Must-Watch Matchups North Dakota: Week 3

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third week of the season is coming around in the Dakotas! There are a handful of good matchups across the divisions and these are the three I picked to highlight this week. A Fargo rivalry, a big battle in Dickinson between two teams with lots of next level talent, and a meaningful game between two undefeated 11A teams. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11A Rugby vs 11A Grafton</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A small school meeting between two 3-0 teams. Grafton and Rugby have both rolled early on. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rugby has a senior sibling duo in OL [player_tooltip player_id='1319884' first='Zack' last='Schneibel'] and LB [player_tooltip player_id='1319883' first='Julian' last='Schneibel']. Alongside the Schneibels there are a couple talented younger receivers in [player_tooltip player_id='2214864' first='Kasen' last='Halvorson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2326306' first='Wyatt' last='Fjellanger']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grafton has the talented junior wide receiver Aiden McMillan who we have ranked as the 17th best ND WR in the 2028 class. This team is really young but they do have a talented group of six seniors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11AA Dickinson vs 11AA Grand Forks Central </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams come in undefeated. Dickinson is putting up a lot of points and has only given up 14 total points. Grand Forks Central won a tough game against Bismarck St. Mary's and then took it to Jamestown in their second game. This will be an interesting test for both squads to gauge where they really are in the early stages of the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dickinson is led by the hometown Dickinson State commit [player_tooltip player_id='1544490' first='Nathan' last='Stevenson'] at QB. He is the top ranked Quarterback in the 2027 class. [player_tooltip player_id='1716749' first='Faafetai' last='Tautolo'] is a 6'5" edge rusher committed to Minot State, also the number one DL in the state. The senior DB [player_tooltip player_id='1314716' first='Paxton' last='Lyson'] is lockdown in the secondary. These three really set the tone for the Mavericks on both sides of the ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grand Forks Central has two big time playmakers on defense in senior LB [player_tooltip player_id='1314742' first='John' last='Shereck'] and senior DB [player_tooltip player_id='1314754' first='Tyson' last='Vanyo']. These two play both ways as well, helping out QB [player_tooltip player_id='2164830' first='Brody' last='Leddige'] who is very efficient in the pocket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I will be on site for this game and can't wait! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11AA Fargo South vs 11AAA Fargo North</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It has been a rough start for these two Fargo teams. They are both 0-2 and will look to get back on track in a cross town battle. Last years game was a close 28-21 win for North so we hope for another close game in this rivalry. There is plenty of talent on both sides to put on a show. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It starts with the two Ajaks at DB for South. [player_tooltip player_id='1625532' first='Chan' last='Ajak'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1625528' first='Madit' last='Ajak'] are both committed to Jamestown to play in the secondary. [player_tooltip player_id='1757131' first='Jaxon' last='Lewis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1656356' first='Davian' last='Lewis'] are two explosive athletes and [player_tooltip player_id='2072854' first='Will' last='Rieger'] is a lengthy body who can make plays on the edge on both sides of the ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North has senior edge [player_tooltip player_id='1314733' first='Parnell' last='Preston'] and the 6'8" 295 pound OL [player_tooltip player_id='2100508' first='Lucas' last='Osier'] who leads two promising 2029 OL Lenon Grovum and [player_tooltip player_id='2267039' first='Kuol' last='Atem']. [player_tooltip player_id='1113078' first='Isaac' last='Mosbrucker'] is a playmaker on the perimeter for this North team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fan Thoughts? </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let me know if there are any matchups that I missed this week or should include next week! <strong><a href="https://x.com/Rye_Storrs">@Rye_Storrs</a></strong> on Twitter/X. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->