2016 State Playoffs

[ndlionsfan]

Was really surprised to see blowouts last weekend.

This week I'll take Thompson 44-20 and New Salem 32-28

[UNDSiouxfan]

Semifinal Predictions:

Thompson by 3 scores. 41-20

Shiloh is a very good and well-rounded team, but they won't keep up with Thompson. I just don't see anyone stopping them the rest of the way. Shiloh did win in a close battle last week, but as I mentioned previously Hankinson will lose if they don't get the ball to their star. Cody Mauch only had 3 receptions and was barely used in the backfield. Hankinson should've won that game by 3 TD's in my humble opinion. 8 fumbles, 4-5 turnovers and dumb penalties at the goal line just doesn't get it done. I do have to give lots of credit to Shiloh's young QB Pfaff...he got pummeled by the Pirates D Line (especially Mauch & Kath)... but he kept getting up and got the job done. Shiloh has a very talented Sophomore in Canaan Fagerland, Griess is a very decent player on both sides, and Ogbu is a kid to watch out for. Race Kath is a junior for Hankinson to watch out for next year, not a skill position player but he'll be a monster on D wherever he plays and is as good as they come.

North Prairie over NSGU in a barnburner. 42-36. Don't know much about either team but both have been impressive all year, and North Prairie looks to make a return trip to the championship. Will be rooting for NSGU though because of my western ND roots.

[cmplx6]

Thompson 24 - Shiloh 22
These are the two best teams in the state. Both very complete. I feel Thompson has the best player in the state on offense and defense.

North Prairie 46 - NSGU 24
North Prairie is very good. They will control the clock and run the ball right down the middle of NSGU. NSGU will not be able to run the ball as well. I have a feeling North Prairie will recover an onside kick or a fumbled punt that will change the momentum of the game. This North Prairie team is not as talented as the one from last year but they will make it to the title game.

[birthday]

Shiloh will not hold Thompson to 24 points

[Bacon]

Shiloh will not hold Thompson to 24 points

They will be lucky to hold them to 40. Poor Shiloh, not gonna make the big show again.

[CountryDelight]

Thompson 54 Shiloh 22
NP 44 NSGU 34

[raider]

Thompson 38 - Shiloh 14
I don't think Shiloh comes back from an early hole against Thompson.

NSGU 28
North Prairie 20
North Prairie looks to have the advantage on the line and NSGU might have a slight advantage on speed. North Prairie wins the battle on the line and NSGU wins with big plays.

[Pit Bull]

Shiloh will not hold Thompson to 24 points

They will be lucky to hold them to 40. Poor Shiloh, not gonna make the big show again.

'Poor Shiloh'?!?! I guess going something like 40-4 and four straight undefeated regular seasons doesn't mean much to you, but it is quite an impressive streak to everyone else. Heck they still have a legitimate shot at getting to their second State Championship game in this span.

Thompson is the better team on paper, but Shiloh isn't that far behind them. I do think Thompson will win this game by a few TDs, but that doesn't take away from a team who had only two returning starters from last years semi final team.

A little added information for you. Shiloh is loaded all the way down through grade school with legitimate football players. So I wouldn't feel too bad for them because they will be in the same position for years to come. Their fifth graders have an Emmel, Fargerland, Martin and Wilkinson (names should ring a bell) plus 8 other talented kids playing in this class alone. That is just one class coming up in a few years.

[Howie]

They'd probably fit in nicely in 11 man with those type of numbers...

[Pit Bull]

I agree. I was disappointed when they opted back down to 9 man. I think they would do just as well or better in 11A. It will be interesting to see what happens in a couple of years. They have the numbers coming up and are loaded with lineman and skill players.

[Bacon]

Shiloh will not hold Thompson to 24 points

They will be lucky to hold them to 40. Poor Shiloh, not gonna make the big show again.

'Poor Shiloh'?!?! I guess going something like 40-4 and four straight undefeated regular seasons doesn't mean much to you, but it is quite an impressive streak to everyone else. Heck they still have a legitimate shot at getting to their second State Championship game in this span.

