MINOT, ND – There are changes in this weeks Class 11AA poll. The polls are voted on by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

 

 

Team (First Place Votes)       Record    Points    Last Week
1. Fargo Davies (11)                3-1           80        2
2. West Fargo Sheyenne (6)   3-1           74        4
3. Mandan (1)                           3-1          49         3
4. Fargo Shanley                      3-1          48         1
5. Minot (1)                               3-1           25          5

 

Others receiving votes: Bismarck Legacy (3-1)

 

 

Team (First Place Votes)     Record    Points    Last Week
1. Jamestown (17)                4-0           93         1
2. Fargo North (2)                  4-0          78          2
3. Grand Forks Red River     4-1          53          3
4. Fargo South                      3-1           31          4
5. Valley City                          4-0           30          5

 

Others receiving votes: None

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MINOT, ND – Scores from Monday:

 

High School Football
Class 9B
Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood def. Alexander, 30-22

 

High School Boys Tennis
Bismarck Legacy 7, Mandan 2 (suspended 9/15 due to rain)

 

High School Girls Volleyball
Class B
Newburg-Westhope def. Dunseith (3-0) 25-11, 25-11, 25-18

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MSU SOCCER-HONOR

 

MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – Minot State goalie Maddie Kindred turned aside every shot she faced over the weekend, and effort that helped the Beavers go unbeaten and earned the senior honors from the NSIC. Monday, Kindred was named the NSIC Goalie of the Week for her two shutout performances. Friday, in a 1-0 win over visiting Southwest Minnesota State, Kindred made nine saves for the Beavers. She then came back on Sunday and stopped the lone shot she faced against Sioux Falls in a 0-0 tie. The pair of shutouts gives Kindred three in-a-row as she has not allowed a goal in 296 minutes, 1 second of action, a streaking dating back to Sept. 9 and the Beavers game against Minnesota Duluth. Kindred and the Beavers are back in action on the road this weekend, playing at Winona State on Friday and at Upper Iowa on Sunday.

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UND HOCKEY

 

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND) – The University of North Dakota hockey program will open the 2022-23 season ranked No. 4 in the national polls, as the DCU/USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls were released on Monday. It marks the third straight season that North Dakota has been inside the top-10 to begin the season, with the Fighting Hawks looking to claim their fourth straight NCHC crown. Defending national champion Denver headlines both polls as the top team, while Minnesota, Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth rounding out the top-5 with UND. Entering the season, UND is scheduled to play six teams ranked in the polls and three other programs receiving votes.

 

After ushering in the most newcomers the program had seen since 1973 a year ago, NoDak enters the new season with 20 roster players returning. Last season, the Hawks returned to the NCAA Tournament and reached the top of the NCHC standings for the third straight year with a 24-14-1 overall record and 17-6-1 conference mark to become the first team in NCHC history to win three consecutive Penrose Cups. North Dakota opens the campaign on Saturday, Oct. 1 with an exhibition slate against Manitoba before beginning the regular season vs. Holy Cross on Oct. 7-8 from the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

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UND FOOTBALL-HONOR

 

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (UND) – North Dakota punter Cade Peterson was one of four players honored by the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Sunday evening, earning the title of Special Teams Player of the Week. Peterson was sensational in the 27-24 win at Northern Arizona with four punts for 209 yards, averaging 52.2 yards per boot. While punting, Peterson had two touchbacks and recorded three punts over 50 yards. With his four punts on Saturday, Peterson is now tied in the UND Division I record book with Brett Cameron (2009-12) for most punts in a career with 186. On the season, the Kewaskum, Wis., native has 11 punts for 442 yards, averaging 40.18 yards per punt. He has pinned teams within their own 20 on three occasions, has four punts of over 50 yards and has recorded three touchbacks. North Dakota will resume MVFC play on Saturday at Southern Illinois. The Fighting Hawks and Salukis are slated for a 2 p.m. (CT) kick in Carbondale.

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FCS POLLS

 

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND) – North Dakota football climbed up to No. 19 in the latest Stats Perform Rankings announced Monday morning, moving up three spots from last week. The Fighting Hawks remain just outside the AFCA FCS Coaches’ Top 25, sitting at No. 28. The Missouri Valley Football Conference has five programs represented in the Stats Perform poll. North Dakota State remains the top spot with 43 first-place votes, trailed by South Dakota State in a tie for second with five first-place votes. Missouri State is also towards the top and is sixth. North Dakota is now No. 19 and Southern Illinois climbed into No. 24 to make this weekend’s matchup a top 25 affair. UND moved up after winning at Northern Arizona, 27-24, on Saturday.

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NDSU FOOTBALL-HONOR

 

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (NDSU)– Allstate and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on Monday announced the final roster for the 31st Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, recognizing 22 college football student-athletes and an honorary head coach for outstanding contributions to their communities. North Dakota State linebacker James Kaczor, a senior from St. Cloud, Minn., was among the 22 student-athletes named to the Good Works Team, which recognizes 11 players from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 11 from the Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA for their leadership in local communities and overall commitment to giving back.

