Devils Lake’s Will Heilman/Photo by Noah Clooten
With region play in full swing across the high school football landscape in North Dakota, the top teams from the Lake Region stood pat this week.
In Division AA, Devils Lake stayed at No. 3 in what was a bye week for the Firebirds. They achieved their No. 3 status after beating then-No. 2 Jamestown, which slipped to No. 4 that week. In the latest poll, Jamestown is now No. 5, switching places with Dickinson after losing 34-9 to No. 1 Grand Forks Red River.
Grand Forks Red River continues to hold strong at the top of the ranking, receiving all 21 first-place votes with its 4-0 record. Red River is the only undefeated team in AA. Despite how good the Roughriders are, Jamestown’s loss to them was enough for the voters to slide them down another slot.
In nine-man football, New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock was ranked No. 2 for the second straight week. This was after a 68-0 thumping of Four Winds in its latest game. The Rockets are 5-0 and are yet to win a game by fewer than 30 points.
LaMoure-Litchville/Marion, though, still owns that top spot. The Loboes are also 5-0, and haven’t won a game by fewer than 32 points. Neither L-L/M nor NR-S/M has permitted more than 14 points in a game thus far.
The Loboes received 11 of the 17 first-place votes in this week’s poll, compared to 13 of 18 the week prior. The Rockets received three first-place votes this week, up from the two they garnered the week before.
Westhope/Newburg/Glenburn remained No. 3, receiving three first-place votes in each of the last two polls. South Border, previously ranked No. 4, fell out of the rankings after losing 48-13 to then-No. 5 Linton/HMB/S-Z. The Lions moved up to No. 4 in the latest poll, while Central McLean entered the ranking at No. 5.
In Division A, Langdon Area/Munich is still on the outside looking in at the top five, despite handling Rugby by a score of 43-6 last Friday. The Cardinals are 4-1 and have won three straight games. Three of their four wins have been blowouts, while they had a tight 43-42 victory over Harvey/Wells County in Week 3. LA/M continues to receive votes each week, however.
Central Cass — previously ranked No. 2, with a record of 4-1 and wins against both Devils Lake and LA/M — finally lost last week. The Squirrels fell 48-7 to Kindred, the unanimous No. 1 in Division A. This was enough for the voters to drop Central Cass three spots, all the way down to No. 5.
Visit ndhsaanow.com for the complete updated polls at any time.
