After a few weeks of waiting Minnesota was able to get it's next defensive coordinator under contract. The Flores run with the organization could be a short one as he was already up for the head job in Arizona. If he can get the Purple's defense to a point where even better opportunities come his way then it will be a successful hiring regardless of the length! Adding him also creates an important possibility for the roster.
From the other side of the line, Justin Jefferson was the overwhelming choice for Offensive Player of the Year, joining Adrian Peterson & Fran Tarkenton as former honorees with the team. He also finished fifth in the MVP voting, the best non-quarterback.
Then, hours before the championship, assistant quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson was hired to be the one for Houston. The staff has gotten a lot of attention during this cycle but Johnson is one of the few departures which bodes well for the building in 2023.
Being that it's championship week, it's fitting that would make the first news as Matt Entz filled the receiver coach position with Steve Crutchley, previously of Grand Forks residency. One of the players he is likely to interact with at a future date added a bit of pro news as Darius Shepherd was on the initial St. Louis XFL roster.
As for the current student-athletes, they started with another home/road split Thursday against Omaha with the men defending the SHAC while the women wobbled to a woss (say it like Elmer Fudd) which is also how Saturday played out as Boden Skunberg scored a career-high 30 against Denver but the ladies defense didn't match their offense. The fluctuation in the standings over the final few weeks of the regular season is primed to be a confounding experience!
Beyond the court 🏃 split up between Nashville & Brookings Friday/Saturday with the men & women coming through in many of the situations!
🤼 also came through with another high-profile victory, beating Oklahoma 21 - 12 Friday!
The week also included the beginning of Spring competition as softball got going in Mexico with a 4 - 0 win Friday. The next day they hit a major snag against BYU, losing 10 - 1. Sunday's pair were much tighter but the three-run difference between the games went in favor of Oregon & Maryland.
Moorhead State started the week with 🏃 Athletes of the Week on the men's and women's side. T & F further bolstered the early part of the week as the latest rankings came out and had both halves regarded amongst the best! Despite another loss men's 🏀 also remained among the top 25 on the coaches poll.
The week's competition began with an easy win over Dickinson St. on the mat then jumped up with #7 Parkside who earned a lopsided win.
With the weekend came the debut of softball in Aberdeen. They opened with a pair of 9 - 1 wins and stretched the start to 4 - 0 with two more comfortable outcomes!
Both the men and women added to their win totals in Crookston Friday but the guys came up a point shy of a sweep Saturday in Bemidji. The women were forced into overtime but took care of business to get back to an even 10-10 in conference play with two more before the first round.
Overlapping most of it was the Conference 🏊 meet in West Fargo. Here's how day one, day two, day three & day four went as they worked to a ninth-place finish.
Concordia's entrance into the week was the announcement by head women's 🏒 & ⛳️ coach Maureen Greiner that she would be stepping down. A day later the athletics department announced that the great run by women's 🏀 continues to open eyes national, with senior Emily Beseman being named to the D3 National Team of the Week!
Their next time out she dropped a game-high 19 but Gustavus got the better of them by 26. That loss may have been the spark they needed to keep their edge into and through the conference tournament as they returned to the court against St. Scholastica & ripped-off a 30-point win!
In the other games, the guys continued to show that they may have turned the corner on the season with their third & fourth wins in a row. With two games to go (both on their home court) they remain in the hunt for the Conference tournament.
On the ice, the women dropped both of their final road games, 5 - 0 & 9 - 0. The guys had a much better time of their final home games of the season as they matched Gustavus at 4 all to a tie and then beat them 4 - 3 in overtime! They will have a Conference tournament play-in set next weekend against St. Mary's!
🤼 hit a major speed-bump in their second-to-last match of the season as #2 Augsburg took them down 40 - 12.
🎾 tied the week off with a pair of 9 - 0 wins Sunday
In the arms-racing of the Association, Minnesota made the long-rumored move to flip D'Angelo Russell for a player with a contract beyond this season. Managing to add Mike Conley will take some punch away from the offense but will also help preserve salary-cap flexibility next season while aiding in the re-acclimation of KAT if he comes back this season. And as a bonus, they got Nickeil Alexander-Walker & three second round picks to help maintain flexibility at the back-end of the roster for the next half-decade. In adding two for one they had to release Bryn Forbes but he was little-used and doesn't possess as much upside as the fourth-year guard.
The day the news broke they throttled Utah but the debut of Conley in Memphis didn't go nearly as well. With 23 games to go and the All-Star break the squad will have to put in some overtime to make sure they are as up to the challenge each time out as they can be. Their task got significantly more daunting with the moves made across the rest of the West but with All-Star Anthony Edwards continuing to lead the way they should be able to find more stability with each passing game and be at their best when it is most necessary.
