Four Winds’ Marial Deng (Photo by Noah Clooten)
For the eighth straight week — heading into the final game of the regular season — New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock is ranked No. 1 in nine-man football.
It received 74 points and 12 out of 17 first-place votes in the polls released Wednesday by the NDAPSSA.
The Rockets didn’t play an official game last week, with a forfeit win over North Star. They improved to 8-0, with 20 consecutive wins dating back to last year.
No. 2 LaMoure-Litchville/Marion stayed undefeated last week with a 72-12 win over Richland. The Loboes, who NR-S/M beat in the state championship game last year, have been a force again this season. They’ve outscored opponents 181-12 over their last three games.
The Rockets will complete their regular season against a strong Four Winds team (6-2). It’s a Thursday night football game with kickoff set for 7 p.m. in New Rockford.
NR-S/M has already locked up the region championship. Four Winds enters the final week in a tie with North Prairie for the No. 3 seed in the region. North Prairie owns the tiebreaker, though, having beaten the Indians 56-30 on Oct. 3.
North Prairie concludes its season against St. John. The worst-case scenario for the Indians is that they’ll be the No. 4 out of four seeds in Region 2. Regardless, they’ll make the playoffs for the second straight year.
Four Winds has won 20 of its last 32 games, going back to 2022. The Indians’ six victories are the most they’ve ever had in a single season.
In Division A, Langdon Area/Munich was ranked No. 1 for the seventh straight week. It was unanimous this time, with all 17 first-place votes and 85 points going to LA/M.
The Cardinals are coming off their biggest win of the season. They took down No. 4 Park River Area 42-22 last Friday to improve to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in region play. LA/M is the only undefeated team left in Division A. Park River fell to No. 5 after the loss.
The Cardinals will try to finish a perfect regular season at home against Grafton this Friday at 7 p.m.
The first round of playoffs for nine-man and Division A football is set for Saturday, Oct. 25 at the higher seeds.
Nine-man football
- New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock (12) – 74 points (Previous: 1)
- LaMoure-Litchville/Marion (3) – 59 points (Previous: 2)
- Linton/HMB (2) – 55 points (Previous: 3)
- Alexander – 38 points (Previous: 4)
- Hankinson – 11 points (Previous: NR)
Received votes: Divide County, North Border
Division A football
- Langdon Area/Munich (17) – 88 points (Previous: 1)
- Velva-Drake-Anamoose-Garrison – 59 points (Previous: 2)
- Killdeer – 49 points (Previous: 3)
- Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm – 31 points (Previous: 5)
- Park River Area – 18 points (Previous: 4)
Received votes: Bottineau
Nine-man Region 2 standings
- New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock (8-0)
- North Border (7-1)
- Four Winds (6-2)
- North Prairie (6-2)
- Nelson County (4-4)
- Cavalier (4-4)
- St. John (2-6)
- Larimore (1-7)
- Midway/Minto (1-7)
- North Star (0-7)
Division A Region 2 standings
- Langdon Area/Munich (8-0, 6-0)
- Park River Area (7-1, 5-1)
- Thompson (5-3, 4-2)
- Grafton (5-3, 4-2)
- Harvey/Wells County (4-4, 3-3)
- Carrington (3-5, 2-4)
- Rugby (1-7, 0-6)
- Turtle Mountain (0-8, 0-6)
