Five offenses to watch in 2020

With – hopefully – the official start of high school football season right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to take a look around the state and try to identify some offenses to watch during the 2020 season. To make my selections, I kept it to five offenses – some are obvious to people who watch Minnesota high school football closely – at least one – might not. I picked the teams based on how effective their offense was last season and, even more importantly, looked at who is projected to come back and be a part of the offense again in 2020. With offensive linemen, it was a little tough to pinpoint all the potential returning starters. For this story, I considered the offensive linemen prepredzone.com have highlighted in our rankings. Totino-Grace Projected returning starters [player_tooltip player_id="18031" first="Joe" last="Alt"] – OL [player_tooltip player_id="18035" first="Kristoff" last="Kowalkowski"] – QB [player_tooltip player_id="18158" first="Luke" last="Rooker"] – OL Hunter Carlson – RB – JR All successful offenses start with the offensive line and the quarterback. If an offense is lacking in either area, it is likely they will struggle or be inconsistent. The Eagles are in good shape on both accounts. They feature one of the top offensive linemen in the state with Notre Dame commit [player_tooltip player_id="18031" first="Joe" last="Alt"] and can add to that another talented big man in [player_tooltip player_id="18158" first="Luke" last="Rooker"]. [player_tooltip player_id="18035" first="Kristoff" last="Kowalkowski"] has emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the state and will benefit from playing behind what should be a strong offensive line. Behind Kowalkowski, last season’s second-leading rusher, Hunter Carlson, returns to take some pressure off the passing game. After a slow start offensively last season, the Eagles found their stride down the stretch – scoring at least 24 points – in five of their final six games. Annandale Projected returning starters [player_tooltip player_id="18028" first="Logan" last="Purcell"] OL [player_tooltip player_id="18078" first="Isaac" last="Hagstrom"] OL [player_tooltip player_id="18137" first="Landon" last="Jones"] QB [player_tooltip player_id="18118" first="Drew" last="Conte"] OL Riley Niedzielski – RB While the Eagles are bringing back two potential star offensive linemen, the Cardinals are bringing back three. All three will likely be playing on Saturdays in 2021. [player_tooltip player_id="18028" first="Logan" last="Purcell"] has already committed to Minnesota, and his two classmates, [player_tooltip player_id="18078" first="Isaac" last="Hagstrom"] and [player_tooltip player_id="18118" first="Drew" last="Conte"], both have received interest from DI and DII schools. They also return their leading rusher from last season – Riley Niedzielski. Although Annandale relies on the ground game – it never hurts to return the starting quarterback from an 11-2, state semi-final team – [player_tooltip player_id="18137" first="Landon" last="Jones"]. A year earlier, these athletes were part of an offense that scored 40 or more points six times. Minneapolis North Projected returning starters [player_tooltip player_id="18033" first="Terrance" last="Kamara"] RB [player_tooltip player_id="18034" first="Dominic" last="McMillian"] ATH [player_tooltip player_id="18066" first="Zach" last="Yeager"] QB [player_tooltip player_id="18197" first="John" last="Collins Jr."] OL [player_tooltip player_id="23696" first="CJ" last="Brown"] TE [player_tooltip player_id="18424" first="Mario" last="Sanders"] WR [player_tooltip player_id="18439" first="Jaheim" last="Abdullah"] WR [player_tooltip player_id="18535" first="Quiyon" last="Jordan"] OL [player_tooltip player_id="18561" first="Chester" last="Watley"] OL The Polars look to be loaded on offense again this season. Last year they scored at least 48 points in half their regular-season games. The scariest thing about last year is this year they might be even better. I am always going to start with the offensive line, and the Polars return three outstanding starters in [player_tooltip player_id="18197" first="John" last="Collins Jr."], [player_tooltip player_id="18535" first="Quiyon" last="Jordan"], and [player_tooltip player_id="18561" first="Chester" last="Watley"]. They also return one of the best quarterbacks in Minnesota with [player_tooltip player_id="18066" first="Zach" last="Yeager"]. Yeager should be protected by his offensive line, but he will also have an embarrassment of riches at the skill positions. [player_tooltip player_id="18033" first="Terrance" last="Kamara"] is one of the state’s most explosive backs and [player_tooltip player_id="18034" first="Dominic" last="McMillian"] – although primarily a defensive player – and [player_tooltip player_id="18424" first="Mario" last="Sanders"] return as threats on the outside. [player_tooltip player_id="23696" first="CJ" last="Brown"] and [player_tooltip player_id="18439" first="Jaheim" last="Abdullah"] will likely have more significant roles in the offense this year too. Caledonia Projected returning starters [player_tooltip player_id="18122" first="Dalen" last="Lemke"] RB [player_tooltip player_id="18182" first="Andrew" last="Kunelius"] WR [player_tooltip player_id="18422" first="Eli" last="King"] QB [player_tooltip player_id="18451" first="Thane" last="Meiners"] RB Skye Welch OL When you have not lost in your last 68 games – you are doing something right on the offensive side of the ball. The Warriors dominated on both sides of the ball – as usual. Last year the offense scored over 40 points six times during the regular season and three times in the playoffs. They return a ton of firepower – including one of the best multi-sport athletes in the state – [player_tooltip player_id="18422" first="Eli" last="King"]. A wide receiver and defensive back, most expect the junior to make the switch to quarterback. Wherever he plays, he will be a handful. They also return two of their top guys in the backfield in [player_tooltip player_id="18122" first="Dalen" last="Lemke"] and [player_tooltip player_id="18451" first="Thane" last="Meiners"]. If King moves to quarterback, the offense will still feature a solid receiver in [player_tooltip player_id="18182" first="Andrew" last="Kunelius"]. There will be some turnover on the offensive line, but Skye Welch returns to anchor the front five. Farmington Projected returning starters [player_tooltip player_id="18037" first="Elijah" last="Green"] WR [player_tooltip player_id="18104" first="Zac" last="Janz"] RB [player_tooltip player_id="18073" first="Isaac" last="Ask"] WR [player_tooltip player_id="18069" first="Alex" last="Barreth"] QB [player_tooltip player_id="18123" first="Quincy" last="Mabin"] OL [player_tooltip player_id="18431" first="Zach" last="Cochnauer"] OL [player_tooltip player_id="22933" first="Jake" last="Cochnauer"] WR The Tigers only won five games last season, but with their spread offense, and the talent they have coming back on the offensive side of the ball, Farmington will be an offense to watch in 2020. In their five wins, they scored at least 34 points – toping 40 points twice. If they can keep that offensive pace going against the top teams on their schedule, they could be tough to handle. [player_tooltip player_id="18037" first="Elijah" last="Green"], [player_tooltip player_id="18073" first="Isaac" last="Ask"], and [player_tooltip player_id="22933" first="Jake" last="Cochnauer"] form one of the state’s deepest wide receiver cores. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="18069" first="Alex" last="Barreth"] is back to throw them the ball, and so is his backfield mate and leading rusher [player_tooltip player_id="18104" first="Zac" last="Janz"]. The Tigers will have to fill some possible holes on the offensive line but return two starters, [player_tooltip player_id="18431" first="Zach" last="Cochnauer"] and [player_tooltip player_id="18123" first="Quincy" last="Mabin"].