It seems that the high-school winter sports season drags on, from late November to late March, but the fall season flies by so quickly.

The eight-week regular season for football ended this week, and it seems like we’re still trying to get to know who plays where.

Most football folks figured that Mankato West would be pretty good but few could have figured that this inexperienced group would sail through an unbeaten season and win the first Big Nine Conference championship for the Scarlets. West is the defending state champion, or what senior lineman Colby Straka called “attacking” state champions.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (7-1) always seems to field a team capable of reaching the state tournament, but this squad was young and unproven. The Bucs have captured at least a share of another Gopher Valley 2A Conference championship, with surprising United South Central (6-1) also looking to grab a piece of the title. Section 2AA is always tough, but this season a five-win team won’t even get a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

At Belle Plaine, the preseason optimism was a little higher, with more proven talent returning, but in the tough Minnesota River Conference, it’s never easy. The victory over Holy Family Catholic had to be a big confidence boost for a squad that finished out an unbeaten regular season.

Top-rated New Ulm Cathedral (8-0) has had a pretty easy romp through the regular season, outscoring opponents 291-37 with four shutouts. But the Section 2A championship won’t come easy, given that Cathedral will have to go through Springfield (7-1), Le Center (7-1) and Mankato Loyola (5-2). Cathedral’s closest game of the season came in the opener, a 21-13 victory over Springfield.

Nicollet is the top seed in the Section 2, nine-man playoffs, meaning the Raiders could be poised for another state-tournament run. Nicollet has an offense that can be explosive, which is the name of the nine-man game.

Teams will start getting eliminated Tuesday as the section playoffs begin, and it won’t be long before games begin getting played at Metrodome. It seems like the season just began, but the most exciting games are still ahead.

Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.