Week 5- What to Watch!

[ChickenNuggets]

I believe that week 4 was the first week where we did NOT have a team in the Top-5 of the media poll get beat. LaMoure received a forfeit. Cavalier and New Salem both faced stiff competition and came away victorious. MayPort CG pummeled a winless Griggs/Midkota team while North Prairie blew out Benson County. All 5 of those teams are 4-0 on the season. Divide County and Tioga are the only other unbeaten teams in the state. We are now also past the half-way point of the regular season. I think at this point it is becoming much more clear who the top teams in each region are, however most teams do not have many regional contests under their belt as many played their first region contests this past week. Now we're in the homestretch of the regular season and most games from here on out will be Regional contests and will have huge playoff implications. With that said, Here are the games I feel should be watched as some of the top games of this upcoming week:

3-1 Westhope/Newberg/Glenburn @ 4-0 Divide County
This one is unique as it is NOT a regional game, however it still could have some major playoff implications when it comes to the coaches poll and seeding the playoffs. Obviously nothing is a given in high school football, but at this point WNG and Divide County look to be two of the top teams in their respective regions. WNG still has a late season matchup with St. John who is very much still a region title contender in Region 7 while Divide County hosts Tioga who is unbeaten at this point in the final game of the regular season. With all that said, this should be one of the top games to watch in the state this coming week. WNG stumbled in week 1 vs. North Prairie, but their offense has been lighting up the scoreboard ever since including two games over 60 points. Divide County is 4-0 and even with one forfeit win to their credit has still only given up 20 points combined in the other three games. I'll take defense to win this game, give me the home team- Divide County wins 38-22 Actual Score- Divide County 52-46

2-2 Surrey at 3-0* Tioga
Why the asterisk? Well, Tioga is one of just seven 9-man teams who remain undefeated at this juncture of the season. With that said, they have only played two games to this point and picked up a win via forfeit. Despite a lack of actual playing time, they are going to make up for that in a big way this week as they play a Tuesday/Saturday double tilt this week. They get Lewis & Clark on Tuesday before hosting Surrey on Saturday. Both of those games are regional match-ups and if Tioga can find a way to go 2-0 this week they would set. up a Region 8 Title Game in the final game of the season against Divide County. Surrey was a pre-season Region 8 title contender, but is coming off one loss to Divide County and has three more big regional games to play over the next four weeks. A win here would go a long way towards not just making the playoffs but setting up an opportunity to host a 1st round game. I think that its going to be tough to play two games in such a short amount of time. Give me Surrey on the Road to win 32-24. Actual Score- Surrey 34-28

2-2 Beach @ 2-2 Hettinger County
Region 6 is up for grabs! Grant County/Flasher looks as if they may hold a slight advantage with a 2-0 record within the region, but Hettinger County and Beach both have 1 win within the region already as well and with the playoff format the way that it is, 2 regional wins are USUALLY going to be all it takes to ensure a birth into the 9-man playoffs. A win here would give that 2nd regional win to either team and it would keep either team technically alive for a regional championship, but even more so, very likely to finish in the top 2 of the region to host a playoff matchup. I think this game is a coin-flip game. When in doubt, pick the home team? I'll take Hettinger County to win 22-20. Actual Score- Hettinger County 12-6

2-2 North Border @ 3-1 Nelson County
North Border has split their first 4 contests, all against Region 4 opponents. Now they start their back half of the schedule all against their own region 3 opponents. To me, it looks as if North Border is still adapting to their switch back to 9-man. They have shown some flashes of promise as they looked very good in their opening game vs. Benson County, but then took two losses to NRS and North Prairie, although they played with NP for the first half before NP pulled away late in the game. Their offense put up big numbers on Northstar last week. Nelson County has been a much more consistent team. Despite coming off of a loss, they are absolutely battle tested. They have beaten three solid teams and gave Cavalier all that they wanted last week. I think both of these teams have explosive offenses, but the game is going to come down to who makes the bigger plays on defense and comes away with a few stops. Nelson County is at home and I feel they have been more consistent all season so for that, I will pick Nelson County to win 42-28 Actual Score- North Border 44-38

3-1 Wyndmere/Lidgerwood @ 3-1 Maple River
Another Non-Regional game to look at this week involving two teams with 3-1 records. Both of these teams losses have come to LaMoure and MayPort CG, both top 4 teams in the state. They have both won their other 3 games convincingly. There's also a possibility that his could be replayed as an early-round playoff matchup. One other interesting aspect to this matchup is that both of these teams have HUGE regional matchups the following week, so it could be interesting to see if anyone is looking ahead on the schedule or how a win or loss in this contest could effect team morale/momentum going into those important regional matchups the following week. My pick for this contest is Wyndmere/Lidgerwood 38-18 Actual Score- W/L 49-16

Record for picks this week- 4-1; Season Record to date for picks- 23-4

[5-time state chump]

When do Lamoure and Mayport CG play?

[ChickenNuggets]

Next Week. LaMoure ends with their three likely toughest opponents in MPCG, Hankinson, and Wyndmere/Lidgerwood.