The Final Week

I’ve been a terrible blogger lately, but I had to squeeze something in before a busy day of football.

This is turning out to be a great week, mainly in 11-man football…and 11AA in particular.

All five of our ranked teams in 11AA will be featured on Friday Night Lights tonight.

Perhaps the biggest game, in terms of rivalry and tradition, is Washington at O’Gorman. Washington hasn’t really been tested this year but I expect the Knights to give them their best game yet. I’ve always thought that O’Gorman would have the best shot to beat Washington because of how they match up. I still think Washington wins it, but it will be a competitive game until at least half way through the fourth.

In terms of ranking and competition, the best game might be in Harrisburg as the second ranked Tigers host the top-ranked Dell Rapids Quarriers in 11A.

Back in 11AA, third ranked Roosevelt and fifth ranked Lincoln will play at the Wood…I don’t envision Lincoln playing the Riders very close.

Down the road in Brandon, the 5-1 Lynx will welcome second ranked Watertown. The ESD conference championship is still up for grabs, with Watertown at 6-0, and Brandon Valley and Pierre both at 5-1. Pierre is at Aberdeen, so they should be able to finish 6-1. If Brandon can beat Watertown, and I think it’s possible, those three would all finish 6-1. (See, I can do math!)

Like I said, it’s more of an 11-man type of night…but right now we’re scheduled to feature four teams in our top five rankings from the nine-man ranks.

I’ll try to get something up here on Friday, reacting to Thursday’s games and looking ahead to the playoffs. Thor and I will be shooting our playoff preview sometime on Friday…which should be at KSFY.com shortly after.

In the meantime, I’d like to share a couple of links.

First, a short story we did with Washington OL Derek Farniok, on his way to Oklahoma next year: Click Here to watch the story.

Secondly, a story I wish I never had to do. Derek Klinkner of SMSU was severely injured in a farming accident near his home in Artesian this summer. I played with Derek for two years at SMSU…and to see him unable to walk, much less play football is tough. He played his high school ball at Sanborn Central and vows to one day walk again. Click Here to watch the story.

Jim Nelson
KSFY Sports
Twitter: @JimNelsonKSFY