The New Prague Trojan football team lost its regular season finale to Owatonna Wednesday, Oct. 17, 55-13. The Trojans (1-7) will open the Section 2AAAAA playoffs Tuesday, Oct. 23, as the No. 6 seed and travel to No. 3 seed Mankato West (7-1).
The defending state champion Huskies, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA, took a quick lead, scoring on a 70-yard run on its first possession, then after an interception, scoring again to lead 13-0 before the game was two minutes old. They led 41-0 after one quarter and 55-0 at halftime.
The Trojans scored on their first possession of the second half on a 64-yard pass from Parker Johnson to Karson Mulvihill. They scored again in the fourth quarter on a quarterback sneak by Matt Zweber.
West received the No. 3 seed for the section playoffs despite having a better record than No. 2 Chanhassen. Section 2AAAAA uses the MSHSL's Quality Ratings Formula (QRF), which uses a team's record and strength of schedule to rank teams.
In the other first round game No. 4 Chaska (5-3) hosts No. 5 Bloomington Jefferson (2-6). Semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 27, will have the Chaska-Jefferson winner at No. 1 Waconia (7-1) and the Mankato West-New Prague winner at Chanhassen (6-2).
The section championship game on Friday, Nov. 2, will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.