North Dakota Preps

Two weeks of regular season football remain! We are entering October and there are a number of teams who have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention while there are many that have clinched playoff spots. Regardless, there are still many games with a lot on the line such as jockeying for position within the regions to fight for region championships, home playoff games, etc. Let's take a look at the biggest games from the week to come.

Region 1-
LaMoure (5-2) @ Maple River (5-2)
These two teams have a lot to play for. If the playoffs started today they would be the #3 and #4 teams in the region. LaMoure has on opportunity to improve their stock by winning out against Maple River this week and Wyndmere/Lidgerwood a week from now to jump all the way up to the #2 position which comes with a coveted home playoff game in the first round! Maple River, while they are currently sitting in 4th place, has to either win one of their final two games against LaMoure or Sargent County or get some help by a Hankinson loss to keep possession of that #4 position. Two Maple River losses paired with two Hankinson wins in the last two weeks would be enough to move Hankinson ahead of Maple River via their head to head win earlier this year. I look for LaMoure to go on the road and get the win this week in a big way. I'll take the Loboes 48-20


Region 2-
Nelson County (4-2) @ North Prairie (6-1)
Nelson County is coming off a bye, but the last time they took he field they went toe to toe with New Rockford losing 8-6. New Rockford is the team that put that lone blemish on previously #1 ranked North Prairie's record in an overtime thriller a few weeks back. Now these two teams collide. Without diving too deeply into the scenarios, I do believe that a Nelson County win would keep them mathematically in the hunt for the #2 overall position in the region. A North Prairie win would likely seal up that #2 spot in region 2. I do look for this game to be a battle, but I think North Prairie has things figured out and they're back on track after adjusting for the loss of their quarterback from that New Rockford game. I'll take North Prairie in this one to win 34-18.

Region 3-
Surrey (4-3) @ Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (5-2)
Surrey is fighting for their playoff lives while MLS is in the hunt to finish anywhere between 2-4 in the region, so obviously a win in this game would mean a lot for both programs. These two have been perennial playoff teams out of this part of the state for a while and this should prove to be another good game. I like MLS being at home as I think they are playing solid football right now. MLS wins 38-28.

Region 4-
Linton-HMB-Strasburg-Zeeland (4-3) @ New Salem-Almont (5-2)
Linton needs to win out and could use some help along the way to scratch and claw their way into a playoff birth. New Salem-Almont is coming off of back to back losses and is looking to right the ship as they are currently clutching 2nd place in the region via head to head tie-breaker over Grant County, but a loss in this game would likely drop them to 4th place in the region. Both teams have a lot to play for. Both teams are traditional football powerhouses, so this should be a great game. I'm going with what might be considered a slight upset in this one. Give me Linton to win 30-26.


This week's top 10 teams:
1- Sargent County
2- South Border
3- New Rockford
4- Westhope-Newberg-Glenburn
5- North Prairie
6- LaMoure
7- Nelson County
8- Grant County/Flasher
9- Wyndmere-Lidgerwood
10- New Salem-Almont

I think one to watch is Four Winds hosting North Star on Thursday night. Four Winds trailed NRSM 15-12 in the fourth quarter of that game and battled Nelson County right down to the wire before losing by a touchdown as well. They could shake up the region a bit with a win against North Star. In my mind, FW is the top current #5 in any region across the state. They just haven't been able to quite pull off the big game to get themselves into playoff contention. North Star looked great against Nelson County. Did not see the NP game, however, so not sure what they struggled with against them. On paper, North Star should win this game but definitely don't count FW out.

ndlionsfan wrote:I think one to watch is Four Winds hosting North Star on Thursday night. Four Winds trailed NRSM 15-12 in the fourth quarter of that game and battled Nelson County right down to the wire before losing by a touchdown as well. They could shake up the region a bit with a win against North Star. In my mind, FW is the top current #5 in any region across the state. They just haven't been able to quite pull off the big game to get themselves into playoff contention. North Star looked great against Nelson County. Did not see the NP game, however, so not sure what they struggled with against them. On paper, North Star should win this game but definitely don't count FW out.

