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I feel like I just made the varsity squad. I'm the newest member of the Midco Sports Net team and couldn't be more excited. Midco Sports Net is dedicated to bringing you top-level local and regional sports coverage and I get to bring you high school football coverage like you've never seen around here before with a half hour show.  Midco Sports Net will give you a deep look into varsity sports across the Dakotas.

Now here’s a bit about my background. I have been covering high school sports in South Dakota since 1998 by overseeing the "Pigskin Preview" magazine and website. A perfect day for me is heading out to see two or three games on cool and crisp fall Friday night and coming back to the studio and letting fans know about varsity athletics.

When MidcoSN decided to cover high school sports in South Dakota and North Dakota they asked me to help with the operation and I couldn't be more excited.

This blog will be the place to go for the latest news, notes, lists, rankings, and most importantly your input, thoughts and ideas about high school sports. We're in the process of developing a weekly TV show that will give you an inside look at upcoming games and analysis of high school football. The show will be called "Varsity Sports Now" and will air on Thursday nights to give you all the insight you need before heading out to the football fields on Friday. The show will include coaches interviews, lists, rankings and of course my predictions on the upcoming games.

Now for a taste of some high school football. It is August and it's time to start breaking down the teams.

In North Dakota, it's been all about Fargo South and Bismarck in 3A over the past four seasons. The Bruins will have a hard time sustaining their elite level as they split into two schools with Fargo Davies taking the field. Look for Bismarck to reload with a great junior class and an always devastating defense. Don't count out Fargo North with the top running back in the state (Peter Saintal), Mandan with Devin Coyle back at the helm and Minot with a great line and young playmakers coming up.

In 2A the usual suspects will be at it again. Shanley is the two-time defending champs and they return some big-time talent in Matt Martino, Josh Berg and Tyler Rivard. Lisbon, Grafton, and Kindred will all compete for a title too. In the next blog I'll bring you some more insight on 1A and 9-man.

In South Dakota, Washington has been the king of the hill for the past two seasons. Can they sustain that level of play without Matt Hermanson and Derek Farniok this year? The rest of Sioux Falls will be coming after them with deep teams experienced quarterbacks and a lot of vengeance. O'Gorman looks to be in the best shape to knock off the Warriors. They return Sam Steffl in the backfield and a load of starters from a championship quality team last year.

In Class 11A it will be Dell Rapids' to lose. They rolled their way to a title with two juniors and a sophomore leading the way last year. Harrisburg, West Central and Milbank figure to be the likely teams to get in the Quarriers way. Check back for an outlook on Class 11B, and the nine-man classes in the future.

Soon two-a-days will be over and the JV will be separated from the Varsity team and we'll be there to bring you the action on "Varsity Sports Now" every week.