DICKINSON — Titans fans … you thought that game against Killdeer last week was tense? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
This Saturday’s Class A state semifinal is certain to present some major challenges for Dickinson Trinity starting at roughly half-past-noon, but the game offers the team the chance to salve a sore that might still be raw from last-year’s 36-13 exit from the quarterfinals. Playing at Velva-Drake-Anamoose also offers the team a way, also, to achieve a feat not seen since the beginning of the Millennium: A spot in the state finals and the opportunity to take home that top prize of a Class A title.
“I think the biggest thing is just stressing to the kids to just control what you can control; this is obviously a really solid opponent with a matching record to ours that kind of spanked us last year in the playoffs,” Trinity head coach John Odermann said. “But that’s also something that I think we’ve been focusing on: It’s a little bit of a dragon we have an opportunity to slay here, and we get to do it in their own cave.”
In 2022, the team traveled to Velva-Drake and were down 6-0 at the half before the game went haywire in the second half, with lessons that are sure to be sticking with the team through this installment of what is becoming an annual and traditional playoff rivalry.
As it turns out, Odermann and his twin brother, Jacob, played on the back-to-back state-title winners in 2000 and 2001, but they don’t belabor the subject and are far-more interested in seeing the current version of the team reach those lofty heights. As the subject didn’t come up in conversation, it’s obvious the present-day is more present in the minds of the team, its staff and the fans of the team.
“What I can saw about our kids is that they’re having fun on both sides of the ball and that’s definitely been a plus and has been an advantage for us all year,” Odermann said. “The kids are just flying around and having a good time and that’s really ultimately the goal.”
Josiah C. Cuellar / The Dickinson Press
He added, “I think the biggest part of our success is that these guys are brothers from the coaching staff-down and we look at it, like, we’re a family and family goes to war with each other and have each-other’s back and we’re going to continue to do that on Saturday.”
After ripping through Stanley to the tune of 42-0 in round one, and following that up with last-week’s 35-15 thriller — which was far closer than the score would indicate — the undefeated Titans have been battle-tested and come away with a playoff season any team could be proud of, but they know they lack that final step.
To achieve it will require a measure-of-discipline and a “singularity-of-focus” that has been a drumbeat for the team all season. What is most-obviously distinctive between this Titans team and those of the past can is its defensive presence. While the offense has routinely been the glittering jewel of the program, the defense this season has been responsible for not one, nor two, or even three … but four shutouts — Bishop Ryan in Week 2 (47-0), Beulah in Week 4 (42-0), Heart River in Week 8 (46-0) and Stanley in the first round of the playoffs — and three other games where the opposition was held to 10 points or less.
“They (Velva-Drake) definitely have some weapons on the offensive side of the ball that we’ve got to be ready to account for and I like the way our defense has been playing the last several weeks — especially the last couple of weeks — and I think we saw some things against Killdeer that were really exciting and gave you a little bit of hope,” Odermann said. “But if ‘ifs’ and buts were wishes and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas, so you’ve gotta make sure that you execute.”
In fact, when taken as a whole, the 11-0 Titans have outscored the opposition 442-92 in 2023 and some of those games weren’t even that close despite only allowing more-than 20 points on two occasions. It’s been more a case of the team outlasting their opposition when necessary, and having to come from behind a couple of times — Des Lacs-Burlington and Bowman County — has left the squad capable of maintaining its sight on the goal and objective each week.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
That data is easy to rely upon for the numerologist, fan and outside observer, but when it’s win-or-go-home time, it’s necessary to address the Aggies and their abundant superlatives. For example, the lopsided nature of Velva-Drake’s games are similar in style and substance to Trinity’s … as the 11-0 Aggies have piled-up 538 points on the season. But even with two shutouts of their own, the Minot-area team has given up 129 points for the year. That said, they haven’t given up more-than 20 points a single game in 2023, so it’s easy to see why the burgeoning rivals will most-likely create a game that will last in the minds of all the players on both sides, forever.
“I think this is an opportunity for our kids to not get payback — because playoff-football is playoff-football and somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose — but I think it’s an opportunity for them to maybe get a little vindication for what happened last year,” Odermann said. “This is an opportunity to play hard, play a physical brand of football as we have the last couple of weeks and just do what we can to compete against one of the best teams in the state.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Class A semifinal bracket, the two undefeated teams — Kindred (10-0) and Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich (11-0) — will be in a slugfest of their own, as Langdon has three shutouts to boast and didn’t allow more than 14 points on this-year’s calendar while Kindred owns a similar record with three shutouts and allowing 20 points only once in 10 games.
The semifinal games will begin at precisely the same time on Saturday in both locations and Trinity’s game will be broadcast on KDIX, 100.7 FM with NDAPSSA hall-of-fame broadcaster Rod Kleinjan.
For more information about prep football in North Dakota, please keep reading your Dickinson Press and/or visit the website at
https://ndhsaanow.com/tournaments/football
.
Gaylon is a sportswriter from Jensen Beach, Fla., but has lived all over the world. Growing up with an athletic background gave him a love of sports that led to a journalism career in such places as Enid, Okla., Alamogordo, N.M., Pascagoula, Miss. and Viera, Fla. since 1998. His main passion is small-town community sports, particularly baseball and soccer.
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