I will second that. With Deng and Leftbear on the outsides FW is scary, but saying that Hagler is the real deal at QB. Which team's stud will show up, Deng or Hagler? I do know one thing, this score is going to look more like a basketball game. Both teams can straight up put points on the board.

Linton vs New Salem definitely feels like game of the week. The loser probably won't make the playoffs. Crazy how New Salem was #1 for half the season and now they are on the edge of being bounced from the playoffs.

Tomdawg34 wrote:Linton vs New Salem definitely feels like game of the week. The loser probably won't make the playoffs. Crazy how New Salem was #1 for half the season and now they are on the edge of being bounced from the playoffs.

Right now South Border (hypothetically 9-0) would be the #1
Grant County/Flasher (hypothetically 7-2) would be the #2

Say Linton wins (and all else goes according to plan)
New Salem-Almont, Hettinger County & Linton-HMB would all be 6-3

H2H Tiebreaker comes into play
Hettinger County would earn the 3-seed via 2-0 vs NS-A & L-HMB
Linton-HMB would earn the 4-seed via H2H win over NS-A

IF New Salem-Almont wins (hypothetical 7-2)
They would receive the 2-seed with H2H over GC-F
Grant County Flasher would be the 3-seed
Hettinger County would be the 4-seed (if they end up 6-3 or 5-4); earning tiebreak H2H's over L-HMB & KC

ndlionsfan wrote:I think one to watch is Four Winds hosting North Star on Thursday night. Four Winds trailed NRSM 15-12 in the fourth quarter of that game and battled Nelson County right down to the wire before losing by a touchdown as well. They could shake up the region a bit with a win against North Star. In my mind, FW is the top current #5 in any region across the state. They just haven't been able to quite pull off the big game to get themselves into playoff contention. North Star looked great against Nelson County. Did not see the NP game, however, so not sure what they struggled with against them. On paper, North Star should win this game but definitely don't count FW out.

Youngest Hagler from North Star broke his leg right away in the game against North Prairie. That was a big loss for them. Some younger kids came in and did a nice job, so hopefully with a week of practice they will be ready to take on bigger roles.

Bison-Vikes #1 wrote:

ndlionsfan wrote:I think one to watch is Four Winds hosting North Star on Thursday night. Four Winds trailed NRSM 15-12 in the fourth quarter of that game and battled Nelson County right down to the wire before losing by a touchdown as well. They could shake up the region a bit with a win against North Star. In my mind, FW is the top current #5 in any region across the state. They just haven't been able to quite pull off the big game to get themselves into playoff contention. North Star looked great against Nelson County. Did not see the NP game, however, so not sure what they struggled with against them. On paper, North Star should win this game but definitely don't count FW out.

Youngest Hagler from North Star broke his leg right away in the game against North Prairie. That was a big loss for them. Some younger kids came in and did a nice job, so hopefully with a week of practice they will be ready to take on bigger roles.

Definitely hate to see that. He was having a great year and was the go to receiver for North Star. Like you said, hopefully with a week of practice of kids in new roles they can have it figured out for Four Winds tomorrow night.

Linton leads NS-A 22-0 at the half!!!

ndlionsfan wrote:I think one to watch is Four Winds hosting North Star on Thursday night. Four Winds trailed NRSM 15-12 in the fourth quarter of that game and battled Nelson County right down to the wire before losing by a touchdown as well. They could shake up the region a bit with a win against North Star. In my mind, FW is the top current #5 in any region across the state. They just haven't been able to quite pull off the big game to get themselves into playoff contention. North Star looked great against Nelson County. Did not see the NP game, however, so not sure what they struggled with against them. On paper, North Star should win this game but definitely don't count FW out.

This game was a good one. Both teams went up and down the field trading blows in the first half. FW scored a touchdown with just seconds left in the first half to take a 36-32 lead at the half. But in the second half, North Star shut FW out and pulled away to win 54-36.