The Duplicates also got some good news this week as the prize of the offseason opted to forego competing in the World Baseball Classic. The initial reason given is that his second child will be born around the time the Classic starts but I'm sure the team is also glad he's avoiding the extra-curricular activity so close to the start of the season.
The best team in the USHL began the week with another trade, this time flipping forward German Yavash for defenseman Marian Mosko. The offense didn't skip a beat without the departed as they beat Sioux City 7 - 1 & 6 - 3 to maintain their spot atop the League. They will need to maintain the ridiculous pace that they've been on as Waterloo continues to be just behind them in the standings and Lincoln continues to lurk from the third spot. The weekend of play did create more space after the third spot but a three-team race is still perilous. It's going to be quite a skate-off the rest of teh way!
Reminder that scores and recruiting news are updated regularly so check back often!
Now for this week's highlights
Moorhead's boys started the week with a 29-point victory over Sartell by 29. Further into Minnesota Barnesville & Hawley each beat Frazee by 30+, Fertile/Beltrami took care of Climax/Fisher by 48 & Ada/Borup broke in with a 55 against Bagley. Ada's girls also answered the bell with a 25-point win over Bagley. While all their outcomes were closer, Fertile moved to one win shy of 20 against just three losses with that many games left on the docket.
Back across the River Davies' boys continued to cook with a 52 over Valley City but hit as much of a wall as they have any time yet this season Friday night at Shanley with a 56 - 49.
In girls action, West Fargo got 31 from Miriley Simon and a near triple-double from Chloe Pfau to beat Shanley by 41 while Davies downed the Hi-liners by 40. Friday night Simon came a point shy of being the first 40-point scorer for West Fargo while also grabbing 19 boards as they beat North by 33! Sheyenne also improved it's school scoring record, coming one made shot from beyond the arc short of the century mark!
Up north Hillsboro's boys posted an 88 - 22 win over Drayton and then beat Park River by 31. Kindred's came a few shots and spots from taking care of #2 Central Cass before closing the deal against #10 Grafton. Just the latest examples of how tough Region 1 is again this year, another being Oak Grove putting a test on undefeated #3 Sargent County Friday night. Friday also included #6 Thompson beating Midway by 27. The Squirrel's roared-back Saturday against #4 Ellendale with a 37-point win.
#4 Central Cass' girls also continued their scamper with a 36-point win over Richland & a conference-clinching win over Sargent County. Their rival Vikings hung a 30 on Oak Grove and 33 on Enderlin. #1 Thompson also blasted in with a 29 over Hatton and 49 over Roseau but came up three points short against #10 May/Port/C/G in the wake of the co-op clearing Park River by 29.
On the mat Sheyenne slammed Red River 76 - 6 to start the week while their arch-rivals then put the Roughriders down by 47 on the last day of the regular season. Sheyenne, Davies & West Fargo will operate as 1/2/3 from the East against Minot, Century & Bismarck on the final day of competition, Saturday the 18th. Individually, Davies, West Fargo, Sheyenne, North & South all had multiple qualifiers. On the girls side, Fargo's 🤼 earned second place in the individual tournament.
On the ice Davies, West Fargo & North/South all were able to hit cruise-control in East/West crossover games Friday. The Saturday set for the three proved to be tighter but again all victories for the local teams. The Sheyenne boys also had a good time against Grafton in what proved to be the only victory by more than four goals of all the areas teams. The Mustangs may need to continue that level of offensive execution as they will visit North for the EDC quarterfinals Tuesday. South/Shanley finished the regular season with the second seed and will get West Fargo. Davies will travel to Central in a 3/6 matchup.
Moorhead's girls already opened section tournament action against Sartell/Sauk Rapids with a four-score first period, all from different sticks. One period later they had it up to 7 - 0 as Olivia Dronen crossed the 100-point mark in her illustrious career. They finished with a 56 - 6 advantage on shots & 8 - 0 lead. In the semi-final against Brainerd Saturday goals each way were much tougher to come by but the Spuds found a way to prevail 2 - 1. They will face second-seeded Roseau Wednesday in Thief River Falls for the chance to make the State Skate!
But the biggest news of the week came Wednesday as the Activities Association voted to approve the three-class 🏀 proposal with implementation for next Winter! The only argument against it seemed to be based on tradition but that ignores that ND had a three-class system before. The approval may not lead to significantly more participation right away but young boys & girls no longer seeing 40, 50 & 60+ point bashings as often as they have happened could help grow the game even more than it has all across the state! As there usually is, tweaks will have to be made after a run or two or three but the most glaring downside is that the new A & B tournaments will be played simultaneously in different communities. Maybe none of the B girls would want to watch the A girls and vice versa, as well as with the boys' events, but it may have been possibility to try and do it better right away. Tweaks.
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