State's best to play for state title

It's becoming the Yankees vs. Red Sox or Lakers vs. Celtics.

It's the matchup everyone predicts and if it doesn't develop then a major upset must have occurred.

Sunday's Minnesota College Athletic Conference state championship will once again pit the 10-0 Central Lakes College Raiders against the 9-1 Rochester Yellowjackets.

This will be the second-straight season, and third time in the last four years, these two Southern Division powerhouses have met to determine the champion. Rochester won the first meeting 39-18 in 2007 with the Raiders claiming last year's title 20-14 in overtime.

This year's title game will be played on the turf of St. John's University in Collegeville.

Raiders vs. Yellowjackets

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: St. John's University, Collegeville

Who: CLC 10-0, Roch 9-1

At stake: Minnesota College Athletic Conference state championship

Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls

Central Lakes College's Barett Powell caught a pass over a defender during the Raiders' MCAC state semifinal victory over Northland.

"I've never been, but it will be nice this late in the season to be playing on turf," said Rochester head coach Brad LaPlante. "That's really important to us because we have pretty good team speed.

"A lot of people love this matchup. I think it's a good matchup. The last two or three times we've played none of the games have been a blowout. Each time has been six or seven points. A penalty here or a turnover there has decided it, so it's been very good football."

The Raiders defeated Rochester 28-21 in Week 5 of the MCAC season.

CLC eliminated Northland 19-13 in the semifinals Oct. 30. One day later, Rochester advanced to the state final by defeating Mesabi Range 26-6.

"I don't know if I saw a whole lot different in that game from when we played them earlier," said Raiders head coach Greg Medeck. "They are a strong team and they played us real tough. I think we're very evenly balanced teams. They have a consistent run game and an