News
North Dakota Semifinals
Class AA
E3 Central Cass (7-3) at E1 Fargo Shanley (9-1)
Saturday, November 7 - 1:00 pm at Sid Cichy Stadium – Fargo, ND
Previous Meeting: Oct 16 – Shanley beat Central Cass 20-6
What You need to know
Central Cass
The Squirrels pulled out a second half comeback win against Valley City last Saturday to advance to the semifinals. Key players include Grady Bresnahan who has rushed for 614 yards and received for 607 yards this season. Jack Morris hopes to have an opportunity to throw the ball in this game he’s 99/153 1,449 yards and 12 TDs this season.
“I really think the biggest thing that clicked for us was just our physicality in the second half. We won the battle at the line of scrimmage and our linebackers made the tackles that we had missed in the first half. Shanley is a very good football team. If we are going to be successful we can not have a slow first half. We will have to be as mistake free as possible and will have to match their physicality up front.”
Nate Lutkemeier, Head Coach Central Cass
Fargo Shanley
Shanley hasn’t lost since August 28th in the opener with St. Mary’s. Since then they’ve been very good. A mid-season change at quarterback has allowed Matt Burd to get more carries at running back. They also feature a play-making defensive backfield with Devin Klieman and Tom Erie who have each made big plays from the secondary.
W3 Beulah (9-1) at W1 St. Mary’s (9-1)
Saturday, November 7 - 1:00 pm at MDU Resources Community Bowl – Bismarck, ND
Previous Meeting: September 11 – Beulah beat St. Mary’s 20-13
What you need to know:
Beulah
The Miners have really played well this season, their only loss coming on the road to Valley City. Casey Walcker can take credit for a lot of the team’s success. The senior quarterback has thrown for 1,385 yards and 19 TDs and run for 430 yards and 7 scores. The sophomore Mikey Morris has been a great surprise gaining 1,208 yards and 11 TDs. Cory Alt has been able to give the team a little bit of everything. But the physical play of the lines and the defense deserve a lot of credit too. Seniors Hayden Norton, Alec Battest and Josh Remmick have been great getting into the opponents backfield.
St. Mary’s
St. Mary’s has built back to back state championships on the strength of their defense. This season they’ve given up just 12.2 points per game. The defense has been especially strong against the run. They’ve yielded just 86 yards per game. Offensively the Saints have used two quarterbacks this season and they’ve both been great.
SAINTS QB Comparison;
So. Cole Gendreau 23/44 52.2%, 391 yds, 6 TDs, 2 INTs – 35 rush, 350 yds, 2 TDs
Sr. Logan Pieterick 33/51 64.7%, 606 yds, 7 TDs, 1 INT -- 12 rush, 171 yds, 2 TDs
Logan Pieterick has been terrific since replacing the injured Gendreau and it doesn’t hurt you have Jake Heinert running the ball beside you (201 carries – 1,451 yds – 7.2 yds/carry – 25 TDs). Casey Uhler has been exceptional at making the big play in the receiving game (25 receptions – 467 yds – 18. 7 yds per catch - 9 TDs) and it all adds up to another strong year for the Saints.