Mike Kraft/MDN Senior wide receiver Josiah Jaquinet and the Sentinels clinched a share of the WDA regular season title and the No. 1 seed and can win the conference outright for a second straight year with a victory at Dickinson on Friday, Oct. 24.

North football team has the opportunity to accomplish a feat that many programs across the state that have been around for decades have yet to achieve: complete an undefeated regular season.

The Sentinels can check off that goal and win the West Region regular season title outright in the process with a victory at Dickinson on Friday, Oct. 24, in the final night of the regular season. Minot North has already clinched a share of the WDA title as well as the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Mavericks were eliminated from postseason contention following their loss to Devils Lake last week.

Despite being locked into their playoff positioning, the Sentinels (8-0 overall, 4-0 WDA) plan on treating their upcoming game like every other one before it and expect Dickinson to do the same.

“They have nothing to lose, so they are going to give us their best shot for sure,” Minot North coach Jacob Holmen said. “We want to get through the game healthy. That’s a big goal of ours and may not potentially play a kid or two based on some injuries we got last week just to get them fresh for next week, but we want to go out and win and win the WDA outright and finish a regular season undefeated is something not a lot of teams get to do. We’re definitely preparing like we always prepare and go win a football game on Friday night.”

After a nail-biting victory over Devils Lake two weeks ago, the Sentinels returned to form last week against Jamestown in a 49-13 victory to secure the top seed and eliminate the Blue Jays from any postseason hopes. In a game heavily influenced by rainy weather conditions, Minot North threw the ball just three times and kept it on the ground the other 34 plays. The Sentinels racked up 284 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, led by Cooper Chick’s 107-yard performance. Chick, Cole Richardson, Christian Deadmond, Brayden Blikre, Harrison Schaefer and Cian Hannon all scored rushing touchdowns as the Sentinels led 42-0 at half and scored the first 49 points of the contest.

“We played pretty well,” Holmen said. “I didn’t spend a lot of time watching film from that game just because it’s a unique game where it’s so rainy and you aren’t necessarily doing exactly what you wanted to do throughout the week. We established the run game really well and stopped the run game really well. We’re taking steps in the right directions. We’re still improving as a football team.”

The Mavericks (2-6, 1-3) enter Friday night’s game having lost five of their last six, but their last three losses have been by a combined 10 points. Whereas the Sentinels have only played one truly close game this season, the Mavericks have played more tightly contested games than they have blowouts. They average 26.1 points per game while allowing 26.3 points per game.

Dickinson is led by quarterback Nathan Stevenson, who has completed 74 of 137 passes for 1,100 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s also the team’s leading rusher with 448 yards and four touchdowns on 73 carries. Wyatt Turner is the primary running back, carrying the ball 74 times for 349 yards and five touchdowns.

Stevenson has three top targets in Paxton Lyson, Dylan Glasser and Kaleb Pullins. Lyson serves as Stevenson’s primary option, hauling in 33 passes for 400 yards and three touchdowns. Glass caught 15 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns and Pullins added nine catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns for an offense that averaged 317.5 yards per game.

Holmen expects Stevenson to factor into the running game just as much – if not more – as the passing game.

“We still want to be a run-stopping defense,” Holmen said. “Their quarterback is a big kid. We think they’re going to give him the ball a lot knowing they don’t have another game. Sometimes you keep your quarterback safe and don’t run him as much as you’d like, but they have nothing to lose, so we have to stop that phase of the game. He can extend plays and make throws downfield, so our secondary has to make some improvements from a few weeks ago when we struggled at times covering some talented wide receivers.”

The Sentinels will look to take advantage of a Dickinson team that allows 159.1 rushing yards per game. Minot North averages 272.2 rushing yards per game, amassing more than 2,100 yards on the ground so far this season. Chick is the leading tailback, accumulating 644 yards and three touchdowns on 86 carries.

The Sentinels aren’t 100 percent sure what type of defensive look the Mavericks will throw at them, but expect to adjust quickly.

“We have to first find out what kind of front they’re going to play on us,” Holmen said. “Their JV team came and played on Monday against our JV team and they played a different front than we saw on film. That will be the first thing I’m looking for on Friday night and then we have to do a good job of handling their backers. They started playing their quarterback at inside linebacker and he flies around and tackles really well. Being able to get to the second level with our linemen will be a point of emphasis.”

Holmen believes that his team’s focus is squarely on the Mavericks and that they aren’t already looking at potential quarterfinal matchups against the East Region.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, the final two playoffs spots in the East Region have yet to be determined. Kindred has locked up the No. 1 seed and Central Cass has earned a playoff berth, but Grand Forks Central, Grand Forks Red River and Fargo South are jockeying for the final two open playoff spots. Only Wahpeton has been eliminated. Red River hosts Grand Forks Central and are currently tied in the standings, with the winner advancing to the postseason. Fargo South is a game back of both and travels to winless Wahpeton. The Bruins would clinch the No. 4 seed and a trip to Minot North with a win and a loss by Red River, as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Bruins would be eliminated with a Red River victory, and send Grand Forks Central to play the Sentinels, as the Knights hold the tiebreaker with Fargo South. Red River and Fargo South played Minot North earlier in the season.

“Our most important game of the year is on Friday night and then we’ll worry about the future when it gets here,” Holmen said.”We want to go win a WDA title outright and our kids have bought into doing that. It’s a mature group of guys that I’m really proud of.”

As for the West Region, the four representatives are set, but Devils Lake, St. Mary’s and Watford City are all fighting for playoff positioning.

Holmen likes to stay in the moment, but the early success of the program isn’t lost on him.

“It’s a pretty cool start,” Holmen said. “Last year we felt like we had a chance to compete right away and this year with a lot of guys coming back we had a good confidence level coming in, but we knew teams were going to get a lot better as well. I’m really proud of the work our kids have put in. They didn’t take things easy in the offseason and got after it really well. I’m really proud of this group of seniors for establishing what we want our identity to be at Minot North and they’ve set a great foundation for our program.”