The week of the final preseason game began with a rumored reunion and ended with a possible HOF putting pen to paper for the next few years. The deals with Everson Griffen & Harrison Smith are just the latest in the team's all-in approach to the season. If everyone stays healthy then the bet will have paid off & may push them beyond where they've gone in the last 40 years. The 0-3 preseason doesn't inspire the utmost confidence but don't forget that Detroit went 4-0 before their winless season, so the record can be deceiving.
But beyond Friday night's loss came bad news of a worse variety - Irv Smith will miss the beginning of the year while recovering from Meniscus repair surgery. He has been regularly mentioned as a "breakout" player and if his recovery goes well he could still hit that threshold over the final 15 games of the season. Or he could be this year's Danielle Hunter & miss significantly more time then estimated. It's the downer to end a week that included plenty of positives for the Purple!
Next up is the assembly of the 53-man roster with a Tuesday afternoon deadline. More on that will come tomorrow
Spring broke through to the Fall when the softball team announced the addition of a pair of coaches. Kayti Grable is coming over from Valparaiso as an assistant coach while former third baseman Sam Koehn will stick around as a graduate assistant.
🏈 came out with their own announcement, revealing the six-member captaincy crew, three each for offense & defense. That reveal was the appetizer for the one that came on Friday as Quincy Patterson was confirmed to be the guy to go against Albany Saturday. The team hasn't had the best luck with the transfers that they've added but he'll have a great chance to buck that trend.
The "other" fùtbol traveled to Boise for a long weekend of competition. They scored one goal but had four go against them by Pacific. Sunday morning they were back on the field against Dixie State, this time losing 3 - 0.
🏐 was also away from home this weekend. They opened against Northern Iowa but could only take one set. They followed that up with a 3 - 2 win over host Green Bay but couldn't make it a 2 out 3 weekend, losing to Ball State 3 - 0 Saturday afternoon.
Now that it's game week the season preview has been released, so check that out if you haven't already!
Then, earlier Sunday, the 🏈 beat out coach Klieman & Iowa State for the future services of receiver Mekhi Collins. The 3-star receiver from Mankato West could be the long-term replacement for Christian Watson. Time has proven that recruit rankings are only as good as the fit into a program and work that the player puts in but he may well prove to be the next great miss by Minnesota!
As for the current batch of pros, Bennett Hostetler continues to show that he was fully pro-ready while the guys across the League continue to make compelling cases for why they should be on rosters. The biggest question continues to be how soon Wentz will be ready to go but all indications are that it will be much sooner than the immediate estimates!
That, like other parts of this one, will get a lot more clarity in the days to come.
With a few days left before the non-exhibition action commences, they still made some waves this week. First came the announcement that the 🤼 staff was getting another member, Griffen Osing. He was added after spending the last two years with Northern State. Getting better at the expense of a rival is a great M.O.!
A day later the women's 🏀 schedule was released, beginning November 12th in Warrensburg, Missouri as the first of two non-conference events, the second being two weeks later in Aberdeen. The first conference game is sandwiched between them, against Northern at Nemzek the 23rd of Nov..
Wednesday also included a ⚽️ "friendly" between Moorhead's colleges.
Then, on Friday, the 🏈 team announced who will walk out for the coin flip Thursday evening in Marshall.
The blisteringly hot bats have the Birds within range of a new league hits record. They started the week needing to average 10.5/game the rest of the way to break Wichita's decade-old record & did exactly that this week to cut the deficit to 64 hits with 7 games remaining.
So it remains a very realistic possibility.
And because it continues to be, the offensive accolades will continue to accrue. Last Monday Kevin Krause was named Batter of the Week after this stat line: 16-for-26, .615 AVG, 9 Runs, 17 RBIs, 4 Doubles, 3 HR. We'll find out tomorrow which guy may be next up!
On the field they finished the week taking 2 of 3 over Chicago to move 2.5 games back of them for the division lead. Realistically, it still may not be enough for them to finish in the top spot but both of the remaining teams on the schedule are buried in the standings, so that could make the task that much easier.
This time next week they'll be down to one game, so we'll know much more!
High school sports hit full-throttle this week on the field & the court. You can see the scores from all the local games, so check back regularly!
Even as the long-awaited rain interfered with some action outside Thursday & Saturday most contests managed to go final.
Amongst them Moorhead's water competition got the better of Buffalo & Elk River. Their ⚽️ teams weren't able to pull out any Ws but on each side of the river only one contest was impacted by the storms which is a win in this book! Moorhead's boy's cross country finished fifth of 17 schools at the Perham meet, while Isaac Martel had the fourth best individual day. Their girls did even better 👀👇 a
Then came a flurry of final scores as the "A" schools got the 🏐 season started in Bismarck. Each of the Fargos six came back with five wins to their credit.
The spotlight Friday night focused on Northern Cass' visit to Oak Grove. The comeback very nearly qualified for "best of" but just fell short.
The "best of" got started early when Sheyenne eighth grader Payton Stocker qualified for the state ⛳️ meet by shooting 82 at Rose Creek. The Mustangs boys 🎾 wasn't too shabby either, finishing the week 4 - 0. Continuing what turned out to be a theme over the past week, Sheyenne started the season with a 34 - 0 win over GFC while Shanley matched that score in their trophy game against Davies. North also started the year with a shutout W against Valley City, 21 - 0.
Moorhead chipped in when their girls cross country finished ahead of all 15 other school's at the Perham meet.
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