Bayside Chatter: Football season ends

Talk about it

The Mariners ended up with the No. 5 seed in Section 5 and a date at Hill City Tuesday – they lost 28-6. It seems the first criteria was win-loss record regardless of common opponents. Strength of schedule came only in the event of a tie, as I understand it. The Mariners finished the regular season at 2-5 and Hill City came in at 3-5. Hill City plays at McGregor Saturday.

Area football conference champions ended up as Virginia in the Sea-Range, Moose Lake/Willow River in the Great Polar White, East Central in the Great Polar Red, Mountain Iron-Buhl in the St. Louis County, and McGregor in the Great Northern. Thirty-three teams entered the sectional playoffs undefeated. Area teams that remain so are McGregor, Moose Lake, and Virginia. The top seeds in the area sectionals are McGregor and Mountain Iron-Buhl in nine-man, East Central in 7A, Moose Lake in 7AA, Virginia in 7AAA, and Bemidji in 7AAAA.

Volleyball

The Mariner volleyball team finished the regular season at 3-15 and opened subsection play Monday with a 3-0 home win against Ely. The Mariners came in as a No. 7 seed and Ely was No. 10. The Mariners went to No. 2 Babbitt-Embarrass Wednesday.

Cloquet won the Lake Superior Conference volleyball title with an unblemished record in conference play and Esko did so also in the Polar League. Why is it that there are so many fewer athletic conferences for the girls up north?

Hockey

Hockey season began today at Rukavina Arena with the power skating clinic. Girls high school hockey can officially begin with coaches Monday. The Mariners first game is Nov. 11 at the Duluth Heritage Center against Duluth Northern Stars. The boys cannot start practice with their coaches until Nov. 15. MyFoxHockey.com will be streaming 50 high school hockey games this season live for free.

Tags: bayside chatter, sports, football, hockey