The Owatonna football team’s 2024 schedule was made public recently and barely made a ripple.
Let’s just say it was a far cry from last year.
After seeing its entire regular season schedule, district alignment and postseason bracket completely overhauled by the Minnesota State High School League last offseason, the Huskies’ 2024 release certainly didn’t provoke as much initial attention and ongoing buzz, but is still a relevant topic, especially in a community like Owatonna where all Huskies’ football news is big news.
Alright, on to the details.
According to the Owatonna High School’s official online activities scheduling database, the Huskies will square off against the same eight opponents — and play them in the exact same order — as they did last fall in what will be second year in the MSHSL’s ongoing biennial competitive review process. The only difference this year is that OHS will swap home sites with each opponent and kick off the season a day earlier on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Hastings at McNamara Stadium. Last year, they opened on a Friday night in the first game at the new Federated Field.
The remaining schedule will follow the normal Friday night pattern through Week 7 and, per usual, wrap up on a Wednesday night.
The Huskies’ undefeated 6-0 start on their new home turf will be put to the ultimate test right away as they host the defending Class AAAAA state champions from Chanhassen in their home-opener in Week 2 on Sept. 6. Owatonna — which finished 4-0 in Northstar District-Maroon action and captured the Section 1 -AAAAA title last season — will also play key home games against section rival Northfield in Week 4 and state powerhouse, Mankato West, in Week 6 for homecoming before capping the regular season on a short week against Apple Valley on Oct. 16
After starting the season with a 59-mile road trip to Hastings, Owatonna’s three remaining road contests consist of a pair of 40-mile treks west to Rochester (Century and John Marshall) and a 45-mile hike north to New Prague.
Owatonna’s eight regular season opponents finished with a combined .550 winning percentage last season.
Next offseason, the MSHSL will re-examine the classification cutoffs in all sports — including football — and Owatonna’s schedule will be reshuffled once again and likely re-introduce Rochester Mayo into the Huskies’ district and section after a two-year hiatus.
According to the latest numbers compiled by the MSHSL prior to last season, Mayo’s recent enrollment spike forced the football program to elevate to Class AAAAAA for the 2023 and 2024 seasons and currently sits as is the smallest of the 32 teams in the group. Meanwhile, the largest Class AAAAA football school, Moorhead, is growing rapidly and has 1,064 combined students in its current freshman and sophomore classes compared to Mayo’s 946 students in those grades.
THE HUSKY BULLETIN 
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