The Big Nine is proving to be an interesting conference this year for prep football.

Century is down this year and Winona is up, Faribault is off to a 1-0 conference start and Owatonna laid down a 42-0 whooping on John Marshall, JM was picked to finish near the top of the conference in preseason polls, not to mention Mankato West drubbing East 40-10.

Century lost starting quarterback Jared Malone in the first game of the season against Wayzata when he sustained a knee injury. Then Winona came in last week and won 29-14 for its first 1-0 start in the Big Nine in a long time.

All in all there are some fresh faces at the top of the conference standings after week one of conference play and it’s a result of some teams getting older and better. Here is a look at what each team has done so far this season.

The Winhawks played a lot of sophomores two years ago, but that bunch has grown up and developed into a good team. Winona hadn’t won a conference game in the last five years prior to beating Century.

Mankato West, which has been knocking on the door for a conference title for the last three years, has looked very strong in the early going and appears poised to make good on preseason polls that predicted the team to finish first. Albert Lea head coach Clay Anderson described West as the best 4A team he has seen in his time in the Big Nine.

Anderson and the Tigers will see first hand Friday the athleticism the Scarlets possess this season. He expects the Scarlets and Owatonna to contend for the conference crown this season because of the athleticism and strong defense West plays and the sheer strength of the Huskies.

Owatonna shared the 2007 conference title with JM, and was picked to finish second in the Big Nine this season. After a 42-0 win over 2007 co-conference champ John Marshall, the Huskies look to be well on their way to another title.

Owatonna and Mankato West play each other in Owatonna for the final game of the regular season. That game will likely decide the conference champion barring any more unforeseen surprises along the way.

Faribault edged out Austin last Friday 14-7, scoring twice in the second half. The Falcons are off to a 2-0 start after beating perennially state-bound New Prague in week one 32-21.

The Packers even had a big win over Red Wing to open the season. Austin defeated the Wingers 27-8.

Then there’s Mayo who lost 48-13 to Minnetonka to open the season but came back against Albert Lea for a 38-13 win. Minnetonka was ranked No. 5 in Class 5A after the first week of play.

There seems to be more parity this year in the Big Nine with some teams moving down the ladder and others moving up. The conference crown may not be up for grabs, but there will definitely be a little more interest to some football games down the road.

Looking ahead at the schedule for Friday Winona hosts John Marshall, Century has Austin at home, Owatonna travels to East, Faribault and Mayo square off in Faribault, and the Tigers have West at home. Each of these games has a little more intrigue.

It will certainly be interesting to see how John Marshall responds after losing to Owatonna as well as Century playing for its first win against Austin.

Try this one on for size: Each team has a win on the season except Century this season. That hasn’t happened this early in the season for a while.