Would Trinity and DHS play each other in football?
I decided to make the phone call to Dickinson High activities director Calvin Dean about whether or not the Midgets would ever consider playing Trinity in football.
From what I got from Dean, the idea had been thrown around for a short while in the past, but nothing was ever made of it. While Dean certainly wasn't opposed to the idea, he just didn't think it would work out in the future and I would agree with that assessment.
Would people love to see Dickinson High play Dickinson Trinity? Absolutely, but it certainly won't happen in the next two years as Trinity is only going to get one nonconference game and that sounds like its scheduled against Killdeer. Two years from now, Trinity will most likely be moving from AA to A and it definitely would not look right for a Class AAA team to play a Class A team. If Trinity were to get a small influx of kids and stay up at the AA level in two years, I'd say it would be a possibility.
I did have a good chuckle with Dean about the amount of fans that game would bring in and Dean mentioned that gate receipts from a Titan-Midget clash would help the programs out quite a bit. Nonetheless, that's where that stands.
Press political reporter John Odermann brought up an interesting point though. If the two teams played in a preseason scrimmage that was ran similarly to a game, but wasn't officially a game, than that would bring fans as well, though you can't charge at the gate for a scrimmage.
Posted by: aarhus on 11/16/2008 at 12:54 AM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Trinity sends letter to NDHSAA
Dickinson Trinity football coach Randy Gordon recently informed me that he sent a letter to the North Dakota High School Activities Association expressing disappointment over the Association's decision to keep Trinity at the Class AA level despite requesting to be sent down to Class A.
This decision to keep Trinity there most likely was made because Gordon had sent a letter to the NDHSAA last March requesting to stay up. However, with schools such as Wahpeton, Bismarck St. Mary's and Fargo Shanley moving down to Class AA, Gordon decided it would be best to move Trinity down to Class A.
There will be a story in Thursday's edition of The Press regarding this issue. If Trinity's small enrollment isn't enough, the traveling that the Titan will have to do next fall should be enough. Trips to Belcourt, Bottineau, Minot (Ryan), Devils Lake, Carrington are in their future.
Posted by: aarhus on 11/12/2008 at 4:05 PM | Comments (5) | Permalink
DHS still figuring out schedule
The Dickinson High football team isn't sure who its playing next year as the schedule hasn't been finalized thanks to the realignment, which requires most Class AAA teams to find a handful more nonconference games thanks to just five region games every year.
In my column in Thursday's edition of The Dickinson Press, I suggested that DHS could play Bismarck High or Mandan in a nonconference game early in the year and then play them later on as well in a region game, which is similar to what Minot State and Dickinson State did this year.
Dickinson High activites director Calvin Dean assured me that this will most likely not be the case. The ADs around the state would prefer to not have to play a team twice in the regular season. I can see that point, as kids would like the chance to play different teams each week and not have to play a team a second time until playoffs. I was just suggesting doubling teams up in some cases to save on travel costs.
According to Dean, the Midgets will most likely be scheduling Custer County again, but probably not Douglas as the long trip at night on a two-lane highway can make for a scary road trip. However, Dean did say they'd be interested in playing Glendive and that those talks are currently under way.
Bismarck High, Century, Williston, Minot, Mandan are on the schedule for sure, followed by maybe Custer County (Miles City) and Glendive. That leaves two more spots open. If I had to guess, I would think DHS would be going after Jamestown and a Fargo school. Interesting enough, East teams would probably prefer to play a Bismarck school or Mandan because that's a shorter trip. The Midgets played Fargo North and West Fargo a few years back. I wonder if that will be renewed.
Posted by: aarhus on 10/31/2008 at 12:13 PM | Comments (14) | Permalink
Trinity staying up
Dickinson Trinity, which had previously decided to put in a request to stay up at the Class AA level even though it could move down, reconsidered and put in a request to go down where their enrollment would suit them - Class A, Region 4. If Trinity were to move down, Watford City would have to stay up.
