Photos by Noah Clooten
After getting a week to rest and soak up a No. 3 ranking, the Devils Lake football team returns to Roller Field for just its second home game of the season on Friday.
It’s only fitting that this will be Devils Lake’s homecoming game. The Firebirds are at the top of their game right now, and they’ll get to display what they can do before a mass of hometown fans.
Flipping the script
Last time the Firebirds played a home game, they entered as an 0-1 team.
But no longer is Devils Lake an unproven team trying to get its season on track. Three games later, the Firebirds are 3-1, and are ranked No. 3 in Division AA. They recently pulled off a stunner over then-No. 2 Jamestown while ranked No. 5 at the time.
The storyline — and the expectation — will be completely different than Devils Lake’s last home game, which turned out to be a 26-6 defeat of Watford City. This is a team on the rise, and one that has even greater achievements in its sights if it can keep this momentum rolling. A win over Valley City put the Firebirds on the map, and the win over Jamestown bumped them up a peg. Even still, there’s room to continue growing.
In addition to homecoming, it’s also the first region matchup for Devils Lake. At 3-1, the Firebirds are tied with No. 2 West Fargo Horace for second place out of six teams in the AA East, trailing only Grand Forks Red River, which is 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in all of AA.
This is when games start to matter the most. Beating the highly-ranked Jamestown proved that the Firebirds can compete amongst the best teams, but their chance to back up that designation will come over the next several weeks.
Wahpeton is trying to defend a homecoming win
Enter the Firebirds’ first region opponent: the Wahpeton Huskies.
Though not ranked, Wahpeton is on a bit of a season revival of its own. After starting the year 0-2, the Huskies have won their last two games — including, most recently, a victory in their homecoming game.
Wahpeton put down a commanding 41-14 defeat of Watford City, the same Wolves team that Devils Lake beat in its home opener. The Huskies were led by senior Treyton Mauch, a wide receiver who recently converted into a running back and has only found greater success at his new position, as David Topolewski of the Wahpeton Daily News reported. He’ll be a key player for the Firebirds to look out for and control.
One thing Mauch noted, in his postgame quote to the Daily News, was how much a homecoming win means to a school. The Huskies already had their chance, and they capitalized on it.
Now it’s Devils Lake’s turn.
The Firebirds are likely still without Bryar Exner
Perhaps the biggest storyline for Devils Lake two weeks ago, when it last played, was the absence of its star running back — and how it overcame that seemingly daunting deficit.
The Firebirds’ offense looked shaky early on, but they rounded nicely into form in their comeback victory over Jamestown. One of the most crucial elements was the way Will Heilman stepped up. Just a sophomore, Heilman slid into his former position of running back to fill a need. A host of important runs helped Devils Lake move the chains numerous times down the stretch.
Though Wahpeton is theoretically an easier opponent than Jamestown, and the stakes might be considered lower, the Firebirds may very well need a similar effort this time around. When asked about Exner’s status, Devils Lake head coach Todd Lambrecht gave a vague timeline of “a couple weeks,” noting that the trainers have much more say in it than he does. Technically, Friday will have been exactly two weeks since that update, but that would be the absolute earliest realistic return date.
So, barring a miraculous return, Devils Lake will likely go with Heilman at that position again. He’s certainly not the only weapon — wide receivers Oliver Wirth and Weston Nelson came up big against Jamestown, as did quarterback Mason Palmer, particularly on sneak plays through the middle. And the experience the Firebirds got in their win over Jamestown — plus the mere fact that they found a way to win that game — should make the Devils Lake offense more comfortable from the outset this week, rather than having to figure it out as they go.
It’s Devils Lake. It’s Wahpeton. It’s homecoming Friday night football in Devils Lake, and it all commences at 7 p.m. at Roller Field.
