Nathan beitler/MDN Christian Deadmond and the rest of the Sentinels are one win away from their first trip to the Dakota Bowl. Minot North hosts Central Cass in the Class AA semifinals on Friday, Nov. 7.

There will be a fresh face representing half the Class AA field at the Dakota Bowl regardless of the outcome between Minot North and Central Cass on Friday, Nov. 7, at Sentinel Stadium.

Neither the Sentinels nor Squirrels have advanced to Fargo on the final day of the high school football calendar as a member of Class AA.

The Sentinels are just two years old as a varsity program, but saw their inaugural campaign end at this stage of the season last year, falling to West Fargo Horace at home in the Class AA semifinals. Central Cass is back in Class AA after two years in Class A and two years in Class B prior to 24 consecutive years in Class AA. The Squirrels appeared in the Dakota Bowl as a member of Class B in 2022, but fell to Velva. They advanced to one Class AA semifinal in 2018 prior to this season, but lost to Bismarck St. Mary’s.

Now, one program is guaranteed to make their debut in the Dakota Bowl, while the other will have its season end one game away from Fargo for a second straight year.

“That’s the goal of every football team in the state,” Minot North coach Jacob Holmen said. “We told our guys last week that there were 32 teams that got to play football last Friday and Saturday and this week it’s down to 16 and we’re fortunately enough to do it. We want to be one of the last eight standing, but we know it’s going to take our best preparation we’ve ever had as a program. We look forward to a good challenge.”

The Sentinels (10-0) are coming off one of their most tightly-contested games of the season against Grand Forks Red River, a team they handled 45-14 during the regular season. They fell behind early, going 3-and-out on their first possession and then surrendered a touchdown to the Roughriders on their first possession. Gunnar Jost gave his team a boost by blocking the ensuing extra point, and Minot North would tie the game before the end of the first quarter.

The teams remained tied into the fourth quarter, but the Sentinels were able to wear down Red River in the end, outscoring the Roughriders 14-0 over the final 12 minutes on touchdown runs from Christian Deadmond and Evan Berg. Deadmond led the ground attack with 120 yards on 20 carries and Berg added 62. The Sentinels finished with 201 yards on the ground.

Brayden Blikre didn’t factor into the rushing attack, but did damage with his arm, completing five passes for 104 yards. Josia Jaquinet got involved in the passing game as well, completing a pass for 38 yards.

“We have to get off to a better start and we don’t feel like we’ve played a full four quarters of football all year,” Holmen said. “We’ve had moments where we’ve been really good at the beginning and then had a lull or vice versa. It’s a mentality of trying to stay as focused as we can throughout an entire practice as we can this week so that can carry over to a game where we can hopefully get off to a good start and sustain some things throughout the game and hopefully finish like we did last game against Red River.”

Holmen said it can be difficult to play a team twice in one season because they are able to make adjustments easier because they have seen opponents on the field as opposed to just watching them on film. This week, the Sentinels match up with not just a team they didn’t play this season, but a team they have yet to play in their program’s history in Central Cass. However, despite playing in different conferences, they played seven common opponents this season.

The Squirrels knocked off Bismarck St. Mary’s, 22-14, in their quarterfinal game, scoring the first 22 points of the game and holding off the Saints late to advance to Friday’s semifinal contest. Quarterback Brody Kegley completed 24 of 28 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown, and Colton Cruchet carried the ball 24 times for 166 yards and two scores. Blaise Cotton hauled in eight passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. In his last four outings against West Region opponents, Kegley is 91-for-109 with 919 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Squirrels were 5-2 against common opponents with Minot North.

Central Cass has plenty of weapons and talent across the roster, including a pair of linemen who will be playing college football next season. Aiden Wunderlich (6-foot-6, 275 pounds) committed to play Division I football at the University of North Dakota, and Evan Wiersma (6-3, 280) will play at Division II Minnesota State Moorhead next season.

