No. 6 Albert Lea (2-6, 2-5 Big Nine) at No. 3 Faribault (5-3, 5-2 Big Nine)

Key stats: Albert Lea, Luke Grossman 169 yards and two touchdowns last week; Faribault, Anthony Gustafson 298 yards rushing two weeks ago against Owatonna.

The Tigers are riding the heels of their second victory of the season, a 13-0 win over rival Austin last Wednesday. Albert Lea will try to use that momentum in its favor when it heads to Faribault to face the Falcons for the second year in a row in the playoffs. Three Tiger turnovers cost the team the first time the two teams met. The Falcons are coming off a 28-14 loss to Mayo last week that snapped a four-game winning streak.

No. 5 Alden-Conger (4-4, 4-4 SMC) at No. 4 Mabel-Canton (5-3, 4-3 SEC)

Key stats: Alden-Conger, Brandon McTague 152 yards rushing last week; Knights defense returned an interception for a touchdown and had another interception.

A tough draw for the Knights with the No. 5 seed because they haven’t won on the road this season. But their defense was better last time out against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. Mabel-Canton has been inconsistent the entire season, beating Houston 27-7 to start the season, but lost to Lanesboro 21-20 and Glenville-Emmons 22-20.

No. 7 Glenville-Emmons (4-4, 3-4 SEC) at No. 2 Houston (6-2, 6-1 SEC)

Key stats: Glenville-Emmons, quarterback Zack Williamson two touchdowns, 141 yards rushing last week

Houston beat the Wolverines 46-26 in week five and G-E running back Michael Thofson was held in check last week by Lyle/Pacelli. The seventh-ranked Hurricanes lost in the final week to Mabel-Canton in an upset 25-8 and Houston is the defending state champion. Wiliamson’s performance last week saved G-E when the Athletics focused on stopping Thofson.

No. 3 Lake Mills (5-4, 5-2 Class 1A, District 2) at No. 2 South Winneshiek (8-1, 6-1 Class 1A, District 3)

Key stats: Lake Mills, Jake Brekken 14 touchdowns, 1,042 yards rushing for the season.

The Bulldogs return to the playoffs for the first time in two years and have to travel two hours and a half hours to play the Warriors. South Winneshiek has a balanced attack with 32 running touchdowns and 21 through the air.

No. 3 Northwood-Kensett (6-3, 5-2 Class A, District 3) at No. 2 Central, Elkader (8-1, 6-1 Class A, District 4)

Key stats: The Vikings three losses have come by less than 17 points, including two three-point losses to district opponents. Last year N-K held on and stopped Central, Elkader on a two-point conversion to win. Central, Elkader has scored fewer than 20 points just once this season and also scored 50 plus points in three consecutive games.

No. 5 NRHEG (5-3, 4-3 Gopher Valley AA) at No. 4 Triton (6-2, 5-1 HVL)

Key stats: 88 yards of offense last week for NRHEG

Normally this isn’t a first round game between these two teams, but the Panthers will try to end the Cobras’ season this time around like Triton’s done to NRHEG two of the past three years. The Cobras are the defending section champion and enter the game after a 41-7 thrashing of Stewartville.

No. 1 USC (7-1, 6-1 Gopher Valley AA) vs. No. 8 Maple River (0-8, 0-7 Gopher Valley AA)

Key stats: USC defense forced three turnovers last week and got its second shutout of the season

The Rebels got their first shutout of the season against Maple River three weeks ago in a 20-0 win to snap a four-year losing streak to their rivals. A tough matchup out of the gates for USC with a rival, but the Rebels have played sound football for much of the season and shown a knack for winning close ball games.