Oct 10, 2008 - 04:05:23 CDT
BySTEVETHOMAS Bismarck Tribune
Now that the Coyote football team has survived the run of the gantlet, there's sun visible in Williston.
Williston, 1-3 after a brutal early-season schedule, now finds itself in position for a playoff berth for just the second time in six seasons.
In the wake of a 53-20 victory over Mandan and a 35-7 triumph over Dickinson, the Coyotes have leveled off at 3-3. Better yet, the Coyotes have a 2-2 West Region record going into Saturday's 6 p.m. matchup with visiting Jamestown.
That's a long leap from where coach Todd Matthews' team stood after successive losses to FargoSouth (54-23), Century (28-8) and Bismarck (55-26).
Those teams are ranked first, third and second, respectively, in this week's state Class AAApoll.
"We knew those games would be tough," Coyotes wideout and defensive back Jeff Skadeland said. "... Once we got past those we knew we could look ahead."
What's carried Williston back to respectability is an offense that racks up yards and points in wholesale lots. The Coyotes rank second in the West in scoring (32.3 points per game) and total offense (345.2 yards per game) and are the runaway leader in passing (203.3 yards per game).
Alex Hanson, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior quarterback, leads the region in passing yardage (1,105), touchdown passes (15) and total offense (1,478). Skadeland, a 6-4, 185-pound senior, is No. 1 in scoring (66 points), and second in receiving yardage (527).
Running back Luke Michaelson, a 6-foot, 190-pound senior, is the region's No. 4 rusher (380 yards).
Hanson said he's in no position to claim all 36 inches of every yard he's gained.
"That's a lot of credit to the guys around me.They're making my job really easy," he said. "Everyone is doing an excellent job all-around - the linemen, the wideouts and the running backs."
Two of those linemen, 317-pound senior Brent Qvale and 230-pound senior Seth Jorgenson, are horses. Qvale is a returning all-stater and Jorgenson is an all-region player.
Matthews said guys like Qvale and Jorgenson were bedrock solid as the Coyotes endured their three-game ordeal.
"We knew the schedule wasn't easy. ... Your confidence gets a little rattled, and we needed to hold it together,"Matthews noted. "The one thing we knew is we had experience and we had leadership guys like Qvale and Jorgenson and (Shawn)Egge who played last year. We knew we had that leadership we could fall back on, and we had to keep it going through those early games."
"We kept preaching that we had games ahead that were very winnable," Matthews added.
With Jamestown, Minot andSt. Mary's remaining on the schedule, the Coyotes don't have to pull off any startling upsets to nail down a playoff berth.
"We've got three games we have a very good chance of winning,"Hanson said. "If we win those we'll definitely be in (the playoffs), and if we win two of the three we'll still be in. ...We've just got to keep playing the way we're playing now, and we should be just fine."
That means maintaining intensity and focus from kickoff to the final buzzer. Hanson said at some point each of the three losses just got away from the Coyotes.
"We've started playing the full 48 minutes. ... If we'd played the full 48 minutes (against South, Bismarck and Century)we'd have done even better,"Hanson said.
This week's West Region schedule includes a doubleheader at the Community Bowl. Century plays host to Minot at 5 p.m. and St. Mary's visits Bismarck at 8 p.m. today. In today's other game, Dickinson visits Mandan at 7 p.m.
Minot, 3-1 in regional play, would have second place in its sights with a win over Century.
Williston, with two regional wins, would be a virtual cinch for the playoffs with a victory against Jamestown.
St. Mary's is rowing upstream in its quest for a playoff berth. The Saints, with one victory in the West, have the Demons, Century and Williston remaining on their schedule.
CLASSAAA FOOTBALL
WESTREGION
Region Overall
W L W L
Bismarck 4 0 5 1
Century 4 0 5 1
Minot 3 1 4 2
Williston 2 2 3 3
St. Mary's 1 3 3 3
Jamestown 1 3 2 4
Mandan 1 3 1 5
Dickinson 0 4 0 6
Last Week
Bismarck 41, Mandan 0
Century 20, Jamestown 6
Williston 35, Dickinson 7
Minot 42, St. Mary's 21
Friday, Oct. 10
St. Mary's at Bismarck, 8 p.m.
Minot at Century, 5 p.m.
Dickinson at Mandan, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 11
Jamestown at Williston, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 16
Bismarck at Dickinson
Century at St. Mary's
Friday, Oct. 17
Mandan at Jamestown
Williston at Minot
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Century at Bismarck
Dickinson at Jamestown
Mandan at Minot
St. Mary's at Williston
EASTREGION
Region Overall
W L W L
Fargo South 3 0 4 1
Fargo North 3 0 4 2
West Fargo 3 1 5 1
Wahpeton 2 2 4 2
Fargo Shanley 1 2 2 4
G.F. Red River 0 3 1 5
G.F. Central 0 4 0 6
Last Week
Fargo North 14, Wahpeton 7
Detroit Lakes (Minn.) 23, Fargo Shanley 16
Fargo South 42, Grand Forks Red River 20
West Fargo 28, Grand Forks Central 14
Friday, Oct. 10
Fargo North at Grand Forks Central
Grand Forks Red River at Fargo Shanley
West Fargo at Fargo South
Detroit Lakes at Wahpeton
Thursday, Oct. 16
Fargo South at Fargo Shanley
Grand Forks Central at Simley, MN
Fargo North at West Fargo
Wahpeton at Grand Forks Red River
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Fargo North at Fargo South
Grand Forks Central at Grand Forks Red River
Fargo Shanley at Wahpeton
WESTREGIONSTATISTICS
(Six Weeks)
TEAMOFFENSE
Team Pts. Rush Pass Total
Bismarck 37.0 201.8 111.0 312.8
Williston 32.3 141.8 203.3 345.2
St. Mary's 28.2 184.7 140.7 325.3
Century 26.5 199.5 154.7 354.2
Jamestown 24.0 179.7 164.3 344.0
Minot 22.8 233.0 69.2 302.2
Dickinson 10.2 96.7 137.5 234.2
Mandan 9.7 105.2 107.7 212.8
TEAMDEFENSE
Team Pts. Rush Pass Total
Century 5.8 73.8 95.7 169.5
Bismarck 12.5 115.0 108.8 223.8
Minot 19.8 164.7 128.0 292.7
Dickinson 28.8 225.7 137.3 363.0
Jamestown 29.7 224.2 126.8 351.0
St. Mary's 30.7 201.8 167.5 369.3
Williston 33.2 180.5 153.0 333.5
Mandan 34.8 221.5 119.3 340.8
n Scoring, rushing, passing and total yardage calculated for West Region teams on a per-game basis.
