Across the Dakotas: Week 1 New Names, Trenders, Stockrisers

Last Friday night, we had double screens at work trying to scout as many games as we could across the Dakotas. I don't recall the number of games we watched, but I can tell you there was a lot to see across the live streams across both states. Just like we do during live games, our notebook was full of new names, Upwards Trenders, and Stockrsiers that struck a chord with us during our live evals. We unpack the notebook below with everything we saw!   New Names That Caught My Attention    Offensive line play I will tell you is the toughest to evaluate during live streams, but one of the most impressive drive blocks I saw all night came from Grafton 2028 guard Easton Ziegelmann. He showed off excellent penetration with his pad-level, strength, and finish to bury a Burros defensive linemen nearly 15-20 yards downfield. The fact too that the best block of the night came from a 2028 offensive linemen is impressive as Easton could be one to watch for the Spoilers in the offensive trenches upcoming.     Clancy is a new name out of Hot Springs that I learned about on Friday night that had some splash plays for the Bison in their 11B tilt against Winner. He returned a kickoff return for a touchdown, which is not something in my years scouting the Dakotas that has been common against the Warriors, who have been the most disciplined team in the state for years. You could tell that Clancy was quite team-centric in the reps I watched especially with his run blocking. Whenever the ball was in this young man's hands in the backfield, I liked the patience and vision he ran with as well for the Bison.     Reggie from my eyes had the most impressive catch that I saw from making my rounds from a handful of games around the Dakotas. The 6'4 165 pounder used his size and frame to his advantage to catch a teardrop throw from his quarterback and had the announcers too shocked that he made the catch against Hillsboro-Central Valley. His catch was in an extremely high traffic area that got the Spoilers downfield and trending with momentum.     Darin was another 2026 tailback that was a new name that intrigued me came from the Alcester-Hudson Cubs who got a big upset win against Howard on Friday night. Darin doesn't have any tape up from last season, but when this young man got the ball in the backfield he ran with a full head of steam and plenty of fluidity in every carry I watched from him on Friday night.     Another new name out of North Dakota that excelled on both sides of the ball for Bowman County was Dylan Hedge in the 2026 class. His pick six was the first play that caught my attention, in which he penetrated downhill and got in front of the ball and took it back for the only touchdown Bowman County was able to get on Friday night against Dickinson Trinity. That wasn't his only key play on defense, as he almost had another interception when Trinity was in the red zone as a prospeect that seems to consistently be in the right spot at the right time and that added up in the pass coverage I saw from Dylan on Friday night.    Upwards Trenders    Another 2026 prospect out of Hot Springs that caught my attention on numerous reps on Friday night, was [player_tooltip player_id='1592097' first='Owen' last='White']. The lone defenisve linemen on this morning's "Around the Dakotas" list, Owen I could tell has taken a step forward in his progression from watching him last season. He's certainly gotten stronger and it showed with the amount of leverage he was able to get for the Bison against the Warriors offenisve line. He's developed too with his pad-level and short-area speed showing a good chunk of early stops in what I watched on Friday night. He will surely be a 2026 prospect that will move from the watchlist to our rankings board by next update and looks like a great fit on Saturdays. <a href="https://x.com/Owen_Throws">Twitter</a>     I had Hugh rated as a defensive linemen in this 2026 class orginally, but Hugh showed off his skillsets at running back for the Titans last Friday night. Hugh was another RB that showed off a bull-like mentaliy in the backfield and on his way to a Titans touchdown, he showed off quicker change of direction with his cuts than we expected in that particular rep as a back to continue to watch throughout his senior season.     He already is our QB1 in the North Dakota 2026 class, but [player_tooltip player_id='1226857' first='Berkley' last='Frantz'] showed off even more than I needed to see during their Week 0 win against Richland. His poise in the pocket was the best I saw around the Dakotas on Friday night and I can already tell he has taken a step forward in his senior season as far as his mechanics, smooth touch, and ball placement for South Border. The 6'1 195 pounder is one that I am still very surprised he doesn't have his first offer yet.     It's been every year since we started in the Dakotas back in 2021 that the Winner Warriors have a bellcow running back that stands out in their triple option offense and against Hot Springs, that was 2026 RB [player_tooltip player_id='848979' first='Zac' last='Olson']. During the live eval, Zac struck me right away with his patience that I feel is only going to grow stronger the deeper we get into the season. He showed off on a chunk of reps that he has great and growing vision and it's evident that this young man plays with the instincts you want in your backfield. He might be undersized, but that has never been a problem over the years for last year's 11B state champions.    Favorite Stockriser    I've heard lots of great feedback from around North Dakota over the past year about Raeshaun, and getting to watch him on Friday night was eye-opening for me. The overall athleticism this young man has on both sides of the ball is evident and what he showed off at the quarterback position was almost video game like. I was more impressed with his throwing mechanics than I expected to be as last night was the first time I had watched him throw. He showed off well-versed touch on his throws especially on the intermediate routes I got to watch. His instincts getting out of the pocket were something else, as on particular play I watched he stretched right side of the field and ran 70-80 yards for a touchdown like it was clockwork. He is one that needs to move up our radar and up college radars because this kid's athleticism and instincts are a hidden gem out of Hankinson. <a href="https://x.com/raeshaunearl">Twitter</a>    More Names That Stood Out on Friday Night   These are a few more names that I logged into my notebook for their play during our live evals of plenty of games across the Dakotas.   [player_tooltip player_id='1422599' first='Matt' last='Bryant'], Velva-Drake-Annamoose-Garrison 2026   Tommy Walth, QB, Alcester-Hudson 2026

Last Friday night, we had double screens at work trying to scout as many games as we could across the Dakotas. I don't recall the number of games we watched, but I can tell you there was a lot to see across the live streams across both states. Just like we do during live games, our notebook was full of new names, Upwards Trenders, and Stockrsiers that struck a chord with us during our live evals. We unpack the notebook below with everything we saw!