silver Lake (13-0):
Top-ranked Glencoe-Silver Lake is the defending champion. Their six consecutive tournament appearances make the Panthers one of the most experienced in teams in the field. In contrast, DeLaSalle has no players on its current roster who have played in the Prep Bowl - their last appearance came in 1999 when they won the title.
Class 4A, Mahtomedi (10-3) vs. Totino-Grace (12-1):
This game features the only two teams who have won 4A titles in the past four years. Totino-Grace, the defending champions, shut out Mahtomedi 21-0 earlier this season.
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Class 5A, Cretin-Derham Hall (13-0) vs. Eden Prairie (13-0):
This is one of the most anticipated matchups in the history of the Prep Bowl, and a rare matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams. Cretin has the Division I recruits, but many are saying this year's Eden Prairie squad, which has outscored opponents 535-90, may be the best in the history of the program.
