Willmar is hoping to earn itself a break.

Going into Thursday’s regular-season finale at Becker, the Cardinals’ postseason path became much clearer Monday morning. The first QRF rating was released by Minnesota-Scores.net.

While Willmar is ranked seventh overall in Class AAAA, they are third in the five-team Section 8AAAA behind a pair of undefeated teams in Grand Rapids (first in QRF) and Rocori (third). Like the Cardinals, Detroit Lakes is 4-1. But, the Lakers’s QRF score is fourth in the section (17th overall), which sets the Lakers up with a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, Nov. 17 against fifth-seeded Little Falls.

So Thursday’s goal is simple: win, then wait for the section semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 21.

“The great thing is, we control our own destiny with how we perform,” said Willmar head coach Jon Konold. “If we take care of our business and win on Thursday, I assume we’ll have the bye.”

But a win over Becker is hardly a given. The Bulldogs are led by coach Dwight Lundeen, who is the only head coach in school history and sits third in state history with 369 career wins.

While the Bulldogs come into Thursday’s game at 2-2, their losses have come in competitive games against Rocori on Oct. 30 (14-13) and Hutchinson last Friday (20-7).

Becker is also the stingiest defense in the North Central White district at 11.8 points allowed per game.

“They return all 11 starters from last year’s team,” Konold said of the Bulldogs’ defense. “They’re not the biggest as far as size wise, but they’re quick and extremely aggressive.”

While Hutchinson was able to rattle off 231 rushing yards on Becker in last week’s win, the Bulldogs managed to hold Big Lake (27) and Rocori (70) to less than 100 yards on the ground. None of Becker’s four opponents have broken 250 yards of total offense.

The Bulldogs’ 3-4 defense has proven to be versatile, according to Konold.

“It depends on who they’re playing. Against Rocori, they blitzed a ton and against Hutch, not so much,” Konold said. “We expect a fair number of blitzes. … They do multiple things along their front that causes trouble.”

High School Football: Willmar Cardinals finish off No. 1 Hutchinson Tigers

In the secondary, Konold is looking for a more efficient passing attack to counteract Becker’s man-to-man pass defense.

“Our receivers, if they have an opportunity one-on-one, they have to win some battles and our quarterbacks have to put it on the money,” Konold said.

On defense, Willmar’s goal is to not get burned on play-action passes.

“They seem to have one or two kids out wide at 6-(foot)-2 and 6-3 and they’re able to get some jump balls,” Konold said. “We’ll need to stop their run game, and on their play-action, make sure our linebackers and secondary are reading their keys well.”

High School Football: Sorting out the sections

Konold continued, “Their number one back is tough to bring down. Their quarterback is a sophomore and he’s an athletic kid with a strong arm. They run counters and sweeps and like to throw deep to get the wide receivers into play.”

High School Football: This Willmar Cardinal has gotten bigger and better

Elsewhere in the section:

• Grand Rapids hosts Hibbing at 6 p.m. Thursday.

• Rocori faces Hutchinson at 5 p.m. Thursday at Monticello High School.

• Detroit Lakes hits the road for a 6 p.m. game Wednesday at Pequot Lakes.

• Little Falls travels to Princeton for a 7 p.m. game on Thursday.

For late results

Check out the West Central Tribune’s E-edition at Epaper@wctrib.com for coverage from Tuesday’s night high school activities, including prep volleyball matches involving Rocori at Willmar and Annandale at New London-Spicer.