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Region 4 Rumble (North Dakota)

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos

| August 24, 2023

North Dakota is a state not known for high school football. The lightly populated Northern Plains state gets overlooked by many of its Midwest and great plains cohorts when it comes to the national stage.

Partly due to the population. A state that spans 340 miles wide and 211 miles tall and boasts just 105 football playing teams. Many of which are formed via co-ops between neighboring schools. Co-ops are no stranger to Pennsylvanians. Where the state’s roughly 722 sports-playing schools have just 556 football teams. Many of which much smaller schools form alliances with larger schools in order for their students to have the chance to play football.

In North Dakota, though, the co-op is much more equal. Though in every instance, one name must come first, there are some co-ops that much more resemble Union/ACV’s co-op than, say, Greenville and Living Word Christian had utilized in the recent past.

As small towns have shrank, and enrollment numbers decline, there’s only so much that can be done. North Dakota utilizes 9-man football, of which there are 39 teams recognized in the state’s association. Many with word-salad like names such as Linton/Hazleton-Moffitt-Braddock/Strasburg-Zeeland that get truncated to simple nameplates such as Linton/HMB or Napoleon/G-S. Some favor the ‘host’ team in the equation, while others become a new entity. Taking on an entirely new name. Such as with Central Clarion County in Pennsylvania.

Schools such as Wishek and Ashley combine to form “South Border”, yet take the Ashley School’s nickname of Mustangs. Others, come up with all new names. Mott-Regent and New England have a co-op that now goes by the name “Hettinger County” with Huskies as the nickname for the combined Mott-Regent Wildfire and New England Tigers.

In 9-man football, the state is split into four regions. With the southwest quadrant being Region 4. With North Dakota, like many western states, leaning to the east with population, the Region 4 schools span a considerable distance. The home fields would take nearly 500 miles to drive between all ten primary stadiums.

Under the most recent restructuring of the NDHSAA, the ten Region 4 teams decided on kicking off the season with a neutral site event at Mandan’s Starion Sports Complex. Akin to Ohio’s Spire Institute, it’s a sports mecca. Hosting a football stadium, ball fields, track facilities, as well as an indoor ice hockey rink. The complex located conveniently off Interstate 94 in the bustling town of Mandan. Just west of the state’s capital: Bismarck.

Of the ten teams, only one is not a traditional co-op under one name is Beach. The Beach Buccaneers call the small outpost in western North Dakota, along the border with Montana, home. East of there, are three co-ops before you reach Bismarck.

Hettinger/Scranton Knighthawks hail from the southern border towns of Scranton and Hettinger along US 12. Though 27 miles apart, are linked inextricably through sports. All sports teams are a co-op between the pair. Unlike some co-ops that are a necessity of one sport or another, the reality of small schools in wide-open areas bring widespread locales together.

North of Hettinger, is the town of Mott, who along with local Mott-Regent form a co-op with New England to create Hettinger County. Just to the east of Hettinger County is Grant County. Grant County High School is located in Elgin. Their co-op is with Flasher, a small town in Morton County to Grant County’s northeast. Just across the county line. Combined, the Grant County Coyotes and Flasher Bulldogs create the Grant County/Flasher Storm.

Aside from the Hettinger/Scranton, Hettinger County, and Grant County/Flasher co-ops, there are only two other football teams south of the 46°50’N latitude line and west of the Missouri River. An area 167 miles wide, and 66 miles tall. An area roughly 1/4th the size of Pennsylvania has just five high school football teams. In addition to the three, there’s also 11-man Bowman County in the southwestern corner of the state. And Standing Rock, which plays in the extra-state All-Nations League which spans North Dakota to Nebraska, and mostly featuring South Dakotan native schools.

Along the I-94 corridor, Region 4 has two more schools before reaching the Missouri River and Mandan. Richardton-Taylor Raiders and Hebron Bearcats form the Richardton-Taylor/Hebron Raiders. And lastly, before reaching the river, is New Salem. Or New Salem-Almont. Though that seems to depend on the situation. The school calls themselves the New Salem Holsteins, and the building says New Salem High School, however in many situations they’re called New Salem-Almont. Which is the name of the School District. In 2008, the Sims School District that encompassed Almont consolidated with New Salem, forming the current district and single high school. The building name, though, not being updated. That same naming irregularity happens often in Pennsylvania. Where the name ‘Area’ gets added or deleted from a school’s name seemingly at random. Sometimes the school has Area in the name, and sometimes it’s the district. Sometimes both. Sometimes they include it, sometimes they don’t. Schools like Moon Area, Derry Area, or BVA regularly proclaim their ‘Area’ demarcation, while others, even in the name, just outright ignore it.

Despite the name, no one can deny their presence. The Holsteins of New Salem and Almont are the defending state champions of 9-man football and are looking for a sequel.

East of the river, there’s four more schools. All co-ops. Some can get rather clunky in names. Kidder County Public School, the Wolves, are now the lone school remaining from their co-op between Steele-Dawson and Tappen. Tappen closed in 2018, and the school in Steele, right along I-94, now hosts the county’s athletics as the lone survivor of consolidation.

South of Steele, is the fun co-op of the Napoleon Imperials and the Gackle-Streeter Orioles. Though, the Gackle-Streeter side exists only in memory as the entire athletic department co-ops with Napoleon and assumes the Imperials name. To the point that, in many contexts, the team is just called Napoleon or even Napoleon/G-S. Relegating one of the funner school names to an after thought.

