Another BIG football game this week
No. 3-ranked West Fargo will host top-ranked Bismarck at 7 p.m. on Friday in one of the biggest early-season Class 3A high school football matchups of the season.
The Packers are coming off a 28-6 victory against Mandan in their opener; Bismarck cruised to a 35-8 win against Fargo North.
The Demons were dominant on special teams last week, blocking three punts en route to an early 23-0 lead against the Spartans.
"Bismarck has one thing that we don't have, and that's team speed," Packers coach Jay Gibson said. "They have tremendous team speed. That goes from their linemen all the way to their backs. Their entire team is quick. ... We're going to have to figure out a way to counter that."
Who has the edge in this one?
Posted by: Hotzler on 9/04/2008 at 12:29 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Polls released
The North Dakota Class 3A and Class 2A polls were released on Tuesday.
Here's what we have:
The North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Class AAA and AA football polls, with teams followed by first-place votes, record and points.
Class AAA
1. Bismarck (8) 1-0 56
2. Fargo South (4) 0-1 44
3. West Fargo 1-0 30
4. Minot 1-0 24
5. Bismarck Century 1-0 17
Also receiving votes: Williston (1-0), Wahpeton (1-0), Bismarck St. Mary's (1-0), Dickinson (0-1).
Class AA
1. Devils Lake (8) 1-0 44
2. Hazen 1-0 25
3. Fargo Oak Grove (1) 1-0 21
4. Watford City 1-0 18
5. Dickinson Trinity 0-1 16
Also receiving votes: Valley City (1-0) 4, Grafton (0-1) 4, Beulah (1-0) 3.
Any thoughts on the early poll? Everyone where they should be?
The top game this week has No. 3 West Fargo hosting No. 1 Bismarck at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The Demons had three blocked punts and a fumble recovery en route to an early 23-0 lead against Fargo North. Bismarck won their opener 35-8.
West Fargo defeated Mandan 28-6 in Week 1.
Any thoughts on the game?
The Forum will be at the big game. I, however, will be at Fargo North's home opener against Mandan on Friday.
Discuss.
Posted by: Hotzler on 9/03/2008 at 3:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Calling all prep football fans ...
The initial live blog of the season from Fargo South's game at Edina was a resounding success, and we would like to know here at North Dakota Prep Notebook if any of you out there in Blog Land have any games down the road that you would like to see receive the same treatment.
Just post the game and date in the comment section, and we'll do our best to live blog from the ones that get the most votes.
We want to do this at several games throughout the year, but it's unlikely we'll get to all of them.
Hopefully, we can hit at least one game in each North Dakota class (depending on the press box space, of course).
Any other suggestions?
Posted by: Hotzler on 9/02/2008 at 1:54 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Saturday morning quarterback
Back in Fargo from the Twin Cities after the Edina-Fargo South game.
One thing is for certain for South: These are not the same Bruins who have won three of the last four North Dakota Class 3A state titles.
The offensive line provided little help for the running backs or quarterbacks Garrett Skonseng and Brock Larson on Friday night.
Also, as dominant as South's running game has been in Kevin Feeney's tenure, the team has received solid play from the quarterback position to balance things out over the years.
Skonseng (junior) and Larson (sophomore) could end up being solid players. However, right now both are VERY green.
But, as overmatched as the Bruins looked on Friday against Edina, I'm not sure too many teams could have stopped Hornets senior signal-caller Anders Lee.
The hockey phenom provided a jaw-dropping display with his arm and legs.
Any thoughts? Where is South headed this season?
Posted by: Hotzler on 8/30/2008 at 5:55 PM | Comments (5) | Permalink
Edina 40, Fargo South 6
Game over! 40-6 Edina. Read The Forum for the game story.
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Sophomore running back Adam Boe puts South on the board with 3-yard run.
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Starters yanked for Hornets, running clock.
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Lee 59-yard TD run!!!! Right now, kid has 154 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs. 240 passing yards. WOW!
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Eppel 36 yard field goal
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Edina driving again.
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Lee connects with a receiver for 55-yard gain to the 2, after just missing a long TD pass. Lee plunges in from 2-yards out.
The Hornets are dominating in every aspect right now.
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Edina is running a standard 4-3 defense. They are just able to use their speed to get to everything.
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Lee runs 19 yards to paydirt, after an Edina INT of Skonseng. The rout is on.
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Lee engineers another scoring drive. This kid is GOOD.
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Edina drives to FG range on first possession.
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Hornets get the ball to open the second half.
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Key to the second half for the Bruins: Protect the QB, and get it together on the offensive line.
South isn't going to be able to do much more than the 63 yards of total offense they had in the first half if they don't open up bigger holes.
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Halftime entertainment was your standard dance team. However, they appeared to be Edina's regular cheerleaders (or at least that's how they were dressed).
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John Eppel boots a 35-yard field goal to put Edina ahead 10-0 heading into halftime.
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Jemison fumbled to give ball back to Edina. The Hornets putting together another drive behind Anders Lee. Lee, by the way, is a BIGTIME hockey recruit.
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Fumbled punt gives South great field position at Hornets' 30.
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2:01 left in first half. It looks like South has a little bit of a problem at the QB position, and offensive line.
The Bruins defense is still solid.
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Edina QB Anders Lee plunges in from 2-yards out to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead.
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Edina INT puts them in good position at the Bruin 44.
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Most of this game has been played in the middle of the field. No offensive breakthrough, yet.
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Sophomore Brock Larson in the game at QB for Bruins. He replaced starter Garrett Skonseng, a junior.
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Still 0-0 after the first Q. Edina driving with 4th and inches at South's 32.
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South forced to punt on second possesion after three plays. 3:07 left in the first quarter.
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South intercepted Edina QB Anders Lee.
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"How do South's offensive and defensive lines match up against Edina?"
South is bigger on both sides.
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Edina offense=Minnesota State Moorhead.
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South's forced to punt on first possession.
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Kickoff!
South will have the ball.
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10 minutes and counting until kickoff. Edina just ran onto the field. Hornets fans welcomed them with Thundersticks. ... Thundersticks? Is this the 2003 World Series? Good crowd, though.
Not very many South fans here.
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The first question always gets answered:
"How do the Bruins (players and coaches) look in warmup?"
South running back Brandon Jemison just got the Bruins fired up by weaving through the warm up line while screaming at the top of his lungs.
They are running plays right now. A lot of power running game.
As for the Hornets, looks like they run a spread offense (3 WR and one running back). Many of the plays have the QB in the shotgun.
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Perfect conditions in Edina, by the way. The temperature is in the mid 80s, with a slight breeze rippling the flag near the end zone.
Several Fargo media-types in attendance. We've got The Fan (Fargo edition) and WDAY's Eric Morrow doing a live feed from one of the end zones.
Stay tuned here for more of this great insight. Oh, and I'll have game information, too. Feel free to ask questions.
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live from Kuhlman Stadium in Edina!!!!!
The stadium is in great shape, and it has artificial turf. I was not aware of that. It's the new grassy-style turf, like in the Metrodome.
Teams are warming up as we speak.
The press box, however, leaves a little to be desired. Very small, with about 10 people crammed into a 15-foot sliver of space. ... Ok, enough moaning.
We'll be back later as we get closer to game time.
Posted by: Hotzler on 8/29/2008 at 6:05 PM | Comments (17) | Permalink