Stories From the Weekend: [WATCH] the 1st Ever 98 Tailgates!

A week ago today, I had an idea to honor our hometown high schools with special tailgate visits to their playoff football games. I never imagined such a response on such short-notice...

Students, parents, teachers, alumni, and proud community members heard the call and voted for their favorite Central Minnesota high schools! Oh, and did they vote...to the tune of 4480 votes in just over a two day period! Thank you for supporting our local area schools!

Not every team earned a 98 Tailgate or advanced to this weekend's Prep Bowl XXXIII, but still a huge congratulations is due to these four Central Minnesota high schools who made it to the MSHSL State Football Semifinals this past weekend:

• Class 1A- Braham Bombers
• Class 3A- Glencoe-Silver Lake Panthers
• Class 4A- Hutchinson Tigers
• Class 5A- Saint Michael-Albertville Knights

The BOLD Warriors, a high school with 216 kids from Olivia, Minnesota earned the 1st ever 98 Tailgate this past Saturday in Eden Prairie. With snowy conditions, the Warrior fans were BOLD in the COLD and joined me with the 98 Country Hummer H2 for music, t-shirts, and free Minnesota Wild tickets! Father George Schmit from Saint Marys in Bird Island gave a special benediction at the end of the tailgate, and BOLD won the game 21-0!

The Holdingford Huskers, a high school with 286 kids from half an hour northwest of Saint Cloud earned the 2nd ever 98 Tailgate on Saturday afternoon in Osseo. With crowded conditions from the previous playoff game, the Husker fans were over 200 people strong outside the gates and joined me with the 98 Country Hummer H2 for music and free t-shirts! Team supporter Mark from Ada, Minnesota brought BBQ brisket for the crowd, and Holdingford won the game 35-18!

The Pierz Pioneers won the 3rd 98 Tailgate on Saturday afternoon at SCSU's Husky Stadium. Different game entry points for fans and dropping temperatures lead to a small crowd, but I got to hang with the Pioneers mascot! Pierz Healy High took Rochester-Lourdes into overtime, but lost 25-24 on a gutsy two-point conversion try by the Eagles.

And now four Central Minnesota high school football teams will play for State at TCF Bank Stadium:

Class 2A- Friday 1PM: BOLD vs. Holdingford
Class 4A- Friday 4PM: Becker vs. DeLaSalle
Class 3A- Saturday 1PM: New London-Spicer vs. Rochester-Lourdes