By Mojo Hill
Devils Lake was ranked No. 3 in Division AA football for the second straight week in the NDAPSSA polls released Monday.
The ranking comes ahead of the Firebirds’ regular season finale against Watford City. The squads will effectively be fighting for second place in the West. With a win, Devils Lake would host a playoff game on Halloween.
The Firebirds were bumped up to No. 3 last week after coming about four yards short of beating No. 1 Minot North. The Sentinels are 8-0. They beat Devils Lake by just six points; their other seven wins have each been by a margin of 21 or more.
But after nearly taking down the top dog, the Firebirds only narrowly scratched out a win over fifth-place Dickinson. Mason Palmer found the end zone with 26.9 seconds left to put Devils Lake ahead. The Mavericks nearly pulled off a stunner, getting it to the 16-yard line before time expired. It went down as a 28-24 win for Devils Lake.
Given that Devils Lake was only ranked No. 3 by a two-point margin last week, one might have thought it would drop to No. 4. But last week’s No. 4 and No. 5 both took losses. Grand Forks Central lost 23-13 to Central Cass, while Grand Forks Red River lost 20-14 to Fargo South.
Central Cass jumped ahead of both teams in the No. 4 slot. Central slid down to No. 5, while Red River fell out of the top five.
The Firebirds, after going 3-1 in their non-region schedule, are 3-1 so far in region play, making them 6-2 overall. They currently stand alone in second place. Watford City and Bismarck St. Mary’s are in a tie for third place, each with a 2-2 region record.
However, a Devils Lake loss to Watford City would put both teams at 3-2. Watford City would have the tiebreaker since it would take the head-to-head matchup, in that case. So the Firebirds would be the No. 3 seed.
Devils Lake does own a potential tiebreaker over St. Mary’s. The Firebirds won 55-14 in their head-to-head matchup on Oct. 3.
Tiebreakers can be avoided completely if Devils Lake wins this Friday. Minot North has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the West. A win for the Firebirds, and they clinch the No. 2 seed. They’ve already clinched a playoff spot regardless.
The first round of AA playoff games is set for Oct. 31. If Devils Lake is the No. 2 seed, it will host the No. 3 seed from the East. As of this week, its opponent would be the winner of this Friday’s game between Central and Red River. With a quarterfinal victory in this scenario, Devils Lake could see No. 2 Kindred in the semifinals — a team it lost to, 42-12, on Aug. 29.
If the Firebirds lose to Watford City and become the No. 3 seed, they would instead travel to play the No. 2 seed from the East on Halloween. As of Monday, that would be Central Cass, which Devils Lake beat 28-21 on Sept. 5. This scenario would set the Firebirds up for a potential rematch with Minot North in the semifinals.
Watford City (4-4 overall) most recently lost to the same St. Mary’s team that Devils Lake crushed. The Wolves fell 35-12 on Thursday. They beat Jamestown 34-21, but the week before that, they got dismantled 43-0 by the Minot North squad that Devils Lake nearly beat. Watford City also lost by a wide margin to Central Cass.
Devils Lake will be in the football playoffs for the second consecutive year. It lost 35-20 to Minot North in the first round last season. The most recent time Devils Lake football won a playoff game was Oct. 27, 2017.
The Firebirds have been to the playoffs 26 times since 1975. They’ve never won a state championship. They’ve been in the state title game four times: 1989, 2007, 2009 and 2010. They lost 31-30 in the 2009 game and 24-21 in 2010.
Their five-game winning streak this year was their longest since a six-game winning streak in 2010.
Kickoff in the season finale this Friday is set for 7 p.m. at the Rough Rider Center in Watford City. A victory would give Devils Lake seven wins for the first time since 2017 — before even getting to the playoffs. An eighth win would be the most since 2010.
Division AA football
- Minot North (12) – 84 points (Previous: 1)
- Kindred (6) – 78 points (Previous: 2)
- Devils Lake – 50 points (Previous: 3)
- Central Cass – 34 points (Previous: NR)
- Grand Forks Central – 20 points (Previous: 4)
Received votes: Grand Forks Red River