Just when they had matched Philadelphia's record the Purple laid one of the biggest eggs in the franchises history. Losing Christian Darrisaw to a second concussion in as many weeks means he won't be available again until December (and possibly well into it) so K.O. is going to have to scheme-up some better protection for Cousins or the battering he took today will be like the iceberg to the Titanic.
It was as bad as the score indicates and does not deserve the time that would be necessary to extract some minute amount of positivity. We will find out in a few days whether the quick turnaround is good or bad but it seems likely that it won't be worse, so I guess there's that...
It was a hoops-heavy week for the Herd, started with a visit by Valley City State Monday that finished as a 51-point win for the women. Thursday they were back on the court against Lindsay Whalen. It took all four quarters but when time ran out Jory Collins had his first signature win at the University.
At approximately the same time got their 20th win of the season over League-leading South Dakota. SDSU got them back Saturday with a 3 - 0 in the regular season finale. They will face North Dakota in Omaha Thursday.
This past Thursday also included men's traveling to Terre Haute, losing to 101 - 75. They finally got in the win column Sunday as Crown College came to the SHAC but even that showed how much growth this young team will need to have before Sioux Falls in March. Friday brought Binghamton to town for the second win in the early-going. They then traveled to Brookings for a Sunday duel.
The regular season finale at the Dome was even better than the final score. They found over lunch Sunday that they indeed will be the three seed, opposite Sacramento State. They will get the winner of SE Missouri & Montana. If the outcomes on the other side of the bracket go to script they will get either Montana St. again or SDSU in the championship - their own results depending of course. Before all that they got a bit more professional news as Nash Jensen was invited to the Players Association Bowl in LA.
Christian Watson also made some news as he was named Rookie of the Week.
And as a reminder of what's to come, ⚾️ announced it's schedule.
Moorhead State's week began with All-Conference honors, headlined by WR Gage Florence being named Offensive Newcomer of the Year
When the competition got underway it was losses in Aberdeen by women's 🏀 Wednesday and a buzzer-beater at the hands of Black Hills State Friday by the men. In-between 🤼 lost a duel with Concordia. The week ended with men's hoops getting a 17-point win the following day over SD Mines while both 🏃 teams finished just inside the top 25 at the regional race.
The weekend started early as 🤼 made the short trip to their Eastern neighbors and showed that D3 can get it done.
Women's 🏒 then laced up for a pair against St. Kate's that finished with identical 4 - 2 scores Friday & Saturday, to the Cobber's dismay.
Both of the 🏀 teams also got games in Saturday with the women getting their second win of the season in Duluth while the men couldn't overcome a 50-point first half by St. Scholastica.
13 games preceded this week and it's solid proof of good steps being taken in the coalescence. The first was last Sunday, taking down a short-handed Cleveland squad. They built on that with their best performance yet in Orlando, scoring 70 points in the first half for the first time this season while limiting the home team to 49. Edwards was especially good in the game, notching his first career 20 point & 5 assist first half. They got back to .500 with their third straight win, Saturday in Philadelphia. With a potentially Jimmy Butler-less Miami team set to take the court against them Monday they will have a fair chance to push it to four in a row and continue to dig out of their 10th place standing.
We're deep into November but it was a busy week for Sota. They released a new set of uniforms to continue milking the fan base but none of them scream "must have." They also sent Gio Urshela to Anaheim and acquired infielder Kyle Farmer from Cincinnati in separate deals.
It was a one-game week as the Bolts crossed the River to face Sioux Falls. They made themselves right at home in the temporary digs, hanging a touchdown on SF against only two goals. The came after Cole Knuble & Joe Palodichuk were named to the U.S. Junior Select Team but before making a deal with Des Moines for forward Girts Silkalns.
Reminder that scores and recruiting news are updated regularly so check back often!
Now for this week's highlights
Two of the three remaining teams kept their seasons going in Minneapolis as Barnesville rolled into the championship game and rematch of last year's semi-final against Chatfield, 41 - 12. They will be joined at the Prep Bowl by D/G/F who finished 9 points clear of Fairmont. For the first time this year Fertile/Beltrami felt the sting of defeat as Spring Grove ended their great run 27 - 6.
In Bismarck Thompson & Northern Cass each advanced to the championship semi-finals but the Tommies lost to Linton/H/M/B 3 - 2 while NC got through to the Final. In the re-match of last year it was the Jaguars that would get to celebrate the conclusion while Thompson took the third place bout against Kenmare.
The Class A field was whittled down to Sheyenne & three Western schools after the opening day but the Mustangs took that in stride, beating Jamestown in the minimum to set up a title match against Century. It took til after midnight but Sheyenne was able to claim the 3 - 2 outcome. Their coach was subsequently named CotY.
The week also included the announcement of all four All-State teams. You can see them here: 9-man, Class A, AA & AAA.
There was also hydro competition as Moorhead girls 🏒 had it's second game, a 6 - 1 win over Buffalo while the 🏊 team had it's best finish at the State meet ever!
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