Conference Clear Ups: Twin City-Gold

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Coming up this week I will be previewing and "clearing up" some of the expectations and key players of different conferences around the Metro starting with my hometown Twin Cities. The first of the four Twin City conferences-Gold-contains six members: <em>Providence Academy</em>, <em>Mound Westonka</em>, <em>St. Paul Johnson</em>, <em>Minneapolis Patrick Henry</em>, <em>Minneapolis Southwest</em>, and <em>Academy Force</em>.</span> <span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;"><em>Providence Academy</em>: Coming off a perfect 9-0 regular season record and a 10-1 season, the Lions are looking to replace a talented senior class from the 2018 season. After graduating standouts such as Blue Grey All-American </span><strong style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Julian Cavin </strong><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;">and St. Cloud State signee</span><strong style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"> Dominic LaCombe</strong><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;">, Providence will need some big-time playmaking and leadership from rising seniors such as SS </span><strong style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Hakim Daniels </strong><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;">(6'2, 190) and LT </span><strong><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;">Henry Arlt </span></strong><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;">(6'5, 310) if they want to repeat as conference champs. </span> <span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;"><em>Mound Westonka</em>: Attempting to improve upon their 6-3 overall record while going 4-1 in-conference , the White Hawks have wealth of talented upperclassmen that will be hungry to build on the foundation that Minnesota Football Showcase participant and St. Olaf College signee <strong>Kristopher Kurtz</strong> and others built on and try to retain the conference crown. Look out for senior TE <strong>Isaiah Dempsey</strong> (6'2, 210) and RB <strong>Adam Nobs </strong>(5'10, 185) who both show good size and ability to play at the next level. </span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"><em>St. Paul Johnson</em>: The Governors are bouncing back after a 7-5 season that ended to state runner-up Wilmar 62-20. Led by senior DE <strong>Drake Teal </strong>(6'5, 215), who has recently picked up a plethora of Northern Sun offers, and MLB <strong>David Murray </strong>(6'0, 240), they have a good chance of improving upon that record. </span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;"><em>Patrick Henry</em>: Rising senior WR <b>Danelle</b> </span><strong>Straub</strong> (5'11, 170) and QB <strong>De'leon Gardner </strong>(6'2, 165) look to help the Patriots get some much needed in-conference wins, and have big chances during games against Humboldt and Harding in October.</span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"><em>Southwest</em>: The Lakers, my alma mater, are rolling off of an underperforming year but have a lot to be excited about. With senior RB hammer <strong>TK Marshall </strong>(5'11, 190) at the helm, who is carrying an NDSU offer, Southwest should very well improve upon last season with some help from other senior LBs <strong>Nate Mertes </strong>(5'11, 185) and <strong>Douglas Sutton </strong>(5'8, 185). They have also recently won the Jackrabbit Competition at SDSU's team camp a week ago.</span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"><em>Academy Force</em>: There is a lot to improve upon for Academy Force, but with a heavy dose of upperclassmen, as well as some beef on the OL with OT <strong>Will North </strong>(6'4, 210) and OG <strong>Camden </strong></span><span style="font-family: times new roman, times, serif;"><b>Hiestand </b>(6'3, 235), they also have some reasons to be excited. </span> &nbsp; &nbsp;