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High School Football

Pairings set for area football squads

Playoff pairings for all seven classes of high school football were announced on Saturday. Algona, Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, South Central Calhoun, Bishop Garrigan and North Union will all be in action this Friday night in round of 16 games. The Bulldogs head to Carroll for a Class 3A quarterfinal, with the winner taking on either Sioux Center or Bishop Heelan. Algona, Sioux Center and Heelan all finished tied atop the district, with the Crusaders earning the title via a tiebreaker. The Cowboys welcome district rival South Hardin in 1A action. During the regular season, they knocked ...

Dodgers end on a high note, but are left out of playoffs

Following a victory filled with elation and a sense of closure, no one was more crestfallen at the end of Friday night than the Fort Dodge football team. Barely an hour after defeating Sioux City West in the regular-season finale, the Dodgers (6-3 overall) found out they landed a single spot ...

Dodgers look to finish in style

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2243064253223478 The Fort Dodge football team isn’t looking back or ahead in their approach to the regular-season finale on Friday at home against Sioux City West. The Dodgers are making sure they’ll be where their feet are for Senior Night – not just out of respect for the opponent, but because both the past and the future are completely out of their hands now. “There’s kind of a simplicity in this, and it feels like the pressure is off in a lot of ways,” Moser said. “We’re not worried about last week. We’re not worried about next week. ...

Playoffs begin for area squads

Ten Messenger area teams will open postseason football play on Friday night, with five kicking off at home. District champions (Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (7-1 overall), and Emmetsburg (5-3) will be on their own turf in Class 1A. Eight-player district champion Bishop Garrigan (7-1) will also be home, as will district runner-ups North Union (7-1 in eight-player) and South Central Calhoun (7-1 in 1A). Hitting the road in 1A will be Manson Northwest Webster (4-4), Eagle Grove (4-4), and East Sac County (5-2). Southeast Valley (5-3) is doing the same in 2A. It will be the final night of ...

Fort Dodge heads to Le Mars

LE MARS – Fort Dodge’s postseason on the gridiron ostensibly began last week. In order for the Dodgers to stay in contention for a berth in the official Class 4A playoff field later this month, head coach Nik Moser’s squad knows the margin for error remains almost zero as they head to Le Mars here on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. With its back against the wall, Fort Dodge responded and snapped a two-game losing skid in a resounding Homecoming victory over Storm Lake. Now, the degree of difficulty increases as the Dodgers (5-2 overall, 1-2 in District 1) square off ...

Finale for SE coach Dillon

For one final time, Matt Dillon will lead the St. Edmond football team into action here Friday night at Dodger Stadium. The Gaels host ninth-ranked (eight-player) Kingsley-Pierson beginning at 7 p.m. Dillon, in his ninth and final season as head coach for St. Edmond (3-4 overall, 3-2 in the district), owns a record of 36-38 with the program and 223 career wins in 40-plus years on the sidelines. That includes back-to-back state titles with Dowling in 2000 and 2001. “It’s definitely a surreal feeling,” Dillon said. “After 45 years of doing something that you love, you’ll no ...