MELLETTE – Many of last year’s area playoff football teams are back in the postseason again, but there is one notable new addition to his year’s playoff list.
Northwestern, which had not won a game since 2022 before this year, is back in the postseason for the first time since 2021. The Wildcats, 3-5 on the year, will play at Warner on Thursday night in Class 9B action.
“We should be excited, because coming where we started to win three games and qualify for the playoffs is a step in the right direction,” said Northwestern coach Clayton Randall.
The second-year coach knew his players had the potential to make the playoffs, but still needed to prove it on the field.
“Based on the work we did from the end of last year to the start of this year, this was a possibility, but the kids still have to go out and win enough games to make it a reality it,” Randall said. “That was just a big step for us. We hadn’t won in three years, so you’ve got to find a way to win a game.”
When the first-round pairings were announced, it just so happened that Northwestern was matched up against Warner, a team just 10 miles away that the Wildcats lost to 48-8 in the first game of the season. The unbeaten Monarchs haven’t lost a regular-season game in the past five years.
“Warner is going to be in our way every year,” Randall said. “If we’re ever going to be successful, we have to close the gap from where we are to where they are. This is another opportunity to do it.”
Regardless of what happens on Thursday night, the Wildcats will benefit from being able to play a postseason contest.
“By qualifying for the playoffs, we guarantee that we added a full week, basically it’s the equivalent of 9 percent of the season,” Randall said. “We’re going to maximize what this opportunity gives us. It’s a chance to game plan again for a quality team, practice, prepare, and go out and try to execute in a game. You can’t replicate anything close to that in practice.”
Interestingly enough, the last time Northwestern played in a postseason game was 2021 against Herreid-Selby Area, which happened to be coached by Randall. He said he will tell his players to make the most of their current chance.
“I’ll just encourage them to take advantage of every opportunity that they created for themselves, because there’s some teams that aren’t playing this week,” Randall said. “For us to do enough to get a chance to extend our season, that’s a big deal for us.”
Randall pointed out that the Wildcats won three games and earned the right to continue playing.
“It wasn’t like we were a zero win team that got in the playoffs because our schedule was good,” Randall said. “We had to go out and win three football games. That’s something we haven’t done around here in a long time, and now by doing so, we’ve got a chance to play another game and get better when we play.”
Randall said the bar has now been set for future seasons.
Now the goal is to be at this stage every year and just keep building from there,” he said.
Northwestern is one of four Lake Region Conference teams that made the playoffs. The others are Faulkton, Ipswich and Warner. The LRC traditionally has some of the top nine-man teams in the state.
“You’re not going to play a bunch of teams better than that no matter who you play in the playoffs,” Randall said.
Other first-round matchups involving area teams include Groton at Winner, Beresford at Deuel, and Mobridge-Pollock at Clark-Willow Lake in Class 11B, Bridgwater-Emery-Ethan at Britton-Hecla, Sioux Falls Lutheran at Waubay-Summit, Stanley County at Hamlin, and Lead-Deadwood at Great Plains Lutheran in Class 9AA, Faulkton at Kimball-White Lake, Corsica-Stickney at Sully Buttes, and Ipswich at Centerville in Class 9A, and Deubrook Area at Herreid-Selby Area, Wolsey-Wessington at Hitchcock-Tulare, and Gettysburg at Colman-Egan in Class 9B.
