The schedule is not doing Benson County any favors.

In addition to adjusting to a new co-op (Maddock/North Central Benson), the Wildcats have had to open up the season against Lakota and North Star. This week, the Wildcats will play host to TGU before travelling to play Wells County in week 4.

Wells County, North Star and TGU are a combined 7-0 and three of the top four teams in Region 4 according to the preseason coaches poll.

"You still just have to prepare for each game, no matter who you are playing," Benson County head coach Jeff Manley said. "It kind of makes it exciting because you know that you have to be at your top level for those teams."

The tough schedule has led to an 0-2 start for the Wildcats, who would like nothing more than a win during today's homecoming game against TGU (1-0 Region 4, 2-0).

While a loss will not end Benson County's hopes of gaining a playoff berth, it will make doing so more difficult.

"We don't want to get too far behind in the standings because we don't want to play catch up or have to hope that somebody beats somebody else to give us a chance," Manley said. "It's right up there for us."

Benson County (0-1 Region 4, 0-2) nearly knocked off North Star last week, but miscues and penalties led to a 16-14 loss. The Wildcats have scored just three touchdowns in two games (all by junior running back J.D. Schmid) thanks largely to untimely penalties and mistakes that have slowed down drives.

"We need to get our running game going and put some drives together," Manley said. "We've put some drives together, but then we bog down because of a penalty or a couple bad plays and then we're behind the chains trying to play catch up. We have to cut down on mistakes."

TGU is coming off a 78-0 win over Dunseith last week and a 46-22 win over Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood the week before. TGU running back Ian Keller and quarterback Tyler Thorson have had a hand in 12 of the team's 19 touchdowns.

Stopping them will be a key to Benson County's success.

"We've seen the things that they like to do so we are going to put our guys in good positions to make tackles on those guys," Manley said. "They both are hard runners and shifty runners too that are tough to tackle. We can't let them go wild on us."

Schmid leads Benson County in rushing with 62 yards on 20 carries, while senior quarterback Brad Nelsen has 44 yards on 14 carries. Nelsen has completed 6 of 14 passes for 74 yards and two interceptions.

Manley said the transition into the new co-op has gone smoothly.

"NCB and Maddock were really good rivals and the kids already knew each other. We've been in a track co-op together for almost 10 years so there has been a lot of interaction between the players and students from both schools. It has been a really good thing," Manley said.

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start in Maddock.

Lewis & Clark-Our Redeemer's at Garrison Max

The Lewis & Clark-Our Redeemer's football team will be looking to win its second-straight game as it travels to play Garrison-Max in a Class A Region 3 contest today at Garrison.

Bombers' senior running back Michael White ran for 252 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-0 win over New Town last week and the Bombers will need another strong outing from him if they plan to open the region schedule 2-0.

"Getting Michael going again will be a key because our running game is very important," Bombers head coach Justin Wieseler said. "We need to get Michael involved and some other guys involved in the running game as well to be successful."

White had touchdown runs of 13, 79, 21, 5 and 60 yards on just 12 touches behind a steadily improving offensive line.

"Our offensive line did a much better job last week. They got where they are supposed to be and they made solid blocks," Wieseler said. "But each week we have to improve there. We are still not quite where we want to be and I'll be looking for improvement there this week."

Garrison-Max (0-1 Region 3, 0-2) is coming off a 20-0 loss to Des Lacs-Burlington in week two and a 28-0 loss to Grant County-Flasher in week one. Garrison-Max will have a tough time getting its first points of the season against a Bombers team (1-0 Region 3, 1-1) that has allowed only 12 points in its first two contests.

"I am pretty excited with how our defense has played this year," Wieseler said. "Last year at times they struggled, but this year we aren't giving up many big plays and we're tackling well. If we want to get anywhere in this region we have to play even better because each team in this region plays good defense."

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.