Meet seven Prep Bowl players to watch, one from each state championship football game

No other Minnesota high school sport competes across as many size classifications as football. Spread from small-town Nine-Player teams to the Class 6A behemoths, here are seven players — one from each class — to keep an eye on in this weekend’s Prep Bowl games.

Hills-Beaver Creek will have a tall task stopping — or, if it can’t do that, outpacing — Fertile-Beltrami senior running back Isaiah Wright. The state’s season leader in rushing touchdowns with 39, Wright rushed for a staggering seven touchdowns and 361 yards in the Falcons’ 60-33 semifinal win over LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli. Before that, he had four rushing touchdowns as Fertile-Beltrami beat Cromwell-Wright Area in the quarterfinals.

Wright isn’t just punching in points from the goal line; he has piled up 6,014 career rushing yards. Of his 11 state tournament touchdowns, nine were from 38 yards or more. He also snagged an interception against LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli and punted for the Falcons — only twice, on the rare occasion his team wasn’t rolling through first downs.

Only a sophomore, Springfield quarterback Parker Kuehn has put up 2,146 yards this season, good for eighth best in the state. In Springfield’s second-half semifinal comeback against Mahnomen/Waubun, Kuehn went 21 for 29 for 198 yards and two touchdowns.

When Kuehn is passing well — recording one of his five games with over 70% passing, let’s say — it takes some of the offensive load off explosive senior running back Gavin Vanderwerf.

Springfield and Minneota will meet in the Class 1A Prep Bowl for the third consecutive year. Springfield has yet to come out on top, but Kuehn hasn’t gotten his shot at Minneota as a starter yet.

Jackson County Central’s Gage Johnson — another sophomore — ran in three touchdowns in the Huskies’ 34-26 semifinal win over Kimball Area, but his defensive performance is what earns him the shoutout here.

A running back and linebacker, Johnson led the Huskies with six solo tackles to help hold Kimball Area to its lowest-scoring game of the season. Head coach Tom Schuller pointed to Johnson as one of the strongest players on a dominant Huskies defense that will face a Staples-Motley offense averaging 41 points per game.

Stewartville’s all-time leading scorer, senior receiver Parker Wangen did it all for the Tigers in their 33-20 semifinal win over Albany. The Minnesota State University-Mankato commit had two receiving touchdowns and added another on the ground, totaling 241 all-purpose yards when kick and punt returns are added in.

Wangen is a key offensive player to complement a staunch Tigers defense that conceded a combined 25 points through the start of the state tournament. Looking to win back-to-back titles, Stewartville faces Dassel-Cokato next.

Becker senior linebacker Landen Kujawa had 12 tackles to help hold Marshall to one score in the Bulldogs’ 28-7 semifinal win. Committed to Augustana for wrestling, Kujawa has 116 tackles for a defense that hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 15 points in a game this season.

Plus, Kujawa chips in, on average, over 55 yards rushing per game. He’ll look to help the Bulldogs shut down Totino-Grace and claim a fourth state title.

Elk River’s entire offensive line could probably make this list. It’s an instrumental part of the shifty Power T offense that the Elks have used to dominate opponents on the ground this season with an average of 436 rushing yards per game.

It might be the little details in footwork and blocking that make the Elks’ O-line work, but there’s nothing small about senior lineman Cooper Mansfield. At 6-11 and 300 pounds, Mansfield has played a big role in freeing up Elk River’s offensive threats, such as Brecken Keoraj, a senior running back averaging 122.7 yards on the ground.

The Elks face Alexandria in a rematch of their October meeting, which the Elks won 44-34.

A member of this year’s All-Minnesota team, senior linebacker Dylan Hudgens will have to come up big if the Skippers want to slow down undefeated Maple Grove’s all-important running back, Chuck Langama.

Hudgens leads the Skippers with 114 tackles this season and had a team-best seven tackles — two for loss — in Minnetonka’s 48-27 semifinal win over Anoka.

In Minnetonka’s 31-21 October loss to Maple Grove, Hudgens had a season-low four tackles. If the speedy South Dakota commit can limit the Maple Grove backfield, he could help make the difference in this Prep Bowl rematch, with a second state title on the line for the Skippers.