1. MOORHEAD (4-0)
POWER PROFILE: The largest school on this list is making some serious noise in what will almost certainly be the its last season competing Class 5A before being forced to elevate to 6A at the beginning of 2025. In four games thus far, the Spuds have yet to square off against a team below .500 and have dismantled all challenges with relative ease, out-scoring the competition by nearly five touchdowns per game. Moorhead claimed a mythical state title during the COVID-shortened season of 2020 and appears poised to make a run at some real hardware this season. Look out.
QRF RANK: No. 1
MN FB HUB: No. 2
UP NEXT: at St. Cloud Tech (2-2)
FUN FACT: Moorhead had more students in grades 9-10 than eight high schools currently competing in Class 6A.
2. ALEXANDRIA (4-0)
The Cardinals have been nearly as dominant as fellow northern Minnesota powerhouse, Moorhead, and have proven that this year’s group is as good as any of the best they’ve ever had , and perhaps even better. Notably, Alexandria began the season with back-to-back wins over Chaska and Monticello, both by an identical 24-7 final scores, and followed by ringing up 105 points in Weeks 3 and 4. Yeah, these guys are for real.
QRF: No. 2
MN FB HUB: No. 1
UP NEXT: vs. Brainerd (2-2)
FUN FACT: In the Prep Bowl Era beginning in 1982, Alexandria has competed in one state title game, losing to Anoka in the “big school” (Class 2A) title in 1994.
3. OWATONNA (4-0)
A combination of an elite defense and the dazzling talents of superstar senior, Nolan Ginskey, have propelled the Huskies to their first 4-0 start since 2019. Owatonna’s gutsy win over Chanhassen is looking better and better each week as the Storm have posted back-to-back shutout performances since losing to the Huskies, 21-7, and in Week 2. Additionally, Owatonna’s 50-7 drubbing of Hastings isn’t looking too shabby either as the Raiders have taken down Mahtomedi and Bloomington Jefferson in consecutive outings.
QRF RANK: No. 3
MN FB HUB: No. 3
UP NEXT: at Rochester Century (0-4)
FUN FACT: Owatonna High School has 98 more students in its current freshman class (403) than it does in its senior class (306)
4. ANDOVER (3-1)
No, Andover is not undefeated. Yes, they deserve to be this high in the Bulletin Power Poll. Bottom line, there isn’t a team in Class 5A with a better set of wins than the Huskies’ victories over previously No. 1-ranked Elk River and top 10 powerhouse Mankato West. Not only that, but their only loss came at the hands of 2023 state runner-up, St. Thomas Academy, by a single touchdown in Week 1.
QRF RANK: No. 6
MN FB HUB: No. 4
UP NEXT: at Spring Lake Park (2-2)
FUN FACT: Andover High School’s enrollment has been steadily growing in recent years and is another candidate to move up to Class 6A when the MSHSL re-evaluates its competitive tiers for the next two-year cycle beginning in the fall of 2025.
5. MANKATO WEST (3-1)
It might not possess as much devastating firepower and sheer volume f blue chip talent as many of the Scarlet of the previous two decades, but Mankato West is still Mankato West. After dropping to .500 for the first time in almost exactly five years following a hard-fought loss to Andover in Week 2, the Scarlets reeled off back-to-back wins over a pair of talented opponents — Waconia and Chaska — by the exact same final margin, 17-14.
QRF RANK: No. 9
MN FB HUB: No. 7
UP NEXT: vs. Chanhassen (2-2)
FUN FACT: Since 2014, Mankato West has competed in three Class 5A Prep Bowls and captured six Section 2-5A titles
6. ELK RIVER (3-1)
Rising to the top of the initial statewide Class AAAAA poll thanks to a sizzling start that saw the Elks out-score their first three opponents by an average final of 49-16, Andover crashed the party in Week 4 on Elk River’s turf and ran away with a 47-31 victory. This isn’t the first time the Elks have been stung by an elite offense during their ascendance to the top of the Class AAAAA mountain, and a single loss to a great team isn’t going to rattle them as they charge toward the second half of their schedule.
QRF RANK: No. 12
MN FB HUB: No. 6
UP NEXT: at Sauk Rapids-Rice (3-1)
FUN FACT: Elk River has allowed more point-per-game (32.1) than any team in the current Bulletin Power Poll
7. ST. THOMAS ACADEMY (3-1)
Unlike the six spots ahead of them, there are numerous teams that have a reasonable argument to be ranked this high in the initial 2024 Power Poll — and none were beaten as badly as the Cadets were by Waconia (28 points) in Week 2. Ultimately, though, it was their 28-21 victory over Andover that gave them the edge.
QRF RANK: No. 10
MN FB HUB: No. 9
UP NEXT: at Robbinsdale Armstrong (4-0)
FUN FACT: Since the first Prep Bowl in 1982, St. Thomas Academy is winless in five trips to the championship games. It’s only state title came in 1974 when the it defeated St. Peter, 21-14, in the Class A — the second-largest of the five levels at the time.
8. BEMIDJI (3-1)
Flying just south of the upper-tier contenders on this list, yet rising comfortably north of the majority of teams in Class AAAAA sits a Lumberjacks squad that beat a tough Monticello team in Week 1 and won a pair of other games by a combined score of 89-13. Their only loss? A 57-28 loss to No. 1 Moorhead.
QRF RANK: No. 7
MN FB HUB: NR
UP NEXT: Bemidji’s 57-28 loss to No. 1-ranked Moorhead is both the most points the Spuds have scored this season and the most points its allowed this season.
9. CHANHASSEN (2-2)
How does a .500 team sit this high in the rankings you ask? The answer is actually pretty simple: Strength of schedule. The Storm began the season with back-to-back losses to No. 6 Elk River and No. 3 Owatonna, but have responded by hanging 63 points on Century and polishing off a second straight shutout by thumping a solid Waconia squad, 27-0, in Week 4. Bottom line, the Storm are the defending champs, and they’ve earned the right to get the benefit of the doubt.
QRF RANK: No. 21
MN FB HUB: NR
UP NEXT: at Mankato West (3-1)
UP NEXT: Opening its doors in 2009, Chanhassen is the youngest high school in the Power Poll,
10. ROBBINSDALE ARMSTRONG (4-0)
Ironically, the undefeated Falcons solidified their spot in the top 10 for to the exact reason 2-loss Chanhassen did: Strength of schedule. Or in this case, the lack thereof. Half of Armstrong’s wins have come against a pair of teams that are currently winless at 0-4 and a third was a narrow victory over 1-3 Cretin Derham-Hall. But in the end, it was the Falcons’ 49-21 rout of crosstown rival, Robbinsdale Cooper (3-1), that earned them the final spot in the first Bulletin Power Poll of 2024..
QRF RANK: No. 4
MN FB HUB: No. 5
THE HUSKY BULLETIN 
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