Trotter: High School football standouts, power rankings and lists from Week 1

It was incredibly fun to have high school football back, and boy, were there some outstanding showings last week.

Instead of just moving on to Week 2, let's take a look back at the week that was.

Kittelson didn't have any rust after an extended offseason. He finished 21-for-39 for 300 yards and five touchdowns. Oh, and he got in on the fun, too, with 151 rushing yards and another touchdown. In all, he accounted for 451 yards and six total touchdowns. Yeah, that'll play. Blooming Prairie looks to be really good again.

When John Marshall started to tire in the second half, Century running back Isaiah Huber was just getting started. He erupted for 300 total yards of offense and five touchdowns in Century's 34-19 win over its crosstown rival. He had a 67-yard touchdown scamper on the first play of the second half. His last carry went 74 yards for another touchdown. Oh, and he added a 28-yard receiving touchdown down the seam, too. Huber was just an all-around matchup nightmare in Week 1.

"I love him," Century coach Jon Vik said. "He's a competitive kid, and he's competitive against himself. That's the key."

What did the Albert Lea Tigers do to make Austin Freerksen mad? Whatever they did, it must have been bad. Because Freerksen unloaded on them in Byron's 59-0 win. He wants to run like Adrian Peterson and he did on Saturday with 18 carries for 198 yards and four touchdowns. All in the first half. Yeah, Freerksen, a Minnesota Duluth commit, went on a scoring spree in his first game of the year.

"He's a stud, he's the best running back in Southern Minnesota," Byron coach Ben Halder said. "It's crazy, I don't know what else people need to see. ... He's never down on first contact, he works hard, he blocks hard when it's his turn to block. He does everything right and he works hard in practice."

No Josh Buri, no problem for Stewartville. That's because Alex Wood jumped right in and ran for 291 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers' 35-8 romp over Zumbrota-Mazeppa. Beast. Mode.

Adversity struck early for Caledonia. Standout tailback Dalen Lemke tore his ACL in the first half. So King had to take matters into his own hands if Caledonia wanted to outlast a tough Plainview-Elgin-Millville squad.

King did what King does.

He finished with 217 passing yards and a 41-yard touchdown strike to Chris Pieper. Then, he added a 14-yard touchdown run (64 total rushing yards) and a highlight-reel 82-yard kickoff return TD. Even though King might be playing out of position, he's a jaw-dropping talent.

1. Caledonia (1-0): Eli King accounted for three second-half touchdowns in a row to help Caledonia escape P-E-M 26-8. The dynasty marches on with consecutive victory No. 69.

2. Cannon Falls (2-0): Cannon Falls has a dominant rushing game (400 yards vs. Triton) and a ball-hawking defense (four takeaways). That's a really good recipe for success. The defending Section 4AAA champions are the only area team with two wins so far and they will be a tough beat again this season.

3. Blooming Prairie (1-0): Drew Kittelson is a superstar, carrying on the tradition of strong QB play at Blooming Prairie. He has a host of talented weapons, too, like Mitchell Fiebiger, Bradley Simon and Tyler Archer. The defending Class A champs are back and better than ever.

4. Grand Meadow (1-0): Gary Sloan is at it yet again. The Superlarks stuffed the defending state champions from Mountain Lake Area 13-0. The 'Larks are really good again.

5. Century (1-0): Isaiah Huber is an absolutely special athlete, and Century also has a game-changing secondary. Jaecan Fratzke had two interceptions in the end zone against John Marshall.

6. Stewartville (1-0): Will Tschetter, Nolan Stier and Alex Wood were rolling in the Tigers' 35-8 win over Zumbrota-Mazeppa. That's a big-time shot of confidence for Garrett Mueller's program after an offseason that saw two of their best players (Josh Buri and Parker Theobald) transfer to Brookings, S.D.

7. Chatfield (1-0): Reid Johnson (3 TD passes), Max Aug (2 TD catches) and Sam Backer (115 rushing yards) were tremendous, and the defense pitched a shutout in the 32-0 win against Lewiston-Altura.

8. Lourdes (1-0): Sure, St. Charles was missing some talented players, but Lourdes' 43-14 dismantling was super impressive. Graham Hopkins was in midseason form (114 rushing yards, 3 TDs). Lourdes football might be back.

9. Leroy-Ostrander (1-0): Isaac Collier, Chase Johnson, Triston Lewison and Brody Nessler are all ridiculously good. Leroy-Ostrander head coach Trevor Carrier is one of the best in the business. His Cardinals won nine games last year and they're back to their winning ways in 2020.

10. Byron (1-0): The Bears can beat you in a lot of different ways. Obviously, Freerksen is a monster. But the defense is really good too.

Just missed the cut: Mayo, Spring Grove, Goodhue, Hayfield, Lake City

Caledonia at Stewartville: Eli King. Will Tschetter. Austin Klug. Nolan Stier. The standout basketball players are going to tangle on the gridiron first. Carl Fruechte vs. Garrett Mueller is a heck of a coaching showdown too. Get your popcorn ready.

Winona at Byron: Winona trounced Byron last year, but the Bears think they have something special brewing. If they beat a Winona team that is talented but is still in the process of replacing a bunch of college recruits, it'll prove that the Bears are for real.

Spring Grove at Grand Meadow: Ooooh baby. Spring Grove and Grand Meadow is one of the best rivalries in Minnesota. They both are good enough to have challenged for a state title in 9-man football, if state tournaments were being held. This could be the game of the year for both teams.

Mayo at Century: Mayo is coming off a hard-fought, last-second loss to Owatonna. Century was able to get right in the second half and outlast John Marshall. Mayo will be primed to get its first win of the season, especially with the Addington Jug on the line, but the Spartans will have to find a way to limit Huber. That's no easy task.

Lake City at Cannon Falls: Lake City got blown out by Cannon Falls last year, so the Tigers will be looking for revenge on Friday. Cannon Falls has dates with Lourdes and Stewartville looming, but it can't overlook a Lake City team that has a dangerous passing attack in Justin Wohlers and Carson Matzke.