North Dakota Must-Watch Matchups: Week 2

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A couple of tense rematches this week and a battle in the Western part of the state between two undefeated teams. Our updated rankings for North Dakota just came out as well! Check out the updates in the articles written by my colleague Nate Wahl here: <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/09/prz-dakotas-week-1-north-dakota-poll-11aaa-and-11aa/" data-type="link" data-id="https://prepredzone.com/2026/09/prz-dakotas-week-1-north-dakota-poll-11aaa-and-11aa/">11 AAA</a>/<a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/09/prz-dakotas-week-1-north-dakota-poll-11aaa-and-11aa/" data-type="link" data-id="https://prepredzone.com/2026/09/prz-dakotas-week-1-north-dakota-poll-11aaa-and-11aa/">AA</a> and </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11A Bowman County vs 11A Southern McLean</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A couple of 2-0 small town teams in Western North Dakota face off this week. Both have been excellent on defense in both games they have played so far. This one is shaping up to be a big time battle for two teams hoping to stay undefeated overall and in the division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bowman has 6'4" signal caller <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1319940' first='Mason' last='Lambourn']</strong> slinging it around to <strong>Cale Schwartz</strong>. On defense <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1319936' first='Bryer' last='Meschke']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1597881' first='Paxton' last='Jahner']</strong> hold it down. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Southern McLean has the 6'2" athlete <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1625544' first='Ethan' last='Retterath']</strong> and 10th ranked 2028 RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1987457' first='Levi' last='McGregor']</strong> carrying the rock. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#7 11AAA Bismarck Century vs #1 11AAA Fargo Davies</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bismarck Century and Fargo Davies is a re-run of last years State Championship. Two teams who played down to the wire games in week 1. Davies won a barn burner against Minot 47-40 and Century lost to Shanley 26-25. These two teams will be hoping to compete for another state championship this year and this matchup will be a big momentum builder for either team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Century has a couple of studs leading their offensive line in NDSU commit, 6'6" 285 pound <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1292610' first='Peyton' last='Seil']</strong> and 6'2" 275 pound <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1113077' first='Ian' last='Schweigert']</strong>. This team is loaded with athletic weapons too with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1093065' first='Knoxx' last='Wedelstedt']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1292609' first='Marshall' last='Arndt'], [player_tooltip player_id='2261972' first='Wyatt' last='Nelson'],</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1625518' first='Josiah' last='Johnson']</strong>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Davies has two stud Offensive Lineman of their own, 6'4" 310 pound Minnesota State Moorehead commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1292622' first='Mathieson' last='DuBord']</strong> and DL/OL two-way player <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2106037' first='Sam' last='Rick']</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1630941' first='Elijah' last='Johnson']</strong> is a stud at Edge/TE in the 2029 class and QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1975021' first='Tucker' last='Kosen']</strong> has a lot of firepower to choose from between him, senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1625504' first='Brady' last='Vetter']</strong>, and a talented group of up and coming Sophomore and Junior wideouts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#1 11AA Kindred vs #4 11AAA Horace</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kindred took care of business against Devils Lake in a get back game for them last week and now look to take down 11AAA Horace again after their electric 34-32 win last year. Horace won a close game with Grand Forks Red River last week 28-21. They will certainly want to establish the higher division dominance against their AA opponent. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As I wrote last week, Kindred's senior class is absolutely stacked with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1027991' first='Luke' last='Starcevic']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1027992' first='Brooks' last='Bakko']</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1566692' first='Myles' last='Thielges']</strong>. With those three and #1 ranked LB in the class of 2028, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2045268' first='Jeremy' last='Knight']</strong> this team can compete with anyone. Some names that may get overshadowed by those four are 2029 RB/LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2167694' first='Anders' last='Huesman']</strong> and senior OL/DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2102670' first='Teige' last='Erdmann']</strong>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Horace has a massive matchup nightmare on the edge in Western Alabama commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1738787' first='Brett' last='Livingston']</strong> who is 6'6". Their Sophomore QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2158902' first='Colton' last='Fosher']</strong> is the number #1 QB in state for the class of 2029 so let's see if the connection between Fosher and Livingston provides problems for this veteran Kindred team. On defense <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604859' first='Aiden' last='Green']</strong> is a lockdown DB committed to Western Michigan. This Horace team is deep with talent from every class so this should be an interesting matchup knowing that Kindred is a very senior led team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fan Thoughts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let me know on twitter if there is a matchup that I forgot or should be included in next week's issue of Must-Watch Matchups for North Dakota <strong><a href="https://x.com/Rye_Storrs" data-type="link" data-id="https://x.com/Rye_Storrs">@Rye_Storrs</a></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->