Football Game Preview: Mankato East Cougars vs. Waconia Wildcats

The Mankato East Cougars will square off against the Waconia Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Mankato East is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Chanhassen on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Cougars had to suffer through a 33-2 loss at the hands of the Storm. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota football rankings (they are ranked 41st, while the Storm are ranked second).

Meanwhile, Waconia blew past Burnsville, posting a 34-6 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.

Waconia's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Mankato East, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-2.

Mankato East came out on top in a nail-biter against Waconia in their previous meeting back in September of 2024, sneaking past 34-31. Will the Cougars repeat their success, or do the Wildcats have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.