It Begins Tonight
The road to the NCAA tournament begins tonight for the Bison men's basketball team. A project that NDSU launched for years ago, they hope for the payoff in March. The Bison got a good look at what the Summit League will offer from tough road trips to Oral Roberts, Oakland and IUPUI, to teams that could possibly trip them up like IPFW and SDSU. It's up to Saul and the boys to learn from last year's experience and prepare them for the season. All that being said, it's going to come down to three days in March in Sioux Falls. As long as the Bison are playing their best basketball at the end of the season, that could lock up a spot in the Big Dance. I was privileged enough to see a college squad qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time a couple of years, the University of Albany, when they won the America East Conference Tournament. The atmosphere around the school and the community was electric for the next few days before they left for the tourney. I know this is a huge football town, but be warned if NDSU is lucky and good enough to earn the automatic bid, look out....Fargo could become a basketball town overnight!
Posted by: Dom Izzo on 11/18/2008 at 5:10 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Plays of the Week 11-17
Video: Plays of the Week 11-17
(WDAY Sports) - Monday night means it's time to relive some of the best and brightest from the gridiron this weekend. We start in the huddle of state semifinalist Ada-Borup.
Yeah, always watch out for those people upstairs! We start in the 9 man semis, this is Houston quarterback Andy Sirres on the flee flicker to Trent Kerrigan! Houston beat Ada-Borup 56-14.
Move to the class A semis, LP-A making it's first trip to the dome. Quarterback Brian Gordon goes to the end zone; ball is tipped right to Jesse Wixo for the touchdown!! LP-A loses though, 42-20 to Royalton.
Move to North Dakota, the class AA final, Valley City's Kyle Fogarty with the huge hit on Watford City's Kirby Knutdson, Hi-Liners fell in the game.
To the college game, how about this play from NDSU's Nick Schommer, the diving interception changed the momentum and the Bison went on for the win.
Kevin Olson made like Adrian Peterson on this run for Hawley. The Nuggets running back nearly brought down, breaks off a 67 yard touchdown run and got Hawley back in the game. But they lose in the semis for the 4th straight time, 21-14 to Luverne.
Great performances stop and end with Hillsboro’s Andrew Grothman. He went for 145 yards in the first quarter against Williams County. He racked up 159 and 4 touchdowns on the day.
And congrats to Hillsboro, it's the first ever State Title for the Burros; they finally got thru Napoleon and are State Champs.
Posted by: WDAY Sports on 11/18/2008 at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
From winless to the State Championship
Video: Long time coming for Valley City
Valley City, ND (WDAY Sports) - For many teams, the journey to the State Football Championships is an 11 or 12 week trek. In Valley City, it's been a bit longer. Just two years removed from a winless season, the Hi-Liners are 11-0 and playing in the State Championship game.
From 0-9 in Scott Roerich's first season as head coach two years ago, to 4-5 last year, and now 11-0, the unbeaten record isn't even what head coach Scott Roerich is most proud of.
“Our kids compete for 48 minutes, no matter what. They don't hang their heads. They just keep playing and keep playing. I give 'em a lot of credit for that.”
That work ethic is a big reason for the turnaround in the Hi-Liner program. On Saturday, Valley City High School will play in a State Championship Football game for the first time in 72 years. That's 1936, in case you were wondering and the community excitement is obvious as you drive thru the streets.
James Thornton: “The community has been very supportive. They've all decorated their stores, done things for the kids, tried to make this something memorable for the kids.”
With the tremendous success of the team this season, it's hard to go anywhere in Valley City and find a business that's not showing some kind of Hi-Liner support.
Bev Enger: “As soon as they got into the playoffs, sign's started going up, everybody got behind them. It's definitely something we wanted to do. It's been 72 years since they've been to the state championship, so everyone, anywhere will be rooting for them.”
And while the team most certainly enjoyed this magic season, they realize it's not quite over. There's still one more game to be played.
Scott: “We've got time to look back on the season later. Now, we're going to live in the present and we're focused on Saturday afternoon.”
Valley City plays Watford City Saturday at 3 in Grand Forks.
Posted by: WDAY Sports on 11/14/2008 at 11:56 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Video: Plays of the Week 11-10
Video: Plays of the Week 11-10
(WDAY Sports) - Monday night means a look back at the best of the local football weekend, and tonight, it's love that lineman night.
How could you start it any better than this? Jamestown’s Josh Ewalt makes the catch, but coughs it up; Clint McGovern picks it out of the air and takes it down to the 3. Oh, why the Vikings couldn’t let him score!
You know about the Hawley running backs, but how about the offensive line. Eric Rosenfelt, Brock Bjornson, Tyler Hogvedt, Casey Okke, Jared Peeters help the Nuggets shut out Eden Valley Watkins in the State Quarters.
The blowup block of the week, watch number 70 in white, Perham’s Andrew Muer, sends one guy flying then gets another block helping set up the score; unfortunately Perham loses to Holy Family in the State Quarters.
Watch Valley City High running back Jade Olstad lead the way with a great downfield stay at it block to spring Derrick Elliott. The Hi-Liners beat Hazen and will play for the State Title.
Fergus Falls had its State Title hopes ended in the State Quarters by St. Michael Albertville, but not for lack of effort. Nick Risbrudt the receiver with the big stick, no football players were hurt in the making of his high light clip.
Hillsboro had a great day from the line in helping brothers Andrew and sack Grothmann run for 250 yards in a State Semifinal win over Napoleon.
And the Concordia linemen paved the way for a 151 yard day by Cory Johnson, but the Cobbers would fall to Carleton in the snow at Jake Christensen on Saturday.
Posted by: WDAY Sports on 11/11/2008 at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Trade Talks Brewin'
The Rocky Mountain News is reporting the Twins and Rockies have had trade discussions, where the Twins would receive Garrett Atkins and the Rockies would receive Michael Cuddyer. The Twins likely would include Kevin Slowey or Nick Blackburn if a trade is to get done, while receiving a prospect in return. This trade would benefit both teams. The twins have a surplus of outfielders and Atkins, a third basemen, would fill a glaring hole at the corner and provide a little power from the right side of the plate. Not to mention taking Cuddyer's $8 million a year salary is something the low-budget Twins want. Cuddyer could step in and take the place of Matt Holliday, whose name has popped up in trade talks everywhere and seems to be on his way out.
Posted by: Nate Aamodt on 11/07/2008 at 5:09 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink