MV-E atop Region 1 cluster

Talk about it

There's no getting around it: Class A's Region 1 is a mess.

But it's real simple for the Maple Valley-Enderlin football team — beat Oakes on Friday night and capture the outright region title.

It looked like there wasn't going to be much of a problem for the Falcons until a 28-6 setback to Milnor-North Sargent left them vulnerable to a tiebreaking scenario.

MV-E coach Brett Kapaun said the games against the top teams in the region have been competitive; the Falcons have just found a way to come out on top.

"We've played well in most games," Kapaun said. "We haven't really rolled through our region."

The loss to M-NS was a humble reminder of the competitiveness of Region 1.

"I don't know whether it was the weather or I didn't prepare them well enough," Kapaun said. "They really ran the ball well on us. ... We didn't run the ball well. When we don't run the ball, we don't play well."

The loss created quite an opportunity for a variety of teams in the region. Currently, MV-E is the only team guaranteed a playoff spot going into the last week.

M-NS (4-2, 4-3), Linton-HMB (4-2, 4-3) and Northern Cass (4-2, 4-3) play the region's bottom three teams in Fargo Oak Grove, May-Port-CG and Kidder County, respectively. They have a combined three wins on the season.

The following scenarios are in assumption that M-NS, Linton-HMN and Northern Cass win this week:

— MV-E (5-1 region, 6-1 overall) gets the No. 1 seed for the playoffs with a win over Oakes. Linton-HMB would be the No. 2 seed while Northern Cass and M-NS would be third and fourth, respectively. Oakes would be out of the playoffs.

— If Oakes beats MV-E by seven points or more, Oakes would win the region and get the top seed. MV-E would be second, followed by Linton-HMB and Northern Cass. M-NS would miss the playoffs.

— If Oakes beats MV-E by less than seven points, M-NS would get the No. 1 seed, followed by Oakes, MV-E and then Linton-HMB. Northern Cass would be out of the playoffs.

If any of the three favored teams lose, it would create even more possibilities. Though it can't win the region, Linton-HMB only has to win to be guaranteed a playoff spot. Ironically, MV-E gets the No. 2 seed if it loses to Oakes by seven or more points, but drops to third if it loses by less than seven.

Kapaun said he likely learn a lot about his kids on Friday.

"We'll see what they're made of," Kapaun said. "We'll see what we're ready to do."

Region 2 and beyond

Larimore has clinched the Region 2 title and the No. 1 seed and Langdon is second. Park River-Fordville-Lankin and Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn have also qualified for the playoffs, though the two teams play on Friday in Westhope to decide who's No. 3 and who's No. 4.

Missing from the pack is defending region champion and perennial power Harvey-Wells County, which was eliminated from playoff contention last week.

Elsewhere, defending state champion and top-ranked Stanley-Powers Lake has wrapped up the Region 3 title. Williams County, Watford City, Velva, Des Lacs-Burlington and Lewis & Clark-Our Redeemer's are all position themselves for the last three spots. Velva is likely to make the playoffs, but there is a scenario in which the Aggies do not involving a Williams County upset of Stanley.

In Region 4, Hazen, Heart River and Killdeer went 1-1 against each other this season, forcing a tiebreaker. All three teams are heavily favored to win in the final game of the season, and if that holds true, Hazen will get the No. 1 seed on the tiebreaker, while Killdeer would be No. 2 based on its head-to-head win over Heart River, which would be third. Grant County-Flasher, Richardton-Taylor-Hebron and New Salem-Glen Ullin are all still alive for the fourth spot.

N-G-S, W-L for title

Much like in Class A, 9-man features a head-scratching Region 1.

Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter (7-1) hosts Wyndmere-Lidgerwood (7-1) on Friday, with the winner capturing the outright region title and No. 1 seed. However, the losing team could find itself falling farther down the field.

The other four teams fighting for a playoff spot are LaMoure-Litchville-Marion (6-2), South Border (6-2), Hankinson (5-3) and Richland (5-3). A variety of scenarios occur because all six teams are playing each other the final week. Hankinson goes to South Border and Richland vists LaMoure-L-M.

N-G-S is guaranteed a home playoff game. If the Imperials lose to W-L, they fall to No. 2. However, if W-L loses, the Warbirds could fall to No. 3 and go on the road. N-G-S and W-L are the only teams guaranteed a playoff spot at this point.

W-L would bump down to No. 3 because of a loss to LaMoure-L-M, which would then propel itself to No. 2 and a home playoff game with a win. Oddly enough, if LaMoure-L-M loses, it will miss the playoffs becaues it would likely fall into a tiebreaker with South Border and Richland, which would both have wins over the Loboes.

South Border is in with a win or a LaMoure-L-M loss.

Rockets in control

Thanks to a dominating season by New Rockford-Sheyenne, Region 2 in the 9-man ranks has a clear team at the top. NR-S is locked into the No. 1 seed. Cavalier, Lakota-Adams-Edmore and Hillsboro-Central Valley have qualified as well. However, a H-CV win over Cavalier would create a three-way tiebreaking scenario. A Cavalier win would put it second, followed by Lakota-A-E and H-CV.

In Region 3, TGU's surprising 28-point win over previously No. 1-ranked North Star means the Titans are the No. 1 seed and region champions. North Star is two, followed by Surrey and St. John. All seeds are finalized.

Region 4 is simple at the top. Central McLean goes to Divide County, and the winner takes the region title and No. 1 seed. A DC loss bumps it to No. 2. A CM loss could force it to tumble farther if winless Bowman were to upset Beach and Shiloh beats Hettinger-Scranton. If DC, Beach and Shiloh win, CM would join the latter two with a 7-2 records. CM would hold the tiebreaker and get the No. 2 spot. Beach would be third on its win over Shiloh, which would drop to fourth.

Tags: class b, sports, football