Despite playing on familiar turf Friday in their 2007 home opener, the No. 2 Killdeer Cowboys will be in unchartered territory when the No. 1-ranked Harvey Hornets come to town.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Killdeer High School.
"The last couple years we've lost to Watford City and it's taken us a couple weeks to get into the top five," Killdeer coach Chuck Wagner said.
"At this point in time, I don't know if it really means a lot. That's how people compare everything during the season. It's a fun thing."
The Cowboys are coming off of two shutout victories on the road. Killdeer surprised Watford City with an 8-0 win in Week 1 and defeated Kenmare, 17-0.
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Wagner attributed his early success to the solid play of his defense.
"They just play good team football," Wagner said. "I'm really happy with that because it goes a long way. The worst you can do is tie a team if you hold them to no points. I don't think we'll be able to do that against Harvey."
After watching Kenmare stack the box on defense last week, the Cowboys will receive a much different look from the Hornets.
"They don't gamble a whole lot," Wagner said. "They just play solid, solid defense. Everybody does their job very well. You don't fool them."
The offense has struggled, only putting up a total of 25 points in two games compared to the Hornets 51.
Much of the struggles can be attributed to the offensive line, which is still building, but improving daily, Wagner said.
"I don't think people understand how good your line play has to be in order to be a consistently good team," Wagner said.
Senior tailback Austen Dolezal has carried the load at running back for Killdeer, but Wagner has been getting other young backs involved in the run game as well.
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Sophomore Chaston Lee, junior Blaine Pelton and junior Josh Karey have aided in taking some pressure off of Dolezal.
"We're trying to spread it out so it isn't just one person," Wagner said. "Austen probably has more carries. He is really run hard. He takes a lot more hits."
Beulah travels to Watford City
When the 2-0 Beulah Miners travel to the 0-2 Watford City Wolves Friday, head coach Loy Ham knows his squad is not meeting up with your average winless team.
"They are not a typical 0-2 team," Ham said. "It's one of those things where you can play two games and get a lot better, even though you lose."
"It's a good gut check for them."
The Miners are coming off of a 32-0 win over Carrington and a Week 1 squeaker over Des Lacs-Burlington, 14-13.
Watford City on the other hand was downed by Killdeer, 8-0, and Devils Lake, 34-13.
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"It's always a fear when you get a caged animal that their intensity level is going to be real great," Ham said.
The intensity level was a point of emphasis for the Miners this week, knowing they would be facing a hungry defending state champion.
Along with matching the Wolves intensity, Ham said stopping the run will be key if Beulah wants to leave the Wolves winless for another week.
"If we can force them to throw the ball around a lot, we'll be in good shape," Ham said. "Our focus is going to be stopping the run and we'll take our chances letting them throw it around."
