Something has to give.
The Dickinson High football team has not lost to Williston since 2011 - a streak of five straight wins. But the Midgets are currently 0-6 and 0-3 in the West Region this season.
One of those streaks will come to an end on Friday as the Midgets take on the Coyotes at 7 p.m. CT in Williston.
If there was ever a week for Dickinson to break this losing streak, it's against a Williston team that is 1-5 this year and has scored just two points in its last three games.
"I don't like to look at anybody's record," head coach John Tuchscherer said. "Their last three games, they've played Minot, Bismarck High and Century, three of the top teams in our league, so they've played some good football teams."
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Tuchscherer's own team has only scored six points in the last three games, but he still sees the growth his team is taking, even after its latest loss, 28-0 at West Fargo Sheyenne.
"What I saw last week was a team that finally competed for four quarters," he said. "That score doesn't look that way, but we were in that game."
Tuchscherer called for more consistency in the team's passing game, a responsibility that falls to the entire offensive unit, not just senior quarterback Antonio Nunez.
"We have to execute and finish drives," he said. "We have to mix the pass with the run. We did a little last week, but our pass game isn't where we want it to be. It's not on one person, it's on everybody. We have to be more consistent in our pass protection, our quarterback has to make better decisions and our wide receivers and tight ends have to run better routes. It's a team thing.
"I think Antonio makes good decisions, at times. I think sometimes he's been unlucky, but overall I think he makes good decisions and he understands the coverages and where to go with the ball."
For the Midgets to keep the streak against Williston intact - or, more importantly, to get a win - junior receiver/defensive back Morgan Wardner believes the team needs to keep a healthy mindset.
"I think we need to give more heart in football games - want it more than the other team," he said. "It seems like we sometimes give up on ourselves or don't want to play. We just have to step our game up in what we want to do."
