Annandale 2023 Schedule Released

Cardinal fans who thought they could pencil in all of Annandale’s 2023 opponents in football got a little surprise when this season’s schedule was released. Changes always seem to follow the realignment that the Minnesota State High School League goes through every two years. During this process a school’s class is determined - and in football with 7 different classes, that could mean a lot of movement depending on enrollment. The other key figure when determining class are those students on free and reduced lunch. (Side note, and a future story, it will be interesting to see how the MSHSL handles this moving forward as the state government approved free lunch for all students during the last legislative session.)

Though Annandale stayed put remaining in Class AAA, and in their same competitive section, there was a major addition to the section - St. Cloud Apollo High School. Apollo High School, situated just off Highway 15 on St. Cloud’s north side sports and enrollment of 1327 students. Until this upcoming season the Eagles had played class AAAAA football, and faced off against the likes of Hutchinson, Delano, Sartell, and St. Cloud Tech, this year, they will play in Class AAA. Annandale by comparison has an enrollment of 583. The other number that makes for a striking comparison, according to US News and World Report Best High Schools Report, 54% percent of the students who attend Apollo are “economically disadvantaged”; in Annandale just 13% of the High School enrollment falls into the same category.

You may have guessed as I’ve devoted a whole paragraph to Apollo that they are on Annandale’s 2023 schedule - their addition is even more meaningful as they even out Section 5AAA. In recent years there have been only 7 teams in the section, creating a first round bye for the number one seed come playoff time - an advantage Annandale has enjoyed several times over recent years. Now no matter who gets the number one seed, each team will play in the first round on the Tuesday following MEA.

The Cardinals regular season schedule had some major changes as well, shifting away from many traditional rivalries. Let’s take a look at Annandale’s schedule week by week.

Week 1, September 1st vs Litchfield - Annandale finished the regular season and continued their dominance in the “Battle for the Paddle” with a 35-6 victory over the Dragons. Litchfield is always tough, and returns a number of players from last years team. I agree with the couple of players I’ve talked with, week 1 isn’t when you would like to see a motivated Litchfield team, but you have to play them where they are.

Week 2, September 8 at Breck - Is this basketball season? Annandale has had quite a rivalry over the years with the Mustangs on the hardwood, but to my knowledge have never played them in football. Breck finished last season as the number one seed in Section 4AAA, with a 3-5 overall regular season record (Section 4AA had just 4 teams in it). On paper, this should be a fairly easy win for the Cardinals. Games aren’t played on paper though, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Cards handle their first road game in a place they’ve never played before.

Week 3, September 15 at Spectrum - Annandale did not face Spectrum last season; the Storm did however finish as the two seed in 5AAA with a 5-3 record before falling to #7 Foley in the first round of the playoffs. The most notable recent matchup was when Spectrum played Annandale in the 2021 section finals, with Annandale winning 57-25.

Week 4, September 22 vs Milaca - The rivalry with Milaca continues to grow each year it seems. Last year it was a heartbreaker of a loss in the section semifinals as Milaca held on to a two point win - 36-34 in overtime to end Annandale’s season. Milaca won a thriller this spring as well against the basketball team to end their season. Annandale is due for a big win. I think there’s a good possibility the section comes down to these two teams, a win here would provide some big confidence to this Cardinal team as they end the first half of the season. Annandale will also be inducting the newest members of the CAF Hall of Fame this night - always a special night on the football field.

Week 5, September 29 vs Glencoe-Silver Lake - It’s Homecoming! It’s also another big game against a traditional rival. The Panthers have been down in recent years, but they’re still G-SL. Last season Annandale defeated the Panthers 24-0 on the road. By this game we’ll have a much better idea how both of these teams will look down the stretch.

Week 6, October 6 at Apollo - It’s time for those Eagles I keep talking about. To be fair, I did spend 8 years working at Apollo in the SPED department, so going back to Apollo is going to be a different experience - kind of like when Annandale still played Delano. Now to the football side of things. Apollo scored 20 points during the regular season. Total. The Eagles finished winless and were shut out in 6 of their 8 regular season games. As coach Walter said, they were a bad AAAA team, we’ll see how they look this season playing AAA schools.

Week 7, October 13 Foley - The Falcons surprised everyone last season. Foley underperformed throughout the season, earning the 7 seed in the section, before pulling off a pair of upsets to end up in the section title game, falling to Milaca. The Falcons have always seemed to play Annandale tough, and this could be a big game for seeding.

Week 8, October 18 at New London-Spicer - Did you watch the AAA Prep Bowl? Did you see the play and player from the Wildcats who ended up on ESPN’s Sports Center? He was a junior. A lot of the NLS team were juniors. Not only are they heavy favorites in this game, and the District, I’ve got to believe they are the favorite to repeat as back to back state Champs. Pair all of that with the fact that it’s a Wednesday game on the short week of MEA, I look at this as an opportunity to rest some nagging injuries and get ready to make a run in the Section. You can beat NLS when you see them again at US Bank Stadium.

My Early Prediction? With this schedule I see the Cards going 6-2 on the regular season, with a good chance to be top 2 in the section.