Football Playoffs: Woodbury, East Ridge Set For Saturday's Section Semis

and are both playing in the section semifinals Saturday, but that hardly means they're in the same situation.

Woodbury hosts Eagan in Section 4AAAAA semifinal action, while East Ridge hits the road to take on top-seeded Cretin-Derham Hall at St. Thomas.

Woodbury (6-3) eliminated Park 44-7, while East Ridge (3-6) upset Hastings 33-14 in the section 4AAAAA quarterfinals.

Cretin-Derham Hall 27-6 in the season opener. Woodbury and Eagan did not meet in the regular season.

In some ways, these two teams look to be extremely even. Woodbury's 6-3, with a double-overtime win, and Eagan is 5-4 with an overtime loss. Woodbury is averaging 33.8 ppg, compared to 31.3 ppg for Eagan. But the big difference is on defense, where the Royals are allowing 25.1 ppg., and the Wildcats are giving up just 14.9 ppg. If Eagan can come close to that average, the Wildcats will probably be moving on instead of the Royals.

The Raptors are heavy underdogs against the Raiders—who are seeded first in the section and ranked second in the state in the final Associated Press Class 5A poll—so an upset would be big news. CDH is only allowing 6.9 ppg., the best mark in the state in Class 5A. The Raiders are also good on offense, where they're averaging 34.5 ppg. It's going to take an amazing effort by the Raptors to keep CDH out of the section championship.

Woodbury lost to Cretin-Derham Hall and East Ridge lost to Eagan, both in the section semis.

Quarterfinals

Tuesday

Eagan 50, Minneapolis South 0

Woodbury 44, Park 7

East Ridge 33, Hastings 14

Cretin-Derham Hall, bye

Semifinals

Saturday

Eagan at Woodbury, 7 p.m.

East Ridge at Cretin-Derham Hall, 7 p.m.

Finals

Friday, Nov. 4

Semifinal winners, at high seed, 7 p.m.