Grand Rapids, Hermantown headline opening week of northeastern Minnesota football

The 2026 high school football season in northeastern Minnesota begins this week with a familiar measuring stick: Grand Rapids owns Section 7, Class 4A until somebody proves otherwise.

The Thunderhawks were 10-2 a year ago, swept through the Northeast Red District without a loss, outscored opponents 518-101 and reached the Class 4A state semifinals before losing 16-14 to Kasson-Mantorville. Their postseason included a 60-0 victory over Duluth Denfeld, a 41-0 shutout of Hermantown in the section championship and a 54-7 win over Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the state quarterfinals.

Grand Rapids begins its defense Thursday night, hosting Cloquet at 7 at Noble Hall Field. It is the first of several opening-week games that should begin sorting out a northeastern Minnesota football picture featuring established powers, experienced challengers and several programs attempting significant rebounds.

Hermantown enters the season as perhaps the most obvious threat to Grand Rapids in Section 7AAAA. The Hawks finished 8-2 last season and scored 430 points, averaging 43 per game, but both losses came against Grand Rapids. The Thunderhawks won the regular-season meeting 34-20 before dismantling Hermantown 41-0 in the section final.

The Hawks have enough returning production to believe the gap can close.

Senior running back Martin Sleen rushed for 1,908 yards and 29 touchdowns last season while averaging 11.8 yards per carry and has committed to North Dakota State. Senior quarterback Sawyer Senst passed for 709 yards and nine touchdowns, while linebacker Fletcher Wrazidlo recorded 125 tackles. Coach Mike Zagelmeyer also expects important contributions from Owen Simonson, Nathan Haedrich, Lane Holden, Neo Carlson and Grant Sharrow.

The most immediate question involves Senst, who spent the offseason recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus. He targeted the season opener for his return, but his readiness remains one of the variables Hermantown must work through as game conditions replace preseason practices.

Hermantown opens at Duluth Denfeld at 6 p.m. Friday in what should be one of the better games in the region this week. The Hawks beat the Hunters 52-7 in last year's opener, but Denfeld improved as the season progressed. The Hunters finished only 3-7, yet defeated Cloquet 25-7 in the regular-season finale and 18-12 in the opening round of the Section 7AAAA playoffs before Grand Rapids ended their season.

Zagelmeyer has made it clear he does not consider the opener a warmup for the larger games ahead.

“Denfeld has always been a challenge for us and we have had some great tilts in the past,” Zagelmeyer said during preseason camp.

That approach makes sense because the Northeast Red produced a wide separation between its top teams and everybody else last fall. Grand Rapids went 6-0 in district play, Hermantown was 5-1 and North Branch finished 4-2. Cloquet, Denfeld and Duluth East each won two district games, while Rock Ridge went winless in the district and 1-8 overall.

Cloquet gets the first opportunity to determine whether that order is changing.

The Lumberjacks travel to Grand Rapids on Thursday after finishing 3-6 last season. Their assignment could hardly be more direct. Grand Rapids beat Cloquet 46-8 in last year's opener and enters 2026 with the confidence of a program that controlled nearly every northeastern Minnesota opponent it faced. The Thunderhawks’ only defeats last season came against Bemidji and Kasson-Mantorville.

For Grand Rapids, the opener is less about defending a 2025 record than establishing whether the qualities that carried the Thunderhawks to U.S. Bank Stadium can survive roster turnover. The schedule will provide progressively larger tests, including Bemidji on Sept. 11, road games against Denfeld and Duluth East and an Oct. 2 home rematch against Hermantown.

Duluth East and Rock Ridge meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at East in another Northeast Red opener carrying a different set of questions.

East finished 3-6 last season but won three games after managing only one victory the previous year. The Greyhounds' 2025 season began with a 34-28 victory at Rock Ridge, and Thursday's game provides an immediate chance to establish whether that improvement continues. East's schedule becomes considerably more difficult after the opener, with Brainerd, Hermantown and Grand Rapids following over the next three weeks.

Rock Ridge has even more ground to make up. The Wolverines went 1-8 last season, with their lone victory a 20-0 shutout at Pine City. They lost six district games and allowed at least 33 points in seven of their nine games. Opening against an East team they pushed to six points last August gives Rock Ridge an early opportunity to demonstrate that its rebuild has moved forward.

The region's smaller-school programs may be every bit as interesting.

Moose Lake/Willow River opens at home against International Falls at 6 p.m. Thursday after another championship-caliber season. The Rebels won Section 7AA last fall, defeating Aitkin 28-0 in the championship game, before their season ended with a 30-14 loss to Eden Valley-Watkins in the state quarterfinals. They begin an eight-game regular season that includes Barnum, Aitkin, Crosby-Ironton and several familiar Northeast opponents.

Barnum also enters 2026 carrying championship credentials.

The Bombers were 10-2 last season, went 7-0 in the Northeast Silver and defeated Mountain Iron-Buhl 34-8 for the Section 7A championship before losing 57-14 to Breckenridge in the state quarterfinals. Barnum opens at home against Ely at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Mountain Iron-Buhl should remain directly in that conversation. The Rangers finished 8-3 last season and reached the Section 7A final after beating Braham 38-6 in the semifinals. They open Thursday at 7 p.m. against Cherry in Mountain Iron, a rematch of one of the most competitive early games from last season. Mountain Iron-Buhl escaped Cherry with a 36-34 victory in the 2025 opener.

Esko faces another revealing rematch when Pequot Lakes visits at 6 p.m. Thursday. Pequot Lakes beat Esko 27-7 in last year's opener and went on to reach the Section 7AAA championship game. The Eskomos eventually reached the section semifinals before losing 42-6 to Pierz. The opener should provide a useful indication of whether Esko is ready to close the distance on the section's strongest programs.

Elsewhere Thursday, Pine City visits Hibbing at 6 p.m., Proctor travels to Mora for a 6 p.m. game and Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin plays at Hinckley-Finlayson. South Ridge opens Friday at 5:30 p.m. at home against Verndale.

Opening week will not settle championships, but the region enters 2026 with several clearly defined standards.

Grand Rapids must show that last season's state-semifinal run represented something sustainable rather than the peak of one veteran roster. Hermantown must prove that spectacular offensive production can translate against the physical opponent that stopped it twice. Barnum and Moose Lake/Willow River begin with section championships to defend. Mountain Iron-Buhl remains close enough to Barnum to make another postseason meeting realistic. Esko has an immediate opportunity to measure itself against the team that controlled their matchup last August.

And several teams in the middle of the regional pack — Cloquet, Denfeld and Duluth East among them — have an opportunity to change the conversation quickly.

For Hermantown, that conversation eventually leads back to Oct. 2 and Grand Rapids. For everybody else, there is little reason to look that far ahead.

The football starts Thursday.