INDIVIDUALOFFENSE
Rushing: 1. Spencer Bickel, Minot, 104-707. 2. Jake Miller, Bismarck, 75-646. 3. ZachEmil, Century, 110-637. 3. Jake Miller, Bismarck, 62-482. 4. Luke Michaelson, 74-380. 5. 4. Alex Hanson, Williston, 76-373. 6. Andrew Carlson, St. Mary's, 68-330. 7. Donte Smart, Minot, 32-320. 8. Shelby Skytland, Mandan, 86-316. 9. MichaelBangs, Jamestown, 87-303. 10. Kyle Walden, Jamestown, 46-299.
Passing yards: 1. Alex Hanson Williston, 68-135-9, 1,105 yards. 2. Michael Bangs, Jamestown, 61-121-11, 986. 3. Hunter Johnson, Century, 50-90-2, 869. 4. Justin Klabunde, St. Mary's, 55-108-5, 844. 5. Ross Kovacs, Dickinson, 72-145-8, 825. 6. Sam Salveson, Mandan, 47-123-12, 606. 7. Esley Thorton,Bismarck, 32-60-1, 550. 8. Derek Somerville,Minot, 32-75-5, 316. 9. Nick Jolliffe,Bismarck, 8-17-3, 116. 10. Jack Schauer, Williston, 3-6-1, 62.
Touchdown passes: 1. Alex Hanson,Williston, 15. 2. (tie) Justin Klabunde, St. Mary's, and Michael Bangs, Jamestown, both 9. 4. (tie) Esley Thorton,Bismarck; Hunter Johnson,Century; SamSalveson, Mandan; and Ross Kovacs, Dickinson, all 5. 8. DerekSomerville,Minot, 2. 9. (tie) JoshWeatherspoon, Minot, ShawnEgge, Williston; and JackSchauer, Williston, all 1.
Receiving yards:1. Jordan Piatz, Jamestown, 30-628. 2. Jeff Skadeland, Williston, 28-527. 3. Garret Jacobs, Century, 23-510. 4. Ryan Huber, St. Mary's, 22-323. 5. Matt Chuppe,St. Mary's, 18-310. 6. Brett Sinner, Jamestown, 21-255. 7. Garret Kirchmeier, Mandan, 12-236. 8. Calvin Krueger, Bismarck, 14-201. 9. Jake Miller, Bismarck, 6-184. 10. ShawnEgge, Williston, 13-181.
Total offense: 1. Alex Hanson, Williston, 1,478 yards. 2. MichaelBangs, Jamestown, 1,289. 3. Hunter Johnson,Century, 1,005. 4. Justin Klabunde, St. Mary's, 922. 5. Ross Kovacs, Dickinson, 767. 6. Spencer Bickel, Minot, 707. 7. Sam Salveson, Mandan, 657. 8. EsleyThorton,Bismarck, 648. 9. Jake Miller, Bismarck, 646. 10. Zach Emil,Century, 637.
Scoring: 1. Jeff Skadeland,Williston, 68. 2. ZachEmil,Century, 66. 3. Spencer Bickel, Minot, 58. 4. Jake Miller, Bismarck, 54. 5. CalvinKrueger, Bismarck, 48. 6. Jordan Piatz, Jamestown, 46. 7. Zack Reisenauer, St. Mary's, 43. 8. (tie) Michael Bangs, Jamestown, and Esley Thorton, Bismarck, both 42. 10. (tie)Isaac Schwab, St. Mary's; RyanHuber, St. Mary's; and ShawnEgge,Williston, all 30.
Field goals: 1. ZachReisenauer, St. Mary's, 5. 2. (tie) Hunter Johnson, Century, and Jacob Ralph, Williston, both, 1.
EASTREGIONSTATISTICS
Offense: 1. Fargo South 36.4 points scored per game. 2. Wahpeton 25.3. 2. 3. Grand Forks Central 25.2. 4. West Fargo 21.3. 5. Fargo North 17.2. 6. Fargo Shanley 14.7. 7. Grand Forks Red River 14.0.
Defense: 1. West Fargo 9.5 points allowed per game. 2. FargoNorth 15.0. 3. Fargo Shanley 21.0. 4. (tie) Grand Forks Red River and Fargo South, both 23.0. 6. Wahpeton 24.5. 7. Grand Forks Central 37.7.
-Compiled bySteve Thomas
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