However, the request was denied by the NDHSAA and the Titans will be staying up at Class AA for the next two years. The NDHSAA realigns football every 2 years largely based on enrollment.
If I remember, I'll blog the realignment sometime soon.
Posted by: aarhus on 10/27/2008 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
North Dakota playoffs
Right now, Class AAA and AA seem a little too far away to be sure of anything in regards to the playoffs and who's locking up what. But, I'll give you my predictions.
Class AAA, West Region
Bismarck High
Bismarck Century
Minot
Williston
Jamestown
Class AAA, East Region
Fargo South
West Fargo
Fargo North
Wahpeton
Grand Forks Red River
Class AA, West
Watford City
Hazen
Beulah
Dickinson Trinity
Class AA, East
Devils Lake
Valley City
Fargo Oak Grove
Grafton
In Class A action, things are looking very clear with two weeks left. Here's my predictions:
Region 1
Linton-HMB
Milnor-North Sargent
Lisbon
Maple Valley-Enderlin
Note: The top three teams in this league have all beaten each other and right now, points-wise, Linton-HMB has the advantage in the three-way tie. When it comes down to two teams, it goes back to head-to-head.
Region 2
MPCG
Park River
Larimore
Cavalier
Note: MPCG has the inside edge and can clinch with a win over Larimore and a Langdon-Munich loss to Park River.
Region 3
Velva
Harvey
North Prairie
Des Lacs-Burlington
Note: Velva can lock up No. 1 with a win over DL-B and a North Prairie loss at New Rockford-Sheyenne. The fourth seed in this region could be one of the worst teams in the playoffs and it's most likely that whichever team gets No. 4, they won't have a winning record.
Region 4
NS-GU
Beach
Killdeer
Grant County-Flasher
Note: Assuming those top three teams all win this week and Beach wins the final week (which they're favored to do so), Killdeer's game at New Salem-Glen Ullin will decide the No. 1 seed. If Killdeer wins by 12 or less, than the playoff seeds remain intact as you see them above. If Killdeer wins by 13 than it will go down to another tiebreaker. If Killdeer beats NSGU by 14 or more, Killdeer wins the region, NS-GU would be No. 2 and Beach No. 3.
9-man, Region 1
Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter
Oakes
Ellendale
Kidder County (Steele-Dawson)
Note: NGS locks up No. 1 seed with win over Sargent Central. Oakes locks up No. 2 with win over Kidder County.
9-man, Region 2
Hillsboro
Wyndmere-Lidgerwood
Richland
Finley-Sharon-Hope-Page
Note: This is arguably the most competitive region as there are six quality teams, two of which won't make the playoffs. I'm banking on Hankinson and Northern Cass to miss out.
9-man, Region 3
Dakota Prairie
North Border
Thompson
Lakota
Note: Thompson actually beat Dakota Prairie, but lost to North Border, which lost to DP. Lakota is a pretty legit No. 4 team.
9-man, Region 4
St. John
Wells County
TGU
North Star
Note: St. John has clinched this division and has crushed every opponent in it as well.
9-man, Region 5
Williams County
Berthold-Our Redeemer's
Divide County
Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood
Note: Williams County, the top-ranked team in the state, officially clinches the region title with a win over 2-6 Surrey. M-L-S could throw a wrench in the division by beating B-OR, but unless that happens, it should look like this.
9-man, Region 6
Central McLean
Richardton-Taylor-Hebron
Mott-Regent
Hettinger
Note: Central McLean clinches the top spot with a win this week as does RTH in the No. 2 spot with a victory. Mott-Regent is in the playoffs, but where is still to be determined. A Center-Stanton loss to Washburn puts Hettinger in the playoffs, which means Hettinger and Mott-Regent will meet to decide the Nos. 3-4 seeds next week.
Posted by: aarhus on 10/09/2008 at 5:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink