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 By Jeff Baranick
The fall season for 2026 North Dakota prep sports is
fast winding down as we've reached the midway mark of
October. With girls' golf and boys' tennis already in
the books, football teams in two divisions just
concluded regular-season play, boys' soccer staged its
state tourney this past weekend, and cross-country and
volleyball will follow suit in forthcoming weeks.
Starting with the gridiron scene, KDKT Sports Radio
called the Division A Region 4 finale in Washburn
between a pair of 6-1 teams already qualified for the
state playoffs--the Southern McLean Roughriders and
Dickinson Trinity Titans. And in a thriller played at
Roughriders Field, Southern McLean scored the winning
points with 7 seconds remaining (on a 3-yard Levi
McGregor 2-point dash) to clip Dickinson Trinity 32-31.
Sparking Southern McLean's offense was Sr RB Brady
Vollmuth. He rushed for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns on 23
carries. But also contributing key yardage in the
Roughriders' efficient ground attack were the
aforementioned Levi McGregor, a junior, plus senior
backs Ethan Retterath and Josh Laning. McGregor darted
for 90 yards, Retterath powered ahead for 87 yards, and
Laning chipped in 78 yards (including a 42-yard sprint
to the endzone). Additionally, Laning completed 5-of-11
pass attempts for 96 yards, including a 17-yard scoring
strike to Jr WR Keaton Kadrmas. In defeat, Titans' Sr RB
Alonzo Kudrna scorched the Roughriders' defense for 166
yards on 14 carries; Sr QB Brody Kuntz completed 6-of-12
aerial attempts for 132 yards and 2 TDs; and Sr WR
Emerson Simnioniw recorded 4 catches for 106 yards and 2
scores (covering 66 and 17 yards). With the victory,
Southern McLean nabs Region 4's top-seed for the
post-season and will have a home playoff game this
Saturday with the Des Lacs-Burlington Lakers scheduled
to start at 2:00 pm CT. Elsewhere this past Friday in
Division A Region 4 contests, Bowman County blitzed
Beulah 44-17; Central McLean blasted Killdeer 48-6; and
Shiloh Christian hammered Heart River 54-20. On the
Division A Region 3 landscape, first-place Bishop
Ryan/Our Redeemer's trounced Tioga 52-8; 4th-ranked
Velva-Drake-Anamoose-Garrison vanquished South
Prairie-Max 54-6; Ray-Powers Lake busted Bottineau
37-16; and Des Lacs-Burlington downed Stanley 26-16.
Furthermore, #1 Ellendale-Edgeley-Kulm defeated Oakes
30-6; 2nd-ranked Harvey-Wells County pasted Park River
Area 50-22; 3rd-rated Langdon Area-Munich fought off
Grafton 34-20; and #5 Northern Cass roughed up Valley
City 43-16. Turning our attention to 9-man football
tilts, #1 New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock blanked Four
Winds 48-0; 2nd-ranked LaMoure-Litchville-Marion
whitewashed Enderlin 54-zip; #3 Linton-HMB romped over
Richardton-Taylor-Hebron 60-14; #4
Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter smacked Hettinger County 55-0;
and 5th-rated Alexander drubbed Dunseith 48-0. Moreover,
Grant County-Flasher humbled Hettinger-Scranton 50-14;
Kidder County crunched New Salem-Almont 58-0; Beach
battered Standing Rock 43-0; and TGU beat
Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 14-0. Moving on to AA matchups,
top-ranked Kindred shut out Wahpeton 41-0; 2nd-ranked
Minot North outlasted Jamestown 34-26; #3 Dickinson
pushed past #4 Devils Lake 19-8; and Central Cass gashed
5th-rated Grand Forks Central 47-6. Additionally, St.
Mary's raced past Watford City 53-34 and Grand Forks Red
River breezed by Fargo South 48-28. Then in the "big
school" AAA division, #1 Bismarck whipped Williston
42-6; #2 Fargo Shanley survived West Fargo Sheyenne
40-37; 3rd-ranked Legacy nipped Century 15-14;
4th-ranked West Fargo Horace handled Fargo Davies 29-12;
5th-rated West Fargo doubled up Fargo North 42-21; and
Mandan outpointed Minot 43-36. Transitioning to the
pitch now, Fargo North hosted the ND boys' soccer state
tourney this past weekend; and claiming the state
championship was West Fargo Sheyenne with a 1-0 shutout
of cross-town rival West Fargo. In other placement
games, Bismarck bludgeoned Fargo South 5-0 for 5th,
while Mandan-St. Mary's nipped Minot 1-nil for 3rd.
Finally, on the volleyball courts of western North
Dakota, in AA matches, Century beat Dickinson 3-0 and
Minot North 3-1; Jamestown downed Legacy and Bismarck,
respectively, by the same tallies; Mandan swept St.
Mary's 3-0 but fell to Legacy 3-2; and Bismarck beat
Minot North 3-1. In Class A Region 4 tussles, Beulah got
swept by both Killdeer and Dickinson Trinity; Hazen
handled Shiloh Christian 3-0; and Watford City defeated
New Town by that same score. And then in some notable
Class B skirmishes, winning by 3-0 results were Beach,
Wilton-Wing, Hettinger-Scranton,
Richardton-Taylor-Hebron, Central McLean, Washburn, and
New Salem-Almont, respectively, at the expense of
Belfield, New Salem-Almont, Mott-Regent, Glen Ullin,
Standing Rock, Mandaree, and Glen Ullin.
Filed
by Veteran KDKT Sportscaster Jeff Baranick
Listen for Jeff on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
Check Out
This Season's NDHSAA Broadcast/Game Schedule
 This
Week's Wrap-Up: As the football season hits
full stride, the Summer baseball season has finally
come to an end as the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks fell
3-2 to the Kansas City Monarchs in the American
Association Playoff Semifinals. Kansas City won the
opening game of the series 6-4 at Newman Outdoor
Field, but the Redhawks came back with a 5-4 victory
in their final home game of the year. On the road,
Fargo-Moorhead fell 7-3 in game three of the series.
The Redhawks bounced back with a 6-3 win in game
four but fell 10-9 in the decisive game five to the
Monarchs. Fargo-Moorhead finished the season with a
53-47 overall record and finished third in the West
Division. On the gridiron, the UND Fighting Hawks
fought off a second-half comeback from the Indiana
State Sycamores to improve to 4-1 with a 42-35 win.
The Fighting Hawks held a 28-14 lead at halftime,
but Indiana State closed the gap with two touchdowns
in the final 10 minutes of the second half. Jerry
Kaminski went 33 of 48 through the air for 381 yards
and four passing touchdowns. He rushed for 86 yards
and two touchdowns in the game as well. Deng Deng
was the go-to target with six receptions for 101
yards. Cameron Weir, Korey Tai, and Mason South were
the Fighting Hawks' receivers who found the back of
the end zone in the game. UND is back inside the
Alerus Center on October 3rd to host Murray State
for their Homecoming and Hall of Fame Game. The NDSU
Bison improved to 4-0 with a 31-10 victory over the
Sacramento State Hornets. The Bison opened up the
game with 21 points in the first quarter and added
another touchdown in the second quarter. Nathan
Hayes went 14 of 24 through the air for 210 yards
and one touchdown. Jackson Williams led the Bison
receivers with 134 yards on seven receptions and
scored one touchdown. DJ Scott and Myles Mitchell
were the featured backs for the Bison, and both
found the end zone in the game. Scott finished the
game with 80 yards rushing, and Mitchell recorded 34
yards. NDSU will continue Mountain West Conference
play against the Wyoming Cowboys on October 3rd at
2:30 pm. The Minot State Beavers fell to 1-4 with a
37-19 loss in the Battle of the Beavers against
Bemidji State. Minot State fell behind 16-6 at
halftime, and Bemidji State added to their lead with
21 points in the second half. Jett Lundeen went two
of seven through the air for 47 yards and one
interception for Minot State. Lundeen added 66 yards
on the ground, including two touchdowns. Brandon
Hines Jr. rushed the ball 16 times for 80 yards and
one touchdown. Bemidji State dominated the game with
their rushing attack, gaining 405 yards on the
ground and scoring five touchdowns. Minot State is
back at Herb Park Stadium to host the Minnesota
State Moorhead Dragons on October 3rd at 2:00 pm.
The UMary Marauders fell in a close game to the
Northern State Wolves 21-14 this weekend. Northern
State scored a touchdown in the first, second, and
third quarters of the game. UMary scored on two long
passing touchdowns in the second and fourth quarters
of the game. Ryan Blair went 27 of 34 through the
air for 294 yards, including two touchdowns and one
interception. Karsyn Jablonski was the leading
receiver for the Marauders with 13 receptions for
138 yards and one touchdown. Jablonski's touchdown
came on a 37-yard pitch-and-catch from Blair.
Emmanuel Cody scored the other Marauder touchdown
with a 41-yard reception. UMary will be back at the
MDU Resources Community Bowl on October 3rd to host
the Jamestown Jimmies for Homecoming and Hall of
Fame Weekend.
Filed
by KDKT Sportscaster Josh Coleman
Listen for Josh on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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