At this point in the high school football season, East Grand Forks Senior High coach Todd Schumacher is looking for signs that the Green Wave are headed in the right direction for the postseason.
A progressing offense has provided those signs of promise the past two weeks in Senior High's close win over Crookston and a tight loss to Thief River Falls.
"If you look at the last two weeks, we're probably averaging 275 yards per game," Schumacher said. If we can keep that up the next two weeks, I think that's going to help us gain confidence heading into the playoffs. Senior High finishes the regular season at home game against Breckenridge at 7 tonight, followed by a road game in Roseau on Wednesday.
Last Friday"s 21-18 loss to Thief River Falls may have been a preview of the first round of the section tournament. Senior High, which is 2-4, is a potential No. 5 seed, while the Prowl-ers could be a No. 4 seed.
?If we take care of business, we're probably heading on a bus to Thief River Falls for the playoffs," Schumacher said. "If we do that, I know our guys are excited to play the Prowlers again." Against Thief River Falls, the Wave found another offensive weapon to accompany the team?s leading rusher Darrin Hager and leading receiver Luke Misialek.
ADVERTISEMENT
Cody Kallock rushed 16 times for 100 yards against Thief River Falls.
"He's doing a great job," Schumacher said. "He's our No. 2 rusher and our No. 2 receiver. He's just a kid with a great football sense. He'll do anything we ask of him." The Wave expect a much different game from last season's matchup with Breckenridge, who defeated Senior High 41-0 and didn't need to score a point in the second half.
"There was 5 inches of rain and we were trying to run a shotgun offense," Schumacher recalled of last year's game. "The way we've been playing the past two weeks ... we're trying to keep that up." Red River at Fargo North With Grand Forks Red River's win over James-town last Friday, the Roughriders were guaranteed the program's first winning season since 2001.
More important, the Riders took a big step towards reaching the postseason, something that also hasn't happened since 2001.
Red River visits Fargo North at 4:30 p.m. Friday with a chance to solidify its state-tournament future.
The Riders, 2-1 in the East Region, are in third place in the standings. The Spartans, 1-2, are in fourth place. Also noteworthy is Jamestown, 1-2 and in fifth place, finishes the regular season against region powers Fargo South and West Fargo.
The region's top four seeds automatically qualify for the state tournament.
West Fargo at Central
ADVERTISEMENT
Grand Forks Central will take its turn at playing spoiler.
The Knights, who are 2-5, host West Fargo at 7 p.m. Friday at Cushman Field.
The Packers, after starting the year with surprising losses to Mandan and Bismarck Century, have rebounded to win four of their next five games.
The Knights, meanwhile, are reeling after a frustrating loss to Jamestown and a lopsided defeat by Fargo South.
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