Thompson is the better team on paper, but Shiloh isn't that far behind them. I do think Thompson will win this game by a few TDs, but that doesn't take away from a team who had only two returning starters from last years semi final team.

A little added information for you. Shiloh is loaded all the way down through grade school with legitimate football players. So I wouldn't feel too bad for them because they will be in the same position for years to come. Their fifth graders have an Emmel, Fargerland, Martin and Wilkinson (names should ring a bell) plus 8 other talented kids playing in this class alone. That is just one class coming up in a few years.

Funny they wouldn't want to test themselves a little more. They are a good class A 9-man team though.

[New Guy]

TEAM STATISTICAL VIEW of EACH MATCHUP

R2 #1 Thompson (10-0) @ R3 #1 Shiloh Christian (10-0)
Thompson: PF/G - 51.5; PA/G - 9.5
Shiloh Christian: PF/G - 39.4; PA/G - 14.3

R4 #1 North Prairie (10-0) @ R5 #1 New Salem-Glen Ullin (9-1)
North Prairie: PF/G - 51.6; PA/G - 17.0
New Salem-GU: PF/G - 41.2; PA/G - 16.8

I was just wondering why North Prairie has to travel to New Salem. If I am not mistaken North Prairie had to travel to Hettinger last year for the semi finals. Hettinger and New Salem are in the same region and it doesn't make sense to me that a region gets to host the semis two years in a row. Both teams in the semis in both 15 and 16 were one seeds. Am I missing something here?

[Run4Fun2009]

TEAM STATISTICAL VIEW of EACH MATCHUP

R2 #1 Thompson (10-0) @ R3 #1 Shiloh Christian (10-0)
Thompson: PF/G - 51.5; PA/G - 9.5
Shiloh Christian: PF/G - 39.4; PA/G - 14.3

R4 #1 North Prairie (10-0) @ R5 #1 New Salem-Glen Ullin (9-1)
North Prairie: PF/G - 51.6; PA/G - 17.0
New Salem-GU: PF/G - 41.2; PA/G - 16.8

I was just wondering why North Prairie has to travel to New Salem. If I am not mistaken North Prairie had to travel to Hettinger last year for the semi finals. Hettinger and New Salem are in the same region and it doesn't make sense to me that a region gets to host the semis two years in a row. Both teams in the semis in both 15 and 16 were one seeds. Am I missing something here?

NDHSAA Bracket states: "If like seed in Semifinals home team priority list goes: Region 3, 2, 1 on top and Region 5, 4, 6 on bottom"

Not 100% sure on what it was last year...but I believe the 'like-seed' draws are pre-determined before season.

[bulldog_power]

Pitbull did you really just state that Shiloh will be good because
They have good 5th graders.... I am sure they are great kids, but that doesn't mean they will be great football players in high school or even still playing by that time.
As for the there success. I will give them credit for having a great run right now. It's certainly tough to do what they have done , heck I remember when every team pounded them not to long ago. I know I was happy when they were moved out east so our team didn't have to play them anymore. I also remember people saying Shiloh would Be lucky to make the playoffs if they played in the east, which obviously ended up not being true.
However I have to assume any kid who has played Shiloh would Be willing to trade all those wins for one state championship. Think that's true of any team.
It will be interesting having them back in our region as our region is tougher now than It used to be.
As for the 11man arguement I think there are a lot of 9man schools that could fair well in 11man and Shiloh is certainly one of them.

[Bacon]

Shiloh faired better than I thought they would. Thompson is a good team. I'll be rooting for New Salem.

[Jeff Baranick]

I attended the New Salem-Almont-Glen Ullin v. North Prairie game, and the Holsteins broke out fast, leading 24-0 as the 2nd quarter wound down. But the Cougars tallied two TDs in the last minute-plus of the 2nd quarter to go to halftime only trailing 24-14. To NSAGU's credit, it kept its composure after halftime and tallied the only scores after the intermission. The Holsteins display pretty good balance running and passing which obviously makes them harder to defend than a one-dimensional team. Their defense has been playing lights-out of late, too! I was rooting for NSAGU because the schools in that co-op haven't played in a title game in 30 years! But I think Thompson will be too tough an opponent to overcome this Friday in Fargo!

