Lakeville North, South Football Moving Up to New 'Big School' Class

Next year, Lakeville's two high school football teams will be moving up to a new competitive class created for Minnesota's largest schools.

In 2012, and high schools will join the other 30 largest schools in the state to form Class 6A. The by the Minnesota State High School League in April, and all of the schools have approved the new class, MSHSL officials say.

South football Coach Larry Thompson said there isn’t going to be much change, because his team plays against the big schools anyways.

“Not much difference at all,” he said. “On our schedule, we play those teams anyways.”

The move, according to the MSHSL, is designed to increase competition for all schools in the state.

One private school—Creatin Derham Hall—opted to move up into the new class—which will make seven classes in all for the MSHSL for football.

North, which is the state's 28th largest, joins South, the 24th largest, in the same 8-team section, which also includes traditional conference rivalsBurnsville, Eagan, Eastview, and Rosemount. Prior Lake and Park of Cottage Grove round out the section.

“I look at the list and think that 6A is a good idea,” North football coach Brian Vossen said. “But I don’t believe there are enough big schools for it to make a difference. Maybe the top nine schools on the list could be argued to have an advantage having 2,400-plus students, but everyone below that is in a pretty fair playing field.”