ND Division AAA Quarterfinals Preview

<strong>NORTH DAKOTA-- </strong>Tonight, we will dive into Division AAA as the quarterfinals start on Friday in North Dakota’s largest division. The favorite should be no surprise as they were last year’s state champs in Bismarck Century, but could there be a Fargo team out there that could give them a run for their money at the Fargo Dome, maybe with a home crowd? Eight teams stand strong now, but that list will go, four teams after Friday night. Who will rise, who will break open the playoff picture, and who has the game to watch? We will dive into it all here in our "Division AAA quarterfinal preview." Enjoy! <strong>#W4 Jamestown at #E1 West Fargo Sheyenne</strong> <strong>Jamestown (4-3) </strong> The Bluejays face a challenging task being the weakest seed in AAA, in our opinion. After starting 4-0, the Bluejays are now on a three-game losing streak that faced North Dakota’s top tier competition with significant losses to Century, Bismarck, and Mandan, as the top seeds in the West section. <strong>Players to Watch: Ty Monson </strong>(QB, 2021), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56281" first="Jacob" last="Hilgemann"]</strong> (WR, 2021), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56496" first="Devin" last="Beach"]</strong> (LB, 2022) <strong>West Fargo Sheyenne (7-0)</strong> The Mustangs are one of my top two favorites to win it all this season. They have the total package offensively and defensively, and I think they should have a walk in the park against Jamestown this Friday. PrepRedzone.com has many players we are watching from the undefeated Mustangs. <strong>Players to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="56234" first="Barika" last="Kpeenu"] </strong>(RB, 2021, NDSU Commit)  <strong>Grant Warkenthien </strong>(QB, 2022) <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56358" first="Abe" last="Hestdalen"] </strong>(OL/DL, 2021): Four college football offers from NAIA to Division II. <strong>#E3 West Fargo at #W2 Bismarck </strong> <strong>West Fargo (5-2)</strong> The Packers are right where they want to be: on the road. They have played their best football away from West Fargo this season, getting four out of their five wins at Fargo North, Fargo South, and sweeping thru the city of Grand Forks. There is no better receiving core in North Dakota than <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56453" first="Carson" last="Hegerle"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56290" first="Carter" last="Birrenkott"],</strong> who will be our key players to watch in this battle on Friday night. Hegerle has been one of the hottest commodities in the Dakotas recruiting wise over the last month, rounding it out last week with his first Division I offer from South Dakota State last week and plenty of FBS interest on the table. <strong>Bismarck (6-1)</strong> The Packers and Demons have two things in common; 1) they both are perfect on the road this year 2) both of their stars have some time left in high school football. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56512" first="Isaiah" last="Huus"]</strong> has been the guy running back for the Demons and has powerful legs to drag tacklers off of him with ease. This kid is physical, which is how I like my running backs, and will be getting a boost in his ranking to come to the end of the season. As for the game, I look for this one to be the <strong>game to watch </strong>in quarterfinal play as it should be close. <strong>#E4 Fargo Shanley at #W1 Bismarck Century</strong> <strong>Fargo Shanley (4-3)</strong> Shanley wins this battle when it comes to the quarterback position, as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56308" first="Cooper" last="Mattern"] </strong>has been rock solid this year and considered in my book one of Fargo’s best gunslingers. His ability to be elusive, get out of the pocket and make a strong throw is what I like about Mattern when I roll back the film. His target, WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56468" first="John" last="Gores"], </strong>has some quick feet, and their connection will need to be spot on to keep it close with the Patriots. <strong>Others to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="56325" first="Braeden" last="Bloch"] </strong>(OL, 2021), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56541" first="Isaac" last="Emineth"] </strong>(Safety, 2022), and Stanford commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56246" first="Emmet" last="Kenney"] </strong>(K, 2021)- Kenney just committed to the Cardinal two weeks ago and is the first Dakotas prospect to ever sign with the Cardinal to our knowledge in the modern-day. This kid is the real deal, being the best kicking prospect the Midwest has to offer. <strong>Bismarck Century (7-0)</strong> Other than their city rivalry game on the ESPN network with Legacy, it’s been a walk in the park for the Patriots this season to repeat as state champions in 3A possibly. Again, I’ll also say that Bismarck Century RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56271" first="Cade" last="Garcia"]</strong> might be one of the most slept on running backs in the 2021 class. The way he runs with the football with a quick burst, and excellent ball control, shocks me that this kid hasn’t gotten more than one offer, which I hope will change once the season wraps up, as Garcia had some high-level suitors in his junior year. With seniors in Garcia, the #1 ranked player in the Dakotas, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56229" first="Andrew" last="Liengang"]</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56353" first="Noah" last="Schaffner"],</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56303" first="Thomas" last="Jeske"]</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56283" first="Alex" last="Schmidt"]</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56455" first="Lucas" last="Schweigert"] (2022)</strong> many others, the Patriots should win this one by a substantial margin on Friday night. <strong>#W3 Mandan at #E2 Fargo Davies</strong> <strong>Mandan (4-3)</strong> Mandan has struggled mightily with the top tier teams on their schedule, and their matchup with the Eagles won’t change that. One player that I learned about while paging thru the Braves film is FB/LB combo, <strong>James Barnhardt</strong>. Barnhardt is a grinder on both sides of the ball, getting the quality yards after contact, being a dominant force in their rush defense, and all-conference in 2019. <strong>Barnhardt</strong> and NDSU commit [player_tooltip player_id="56235" first="Jaxon" last="Duttenhefer"] at defensive tackle will be extremely crucial for Mandan on Friday night. <strong>Others to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="56317" first="Jayce" last="Lowman"] </strong>(QB, 2021), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56505" first="Sam" last="Burr"] </strong>(LB, 2022), <strong>Treys Tietz </strong>(WR, 2021) <strong>Fargo Davies (6-1)</strong> Let’s say it; this Fargos Davies team is loaded with next-level talent as Fargo sure has produced this year from that standpoint. The Eagles are very deep in their rushing attack with <strong>Austin Harmsen (2021)</strong>, NDSU commit [player_tooltip player_id="56239" first="Truman" last="Werrenmeyer"], <strong>Colton Alme (2021)</strong>, and a future ranked prospect in <strong>Maddox Maloney (2024)</strong>. The Eagles also have a next update ranked prospect <strong>Denver Piechowski (2022),</strong> a motor. I am a big fan of the Eagles D-Line in the 2022 class. If I’m a North Dakota football fan wanting to stream a game, this is my #2 best game to watch on Friday night. <strong>Others to Watch: [player_tooltip player_id="56251" first="Reid" last="Hartness"] (QB, 2021)</strong>, Moorhead commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56266" first="Ethan" last="Entze"] (2021, ATH), </strong>and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="56294" first="Joren" last="Palmer"] (2021, OL/DL)</strong>