[bulldog_power]

I was at the Shiloh- thompson game. I have seen new salem play this year as they are in the same region as the team I root for. I know Shiloh beat new salem handly, it was early in the year though, and thompson was able to do whatever they wanted against Shiloh. New salem is on a great run, but thompson is on another level. I was very impressed with thompson on both sides of the ball and think new salem will struggle to move the ball offensively and struggle to stop thompson. I Don't think new salem will score more then two times. I will take thompson by 30.

[cmplx6]

Thompson 42 - New Salem 40

Thompson has the best RB in the State. Schwabe is very hard to defend as well, both of them. But New Salem is much improved from game one. New Salem will run the ball much better on Thompson than Shiloh did. I think it will be another great game and Thompson will win this one in the last drive and will seal the deal with a 2 point conversion that Schwabe will run in.
Only thing that could stop Thompson at this point is injury. But Shiloh did expose a huge crack in Thompson's armour. If they can get Thompson into 3rd and long they can not pass the ball when they need to. Schwabe can pass, but not when it is on the line. Their best option on 3rd down is Schwabe running, and if New Salem can contain him, they can win.
If New Salem can avoid any turnovers and control the ball, they have a legitimate chance to earn the victory in this game. They need to be able to take advantage of Thompson mistakes and limit Thompson's opportunities on offense.

[venus flytrap]

Just an Fyi Bulldog and complx - I was also at the game between Thompson and Shiloh . Thompson was in trouble - Shiloh was ahead with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter 30 to 28 . SC has a fullback #88 that was hurt in the quarterfinals against Hankinson and somehow he played and reinjured himself on Saturday under the pile that happeded to be the 4th down play. Looked like to me Thompson didn't make it but the ball moved after the whistle blew the 2 or 3 inches thompson needed. I rewatched the game on Bek tv and it is quite evident. There hasn't been much talk about this fullback for Shiloh but he is very good and definitely if he was not injured the outcome would have been different. SC has alot of weapons from the front line to the backfield and definitely surprised everyone this year.

[steel]

I definitely think Thompson got a gift on the 4th down spot. No way did he make it, but they MIGHT have still won anyway. Shiloh has to be able to overcome that. I do think if they played 10X, Thompson probably wins 8X. Shiloh had their chance, but couldn't stop Diedrich. I don't know much about New Salem except they look pretty balanced. I think they need to key on Diedrich and try to make Thompson pass the ball. I think NSAG plays them tough but loses by about 20.

[heimer]

They'd probably fit in nicely in 11 man with those type of numbers...

HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS ON NORTHDAKOTAPREPS.COM??????

This is not the North Dakota way. Challenging yourself and understanding that being a private school in Bismarck leads to athletes is not the North Dakota way.

The North Dakota way is to hide at the lowest level possible, win as many games as you can beating teams from towns with literally 0.5% of your population, and then arguing that the system works perfectly fairly.

Bismarck Shiloh Christian, with their $10 million athletic facility, artificial turf football and baseball fields, and 129,517 population base to draw from, is a perfect small-town North Dakota team worthy of 9-man status.

[birthday]

I love your sarcasm, but yes they should be 11-man

[Sportsrube]

Spot on heimer!

[HONKER]

They'd probably fit in nicely in 11 man with those type of numbers...

HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS ON NORTHDAKOTAPREPS.COM??????

This is not the North Dakota way. Challenging yourself and understanding that being a private school in Bismarck leads to athletes is not the North Dakota way.

The North Dakota way is to hide at the lowest level possible, win as many games as you can beating teams from towns with literally 0.5% of your population, and then arguing that the system works perfectly fairly.

Bismarck Shiloh Christian, with their $10 million athletic facility, artificial turf football and baseball fields, and 129,517 population base to draw from, is a perfect small-town North Dakota team worthy of 9-man status.

With you all the way on this one.

[winner-within]

Whats Thompsons excuse then?.....they won the game