Minot High football, Fargo Davies clash attempting to avoid 0-2 start
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While Minot High football coach Barry Holmen stated at the start of the season that games don't really start counting until Week 3 when conference play gets underway, even to him the thought of being 0-2 is unsettled.
But, the matter of the fact is, after tonight either the Magicians or Fargo Davies will hold that winless mark since the Magi lost their home-opener 36-20 to West Fargo and the Eagles fell to Bismarck High 48-20 in Week 1.
"I don't think anybody is satisfied to be where we are at, at 0-1," Holmen said. "We got beat. We didn't play well enough to win that game. Although, you look at it and you feel like if would have played better, then we are capable of getting that first win. Regardless, it's all about trying to get better."
West Fargo exposed Minot's weaknesses and, early in the season, that's acceptable.
"Now, we can work on stuff," Holmen said. "You show it on film and the kids start to understand."
One of the glaring issues last Friday that showed up on film was poor defensive gap coverage due to lack of trust and communication between teammates.
"We kept doing each other's jobs and that didn't really work," senior linebacker Layne Rouse said.
That was evident as Packers' quarterback Andy Gravdahl danced in and out the pocket all night to score three touchdowns -- two passing and one on the ground.
"We lost contain way too many times," Holmen said. "Sometimes you look at it and think the kid that is running around (trying to make the tackle) is the guy at fault, when it's probably not him. It's probably a linebacker, who went inside instead of outside, or a defensive end, who took the wrong step and got beat on the edge.
"So, it's trying to be gap sound on defense. If they are going to give us seven gaps to defend up front, then we need seven players in different spots. I think we had too many plays where maybe a linebacker ended up in the same spot as the lineman."
Offensively, the Magi backfired too many times. Especially in the second half.
"We took too many plays for losses, whether that's a sack or a penalty," Holmen said. "I think I counted 15 plays when we went backwards. We have to eliminate plays for a loss. I don't have many good play calls for second and 15."
Senior tight end Lofton Klabunde added: "We missed some assignments. We were getting down on each other, not trusting our teammates and they made good plays. We couldn't stop them."
Minot puts its week of training to the test tonight against a physical Fargo Davies team. The Magi beat the Eagles last season 48-32 in Week 2 and has won six out the last eight meetings. The two losses coming in 2014 when Davies knocked off Minot the second week of the season and then again 41-10 for the state championship.
"Big upfront, in your face kind of team," Rouse said about the opposition. "When it comes to their defense, they like to change it up sometimes. Either into a three-man front or split into kind of like an eight-man box. It will be a very good test for us to see where we are at with different things getting thrown at us."
The Eagles are known to bring pressure from different areas with a cover-two zone in the secondary to prevent the deep throws.
On offense, expect a Wing-T formation from Fargo Davies with a lot of deception.
"You have to stay home because they are coming this way and here comes the reverse," Holmen said. "They have two quarterbacks. One (Jesse Forknell) tends to throw a little more than the other (Ty Satter). So, they can put a kid in and he is the QB, but just as well could be a running back sometimes with a Wildcat type of thing. They have some weapons."
Stopping Eagles senior wide receiver Nicholas Tschosik is also a high propriety. Tschosik caught five passes for 149 yards in Week 1 against Bismarck High.
"We got to make sure (Tschosik) can't go one-on-one and beat us," Holmen said. "We have to give our corner, or whoever, some help to try to minimize his effect."
With two capable quarterbacks, an offense that relies on changing directions and a standout wide receiver, gap coverage on defense is going to be put under the microscope once again.
So, time to see how much the Magi have improved, and will it be enough to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start?
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. tonight at Fargo Davies.
Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.