“As a team, I’d definitely say what makes Central Cass go, it’s all about the way we play as a group,” Central Cass coach Tommy Butler said. “We play as a team. This year, we’ve had three different guys be 100-yard receivers. We’ve had a back go over 100 yards. Our offensive line has two big bookend tackles, but with all of those things being said, they play together as a team. To me, we don’t have one superstar. We’re very much team-oriented. We have a lot of guys that just play really hard. I would hope that when you turn on a game with Central Cass, you’re going to see physicality, you’re going to see a team that flies around to the ball and you’re going to see guys that block with a passion and a team that just cares about one another. There’s no finger-pointing going on out there. That’s what’s allowed us to stay in some of these games. We do have some really good talent, but there are times where we’re playing teams that are bigger, stronger, faster than us, but our kids love that kind of mindset when we get to play a really good team. We look forward to proving teams wrong. Being the smaller school, we thrive on that.”

Between a combination of stout defense that allows just 7.5 points per game and a rushing attack that puts up close to 265 yards a contest, the Sentinels have had the luxury of not having to play in many close games down the stretch. Minot North has won its games by an average of 25.5 points per game.

It’s a bit of a different story for Central Cass, as it tends to only play in close games, outscoring opponents by about 10 points per game this season. It played second-ranked Kindred to within two possessions, the closest game the Vikings played against a Class AA opponent this season. Now, the Squirrels are excited to play the top-ranked team in the state,

“Getting the chance to take on the No. 1 team in the state, who I honestly think is one of, if not the, most talented teams I’ve ever seen just on paper in high school football,” Butler said. “This is definitely a team that is highly talented, but our boys are excited. We’ve gotten the chance to play the No. 2 team in Kindred earlier this year who have two four-star recruits on their team. We’ve taken on some really good talent this year, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity of coming up to the Magic City and hopefully trying to make some magic of our own.”

Historically, teams from the West and teams from the East tend to play different styles, with the West preferring to line it up under center and dictate the line of scrimmage, whereas the East is more uptempo and gets the ball out quickly and spreads opposing defenses out. Holmen said it can be an advantage and a disadvantage for both teams when trying to prepare.

“They like to spread things out a little bit more on the east side,” Holmen said. “They are shotgun a lot and the west teams get under center more. It’s two different styles of play, which is an advantage for both sides. We’re not used to defending the pass as much, but maybe they aren’t as used to defending the run as much. It will be a clash of two different programs.”

Holmen said Central Cass doesn’t have much of a comparison to any other team across Class AA, but does remind him a bit of what Fargo Shanley does with their quick tempo in Class AAA.

Butler knows his defense can expect a heavy dose of Minot North’s running game, but also knows that stopping the run is easier said while watching film than done on gameday.

“They figured out what they are good at and they are just going to beat you to death with it,” Butler said. “They don’t really sugarcoat a lot. Their offensive and defensive line are some of the most talented groups I’ve seen. They’re fast, they’re explosive and they play with an unbelievable motor. As a guy who loves football, they are fun to watch because of how hard they play. I don’t know if you can stop the run game, but can you slow it down a little bit? That’s the goal. You have to make them drive the field and hopefully you can get a couple big stops.”

Minot North’s road to the Dakota Bowl hit a blockade last year with its semifinal loss to West Fargo Horace, but even if many of the pieces are still in place, the team has changed quite a bit in the past year.

“Last year and this year are different seasons and it’s a different group of guys,” Holmen said. “A lot of the same kids, but a different team than what we had last year. We’re a lot more mature and there’s different expectations this year, too. Last year, we knew Horace coming in was maybe a little bit better than us. They beat us earlier in the year. I feel like this week we have two pretty evenly matched teams going at it for a chance to do something special and get to a Dakota Bowl.”

As for Butler and the Squirrels, whether they are the favorite or the underdog, the goal at the end of the year is always the same within the program.

“Our mindset going into this year was we have a standard of coming in trying to win a state championship every year,” Butler said. “If you’re not trying to win a state championship, I don’t know what you’re trying to do. That’s always the end goal. Is it achievable? I’ve been the head coach for seven years now and we haven’t won one yet, but that is the standard, that’s the road map you’re trying to cast out to the kids. For us, we expected to compete, but we knew it was going to be a tough road.”