Must-Watch Matchups North Dakota: Week 6

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The half way point is here in the 2026 ND high school football season! There have been a ton of great games this year and teams are really competing as we've seen a ton of close games and upsets. That is why we only have one undefeated team in our matchups this week. It makes for exciting and meaningful games down the stretch! Here are the Must-Watch Matchups of the week in North Dakota. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11AAA Fargo Davies vs 11AAA Shanley</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A heavyweight fight in 11AAA! These are two historically well run programs and have continued that trend this year. Davies is coming off of two big wins and Shanley dropped a thriller to West Fargo last week, 47-48. Let's see how this top 5 triple A matchup shakes out. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Fargo Davies (4-1)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Davies is a familiar face on the must-watch matchups of the week, so the top players to watch are the usual suspects, QB [player_tooltip player_id='1975021' first='Tucker' last='Kosen'], RB [player_tooltip player_id='1676422' first='Bennett' last='Simmers'], and WR [player_tooltip player_id='1625504' first='Brady' last='Vetter']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Shanley (3-2)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shanley has one of the smoothest route runners in the state in [player_tooltip player_id='852667' first='Kai' last='Zabel']. He is a standout athlete after the catch as well. Another WR to watch out for is [player_tooltip player_id='2164930' first='Jacob' last='Perkerewicz'] at 6'1" 185 pounds. The junior [player_tooltip player_id='1655765' first='David' last='Andrews'] is also a solid DL/OL player for Shanley. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11AA Devils Lake vs 11AA Bismarck St.Mary's</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The reigning champs Devils Lake are looking to repeat and are 4-1 with their only loss coming to #1 Kindred. St. Mary's only losses have come in a close one to a good Grand Forks Central team as well as Kindred. This should be a tight one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Devils Lake (4-1) </h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last time we talked about Devils Lake we highlighted their stellar trench group: [player_tooltip player_id='1738188' first='Aiden' last='Stiven'], [player_tooltip player_id='1314674' first='Casey' last='Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='1259264' first='Carter' last='Christensen'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1575838' first='Grady' last='Quam']. At the skill positions, [player_tooltip player_id='2102667' first='Will' last='Heilman'] flies under the radar in North Dakota. The WR was a big part of their state championship win last year and continues to be this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Bismarck St. Mary's (3-2) </h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Mary's is led by the #1 RB in the senior class, [player_tooltip player_id='1314732' first='Beckett' last='Price'], who is committed to Division 2 Sioux Falls. He has blazing speed, running a confirmed 4.6 40 yard dash in camp season. [player_tooltip player_id='1625538' first='Marcus' last='Anderson'] is a playmaker on both sides, but particularly in the secondary, and [player_tooltip player_id='1314713' first='Zachary' last='Long'] is a stout TE/DL player at 6'1" 205 pounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11A Northern Cass vs 11A Oakes</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northern Cass has been unstoppable this year and Oakes is a talented group with their only loss coming to 5-1 Langdon Area. That was their first game of the season and since then they have only given up 6 points in 4 games, picking up 3 shutouts. Northern Cass has also had a stout defense in the last 4 games and had put up 34+ in those games as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Northern Cass (6-0)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northern Cass is led by senior QB [player_tooltip player_id='1322096' first='Hudson' last='Rietschel'], the #3 QB in the class. He also plays in the secondary and routinely makes plays on the defensive side of the ball as well. Hudson has hybrid TE/WR [player_tooltip player_id='2148797' first='Brooks' last='Crookett'] to throw to and he has a big frame/catch radius at 6'1" 200 pounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Oakes (4-1) </h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The trio of seniors, LB [player_tooltip player_id='1556587' first='Nathan' last='Schmitz'], DB/WR [player_tooltip player_id='1626024' first='Reese' last='Nitschke'], and QB [player_tooltip player_id='1575828' first='Beau' last='Thorpe'] have led this Oakes team to a 4-1 record. While they may not throw the ball that often, Thorpe is very efficient. Nitschke impacts the game on both sides of the ball and all over the field. Schmitz gets off blocks quickly with his fast hands. These three are definitely a solid core. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fan Thoughts?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're at the half way point in the season! Let me know what your game of the year has been so far in North Dakota. As always, if there is a matchup that should be talked about in the coming weeks, you can reach me at <a href="https://x.com/Rye_Storrs">@Rye_Storrs</a> on twitter/X.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->