1st Round
Saturday October 22nd
G1 - (6-3) R2#4 Langdon-Edmore-Munich @ #1 R1#1 Kindred (9-0)
Langdon has been playing much better lately and seems to be about as healthy as they are going to get. The knock on Kindred earlier this year was that they are a susceptible to the pass and Langdon seems to have a solid passing attack. I don't know if it will be enough. I do think this could be an interesting game for a bit, but I think Kindred will win in the end.
G2 - (6-2) R1#3 Central Cass @ R2#2 Bottineau (8-1)
This has all the potential to be a really fun game. Bottineau is one of the biggest surprises in 11B this year. It would be a really neat way to break in a brand new turf field if they are able to play at home by Saturday, but regardless of where this one is played it should be one of the bigger games in this round. Bottineau has been solid all year, but Central Cass has been also and I do think that Region 1 is a little tougher region. I"ll take the Squirrels on the road to win this one.
G3 - (4-5) R3#4 Bishop Ryan @ #4 R4#1 Beulah (7-2)
Might we see a replay from last year. Beulah looked good all season, lost their last regular season game to Bowman County, and then made a Round 1 exit in the playoffs... It certainly could happen again. But I'm going to take the Miners to beat the Lions in a 1-score type game here.
G4 - (6-2) R4#3 Shiloh Christian @ R3#2 Des Lacs-Burlington (6-2)
DLB has been playing very well lately and I think they will continue to ride that momentum. I"ll take the lakers to win at home.
G5 - (6-3) R4#4 Bowman County @ #2 R3#1 Velva-Garrison-Drake Anamoose (9-0)
Bowman County is coming off a big win over Beulah, but Velva has been solid all season long. The Aggies have been in a couple close games, but I think they're going to come out and show why they're 9-0 to this point in the season. Aggies win by 2-3 scores.
G6 - (6-3) R3#3 Ray-Powers Lake @ R4#2 Dickinson Trinity (8-1)
R/PL has had some really nice flashes throughout the season to make one thing they could make some noise here, but Trinity I am not sure if they'll be able to match Trinity score for score. I'll take the Titans high powered offense to be the difference maker in this game. Trinity wins 48-28
G7 - (6-3) R1#4 Lisbon @ #3 R2#1 Hillsboro-Central Valley (8-1)
HCV has gone 6-0 since losing in week 2 to Kindred. They have only given up 8 points in the last 3 games combined. I think they will continue to roll in the first round of these playoffs and knock off the Broncos at home by at least 2 scores.
G8 - (7-2) R2#3 Thompson @ R1#2 Oakes (8-1)
After starting 7-0, Thompson had to win one of their last two games to get a home game. They went 0-2 in those contests and now must go on the road to face a very tough Oakes team that has just one loss to #1 Kindred. While both teams have solid offenses, I am not 100% sold on Thompson's defense. I'll take that home team to win something like 36-22