Only one or two regular-season games remaining for state's Class 11B and nine-man teams
Week 8 of the South Dakota High School football season is upon us and that means there's only one or two regular-season games remaining for the state's Class 11B and nine-man teams.
The state's Class 11AAA, 11AA and 11A teams each have three weeks of their regular seasons remaining.
It is getting to crunch time and the battle for playoff spots or seeding can lead to some important matchups.
Here's a look at this week's games:
Watertown and Aberdeen Central matchups
The fourth-rated Class 11AA Arrows (4-2) and the Golden Eagles (3-3) met last week at Aberdeen in a game that went down to the wire before Watertown prevailed 16-14.
After two weeks on the road, the Arrows return home to host Mitchell in an Eastern South Dakota Conference game at 7 p.m. at Watertown Stadium. The Kernels (1-5) beat fifth-rated Spearfish 35-28 last week for their first win.
Aberdeen Central will look to bounce back when it visits Brookings (1-5) in another ESD game set for 7 p.m. on Friday.
Other games involving rated teams
▸De Smet at Hitchcock-Tulare, 7 p.m. Friday in Hitchcock — This game might be the one that's the biggest this week since it matches second-rated De Smet (5-1) and fourth-rated Hitchcock-Tulare (4-2) in a battle of Class 9B teams.
▸Warner at Estelline-Hendricks, 7 p.m. Friday in Estelline — The top-rated Class 9A Monarchs (6-0) have posted impressive wins over No. 1 Class B Faulkton Area and No. 2 Class 9AA Hamlin the last two weeks. They don't want to stumble against a Redhawks team (4-2) that has won four consecutive games.
▸Florence-Henry at Elkton-Lake Benton, 7 p.m. Friday in Elkton — The fifth-rated Class 9AA Elks (5-1) return from their bye week to host the Falcons (0-6).
▸Hamlin vs. Great Plains Lutheran, Noon Saturday at Watertown Stadium — By the time you read, Hamlin (6-1) may still be No. 2 in Class 9AA or have dropped a spot or two. The Chargers are definitely looking to rebound from last week's loss to Warner. Great Plains Lutheran (3-3) is still fighting to end a playoff drought. The Panthers are currently 16th in the Class 9AA power points with games remaining against Hamlin and Hitchcock-Tulare.
Other 11-Man Games
▸Webster Area at Aberdeen Roncalli, 7 p.m. Thursday — First-year head coach Tyler Wagner has Webster Area (4-3) riding a three-game winning streak into the game against the Cavaliers, who fell to 4-2 with a loss at St. Thomas More on Saturday.
▸Sisseton at Milbank, 7 p.m. Friday — The two Northeast Conference rivals will meet with both teams badly in need of a win. Sisseton (1-5) has a five-game losing streak and Milbank (2-4) a four-game skid.
▸Dakota Hills at Redfield, 7 p.m. Friday — The good news is that either the 0-7 Grizzlies or the 0-6 Pheasants will break into the win column this week.
▸Wagner at Mobridge-Pollock, 2 p.m. Saturday in Mobridge — Wagner (5-1) hits the road to meet the 2-4 Tigers in a Saturday afternoon tussle.
Week 7 Football: Monarchs, Arrows pick up big wins during Week 7 of South Dakota high school football
Other Nine-Man Games
▸Oldham-Ramona-Rutland at Sunshine Bible Academy, 2:30 p.m. Friday in Miller — Here's another matchup where some team is going to break into the win column. Both teams are 0-6.
▸Gayville-Volin at Arlington, 6 p.m. Friday — The visiting Raiders (1-5 with a four-game losing streak) and host Cardinals (1-5 with a five-game skid) meet with a chance for one team to earn a W.
▸Dupree at Ipswich, 6 p.m. Friday — Dupree (3-4) snapped a two-game losing streak with a forfeit win over Newell last week. Host Ipswich (3-4) wants to snap its own two-game skid with a win on Friday.
▸Waverly-South Shore at Castlewood, 7 p.m. Friday — Waverly-South Shore (2-5) had a two-game winning streak end with a loss to Estelline-Hendricks last week. Castlewood (2-4) snapped a three-game skid with a win over Oldham-Ramona-Rutland.
▸Potter County at Herreid-Selby Area, 7 p.m. Friday in Herreid — Battlers is an appropriate nickname for Potter County (2-4), which has learned head coach Verm Smith has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The team is riding a four-game losing skid. The host Wolverines (5-2) have won five of their past six games.
▸Britton-Hecla at Wolsey-Wessington, 7 p.m. Friday — Britton-Hecla has quietly put together a nice 5-1 season. The host Warbirds are 3-3.
▸Crazy Horse at Tiospa Zina, 2 p.m. Saturday at Agency Village — The host Wambdi hope to improve to 4-1 by beating the 1-3 Chiefs.
More: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984
Who's off this week
A lot of area teams are off this week included No. 2 Class 11B Sioux Valley (7-0), No. 5 Class 11B Deuel (7-0) and No. 1 Class 9B Faulkton Area (6-1).
Other teams on their bye week are Clark-Willow Lake (3-4), Groton Area (4-3), Leola-Frederick Area (5-2), Deubrook Area (5-2), Iroquois-Lake Preston (0-7) and Northwestern (0-7).
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: A look at the area games on the Week 8 high school football schedule