 

Kaczor is the ninth NDSU player to be recognized on the Good Works Team, joining tight end Ben Ellefson (2019), quarterback Easton Stick (2018), cornerback Richard Bowman (2009), running back Tyler Roehl (2008), quarterback Steve Walker (2007), running back Kyle Steffes (2006), offensive tackle Tim Popowski (2005) and safety Jared Essler (2004). Kaczor’s community activities include packing meals for Feed My Starving Children, supporting low-income families and children utilizing the Charism food pantry, assisting with children’s ministry at River City Church, and participating on the leadership team of Fellowship of Christian Athletes at NDSU.

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TWINS-GUARDIANS

 

CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Naylor and Amed Rosario hit three-run homers, Cal Quantrill kept his home unbeaten streak intact and Cleveland thumped Minnesota 11-4 on Monday, taking four of five from one of their AL Central pursuers. The Guardians followed up a sweep at Minnesota earlier this month by winning a series they had to have and opening a seven-game lead over the Twins, who have been ravaged by injuries down the stretch. Naylor homered in the first inning off Sonny Gray (8-5) and Rosario connected in the sixth off rookie Ronny Henriquez to make it 7-3 as the first-place Guardians opened a four-game division lead over Chicago. Nick Gordon homered off Quantrill (13-5) for the Twins, who came to town hoping to cut into the Guardians’ lead but left further behind. Cleveland went 13-6 against Minnesota, winning nine of the last 10. Rosario was brutal on Twins pitchers in the series, batting .440 (11 of 25) with two homers and 11 RBIs. Quantrill stuck around until the sixth and improved to 13-0 in 32 starts at Progressive Field. The right-hander is one win shy of matching Vic Raschi’s record for dominance in one ballpark. Raschi went 14-0 at Comiskey Park from 1947-55. Gray left after two innings with tightness in his right hamstring. The right-hander had been pitching with soreness his last couple starts, but it got more severe and Baldelli decided to pull him.

 

UP NEXT
The Twins open a three-game series in Kansas City today with RHP Dylan Bundy (8-7, 4.68 ERA) facing Royals RHP Zack Greinke (4-9, 4.10).

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VIKINGS-EAGLES

 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins tried to get the ball to Justin Jefferson. Darius Slay kept getting in the way. Cousins was pressured into three interceptions, Jefferson was shut down a week after one of his career-best games, and the Minnesota Vikings were run off the field from the opening drive in a 24-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

 

“I do feel like this one’s on me,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. There was plenty of blame to go around for the Vikings, who hoped a sharp opening performance in a win against Green Bay was the catapult for gutting out a tough one in Philly. But again, the Vikings left the city losers, just as they did in January 2018 after the NFC championship game. “We wanted to come into this game and just dominate, especially after last week’s performance,” Jefferson said. “But we definitely had plenty of opportunities to score the ball and make something happen, carry the momentum to our side. We didn’t execute on the offensive side.”

 

The game was billed as a showdown between two of the top receivers in the league, Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown on one side against Jefferson on the other. And with good reason. Jefferson went wild against the Packers with 184 receiving yards and two TDs. He had a franchise-record 158 receiving yards in the first half. Cousins tried to keep his top target involved — and the Vikings did throw the ball plenty after Jalen Hurts was a virtual one-man show for the Eagles in the first half (try 301 total yards). While Hurts had made the game seem out of reach with each dazzling run or quick-strike pass, the Vikings hung around and had chances in the second half. All of them, wasted.

 

Cousins threw his first interception from the Eagles’ 19-yard-line and another from Philly’s 27. Jefferson took the blame for the first interception. “I’ve got to be flatter if Slay’s going to sit on that type of route. I’ve got to come flatter and be in front of him instead of going behind him,” Jefferson said. “So, that one’s on me.” Cousins’ third pick came on a lob that Slay snagged again and sealed the win. “He’s a competitor for sure. I knew that I was going to get that from him,” Jefferson said. “I mean, he’s a great cornerback. He’s a great player. A great guy, too. We definitely could’ve had some more opportunities out there to score and put up points, and we just didn’t.”

 

Cousins was 27 for 46 for 221 yards and one touchdown. Jefferson had six receptions for 48 yards. Even worse, Cousins was the leading rusher with 20 yards. Cousins’ lone TD pass was a 2-yard score to Irv Smith in the second quarter that made it 14-7. With the game not quite out of reach late in the first half, Cousins threw a strike to a wide-open Smith that was dropped. Smith was alone and likely could have walked in with the touchdown. “Just one play away,” O’Connell said.

 

Up next, a game against the 1-1 Lions in an opportunity for the Vikings to show if the opening-week win was an early-season fluke or if the dreary effort against the Eagles is something that will linger. “Everybody in this room definitely could’ve done something better to change the outcome of the game,” Jefferson said. “We’ve still got to look at the film. It’s a short turnaround, so tomorrow we’ll look at it and move on to Detroit.”