Photo by Noah Clooten
Devils Lake football is now ranked No. 3 in Division AA.
The Firebirds, previously ranked No. 5, defeated then-No. 2 Jamestown on Friday by a score of 27-23. It was a comeback victory where Devils Lake trailed nearly the entire game, before quarterback Mason Palmer scored a rushing touchdown in the contest’s final minute.
Devils Lake was unranked preseason. It didn’t enter the top five until a 27-12 defeat of Valley City that made the Firebirds 2-1 at the time. After the thrilling win over Jamestown, Devils Lake moved up two slots to No. 3, with 55 points, in the NDAPSSA poll released Monday.
Jamestown slipped from No. 2 to No. 4, directly below Devils Lake. The Blue Jays received 37 points.
Grand Forks Red River took all 21 of the first-place votes this week, coming in unanimously at the top of the AA poll with 105 points. West Fargo Horace took over Jamestown’s previous slot of No. 2 with 78 points. Dickinson moved down one spot, from No. 4 to No. 5, with 33 points.
Devils Lake has a bye week this week before returning home to play Wahpeton next Friday. Looking at the rest of the regular-season schedule, the Firebirds’ biggest remaining matchups will be with No. 2 West Fargo Horace on Oct. 11 and No. 1 Grand Forks Red River on Oct. 25.
The nine-man and Division A football polls are typically released on Wednesday evenings.