To the far southeast of the Region 4 squads is South Border. South Border is a co-op between Ashley and Wishek High Schools and play their home games between both home sites. A rare occcurence among some co-ops where in many cases one stadium becomes the default ‘home’ for various reasons. The nickname Mustangs, however, is lifted from Ashley’s High School moniker. Bypassing the Wishek Badgers nickname entirely. In an interesting bit of trivia, the original co-op was Wishek/Lehr/Ashley Badgers and then Wishek/Ashley Badgers until 2006 while the name flipped and the South Border location was created for 2007.

And lastly, you have Linton/Hazleton-Moffitt-Braddock/Strasburg-Zeeland. The Lions. The latest update to the co-op was in 2020 when Strasburg and Zeeland were included into it. Prior to that, Hazleton Tigers joined the Linton Lions the consolidated HMB joined. Creating one of the longest co-op names. Though, unlike previous changes, the jerseys still read “Linton-HMB” on the backs.

For all the towns, and all the schools involved, it’s a credit to all involved that Saturday’s five-game slate went off without a hitch.

The games were scheduled to start at 10am with games starting every 150 minutes until 8pm for the final kickoff. The grass fields to the east of the main football stadium would be utilized for warm-ups until the previous game was cleared from the turf. The multiple locker room facilities made the overlap possible.

#1 New Salem v. Kidder County

The games started with the defending champs, New Salem Holsteins, against Kidder County, the 2019 state champions.

New Salem opened with a 29 yard TD run by Alex Brandt and a 26 yard TD run by Brock Norton to take a comfortable, though slim, 14-0 lead in the first half. Kidder County’s Bryce Larson would answer with a 6-yard TD run to close the gap to 14-6 midway through the second quarter.

But the third quarter would belong to the Holsteins. Brock Norton would get another touchdown, while Ethan Maier would return a fumble for another score. Bryce Larson would cut the lead with a 2 yard run, but it wasn’t enough for the Wolves. Alex Brandt would get a 7-yard score while Wyatt Kuhn would go 48 yards on a catch and run to extend the Holsteins stranglehold on the game, to 42-12. In the waning moments, Jayden MacInnis would recover a fumbled ball in the endzone for a Kidder County touchdown. Giving New Salem the 42-18 victory to open the title defense.

#2 Hettinger County v. Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter

Tristan Schaffer would start the scoring for the Imperials on a 10 yard QB keeper. Adding two with a pass to Mason Weigel early in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Huskies would trim the lead to 8-6 on a 46 yard TD pass to Jaren Rafferty who would take the short pass the distance. The two-point try would be an incomplete pass. In the fourth quarter, Trevor Moos would go 70 yards on the ground to give the Imperials some breathing room, 14-6. With 2:32 left in the game, Mark Fitterer would snag a 25 yard catch in the endzone for six. But the two point pass attempt would be broken up. The Imperials would hang on to win, 14-12 in a nailbiter.

#3 Linton/HMB/SZ v. Hettinger/Scranton

Early on, the game trended toward the Nighthawks. Maddox Pierce would go 50 yards on the ground for the lead, 6-0 with 8:16 left in the first quarter. Later in the frame, Chason Schumacher would sneak in from a yard out to put the Nighthawks up 12-0. In the third quarter, Linton got the ball moving and made a dent on the scoreboard. Justin Tschosik would get a TD run, to halve the lead.

In the fourth quarter, Larry Umber would snag a game-tying 1 yard TD catch and take the lead after catching the conversion attempt for two. And Justin Tschosik would end the game’s scoring on a short run up the gut to salt the 12 point comeback away, 20-12.

#4 South Border v. Beach

This game got out of hand in a hurry. South Border’s stellar misdirection plays behind center left the defense lunging for phantom ball carriers. Early on, South Border was up 15-0 thanks to a ‘push the pile’ plunge to start the game and a 16 yard run by Conner Kosiak. Later, Trevor Schmidt and Levi Bucholz would add first quarter scores. Schmidt on a 7 yard catch and Bucholz running a breakaway 65 yard scamper.

In the second quarter, Joshua Hasse would add another score on a 1-yard plunge. And Berkley Frantz would run one in from twelve yards out. A late scoring opportunity for Beach would come up short after several plays stopped short of the goal as the second quarter wound down.

In the third quarter, Beach would finally crack the scoreboard, o n a 4 yard run by Kolby Sperry. Later, Andrew Trask would snag a 22 yard pass for a second score. Closing out the game, Joshua “Big House” Hasse rumbles in again from a yard out. South Border would win, 49-12.

#5 Richardton-Taylor/Hebron v. Grant County/Flasher

Javin Friesz would start the scoring on a 15 yard TD run to the right side. While Trey Heid would run in the conversion to put the Storm up, 8-0 just 4:36 into the game. Friesz would add to his scoreline, with a 12 yard TD run late in the second quarter. Adding the conversion on his own. After a quick interception, Friesz wasn’t done, as he ran 6 yards with 3.1 seconds left to nab his third touchdown of the game. His pass to Zach Bonogofsky was good for two. Giving the Grant County/Flasher squad a comfortable, 24-0 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Friesz would add a 7-yard touchdown pass, while throwing incomplete for the conversion, to go up, 30-0 with 8:51 left in the third quarter. Trey Heid would add a 71 yard TD run as the third quarter expires. On the last play of the contest, Richardton-Taylor/Hebron would score one final touchdown. And a two-point conversion. Though, I regretfully did not get the numbers on either play. Grant County/Flasher would win, 36-8 to close out the day’s contests.

For photos from these games, and others this week, click HERE.

For photos from previous weeks and seasons of all my games, visit http://www.flickr.com/sykotyk/sets/

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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