You know how it goes in North Dakota. One minute you're enjoying a crisp October evening with a brat in one hand, and the next, you're scraping frost off your windshield while checking your phone for the latest nd hs football scores. The 2025 season just wrapped up, and honestly, it was a bit of a wild ride. If you weren't at the Fargodome for the Dakota Bowl XXXIII, you missed some of the most intense prep sports the Peace Garden State has seen in years. We’re talking about massive upsets, powerhouse programs getting dethroned, and some 9-man action that felt more like a video game than a high school sport.
The Big Stage: Breaking Down the AAA nd hs football scores
When it comes to Class AAA, everyone was looking at Bismarck Century. They’re usually the ones to beat. But this year, the Fargo Davies Eagles decided they weren't interested in following the script. In the championship game, Davies basically took control and didn't let go, putting up a 41-19 victory over the Patriots. It wasn't just a win; it was a statement.
Leading up to that, the quarterfinals were absolute nail-biters. Bismarck snuck past West Fargo by a single point, 21-20. Can you imagine that bus ride home for West Fargo? Losing by one point in the playoffs is the kind of thing that keeps you awake at night for a decade. Meanwhile, Legacy also managed a 21-20 squeaker against West Fargo Horace. It’s weird how the scores mirrored each other like that.
Fargo Davies had a much smoother path, dismantling Mandan 34-6 in the quarters before eventually meeting Century in the dome. Century had handled West Fargo Sheyenne 21-7 to earn their spot, but they just didn't have enough gas in the tank to stop the Eagles when it mattered most.
Why Class AA Was the Drama Capital
If you want to talk about "shocker" scores, look no further than Class AA. The Devils Lake Firebirds are your 2025 state champions, and boy, they earned it. They faced off against Minot North in a game that was basically a shootout. The final 39-34 score tells you everything you need to know about how tired those defenses must have been by the fourth quarter.
Minot North had been the #1 team basically all season. They entered the dome as the favorites, but Devils Lake had that "team of destiny" vibe going.
Earlier in the bracket:
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- Devils Lake crushed Grand Forks Central 42-7.
- Minot North took down Grand Forks Red River 20-6.
- Kindred put a 46-14 hurting on Watford City.
- Central Cass edged out Bismarck St. Mary’s 22-14.
Kindred making the jump to AA was the big talk of the regular season. Everyone wondered if they could keep up their powerhouse reputation from Class A, and honestly, they did. They ran into a buzzsaw with Minot North in the semifinals, but they proved they belong in the bigger division.
Small Town, Big Hits: Class A and 9-Man
There is something special about Class A football in North Dakota. It's the heart of the "Friday Night Lights" culture here. Langdon Area/Munich continued their reign of terror—or excellence, depending on who you root for—by beating Bottineau 29-14 in the title game.
Bottineau had a heck of a run, though. They weren't even the favorites to get to the dome, but they knocked off Killdeer and Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm (EEK) on the road. That’s a lot of hours on a yellow bus just to play spoiler. Langdon, meanwhile, finished off a perfect season. When you see nd hs football scores like 34-19 over Northern Cass in the early rounds, you kind of know they're focused.
The 9-Man Explosion
If you’ve never watched 9-man football, you’re missing out on pure chaos. It’s fast, high-scoring, and usually involves a lot of "wait, who has the ball?" moments. New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock (NR-S-M) took home the hardware this year with a 38-22 win over LaMoure-Litchville/Marion.
The Rockets (NR-S-M) were an absolute juggernaut. In the first round, they beat Hatton/Northwood 80-6. Yes, 80. That’s not a typo.
The Loboes from LaMoure gave them a fight in the final, but the Rockets' offense was just too multi-dimensional. It’s hard to game plan for a team that can score from anywhere on the field in two plays or less.
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What Most People Get Wrong About ND Prep Rankings
A lot of folks just look at the records and think they know who’s going to win. "Oh, this team is 9-0, they’ll cruise." But North Dakota's regions are not created equal. A 6-3 team coming out of a brutal East region in AAA might be way more prepared for the playoffs than an undefeated team from a weaker schedule.
Look at Devils Lake. They weren't the "paper" favorites, but they were battle-tested. The West regions in almost every class tend to be physically "grind-it-out" styles, while the East often features more spread offenses. When those two styles clash in the playoffs, the nd hs football scores often reflect which style can dictate the tempo.
The Role of the Fargodome
Playing in the Fargodome is a massive factor. For most of these kids, it’s the biggest stage they’ll ever play on. The turf is fast. There’s no wind—which is a huge deal in ND—and the crowd noise bounces off the ceiling.
Some teams struggle with the transition from grass or local turf to the "big house." Kicking games often improve because there's no 30 mph crosswind, but timing on long passes can get thrown off because the ball doesn't hang in the air the same way.
Keeping Up With Future ND High School Football Scores
If you're trying to track these games in real-time next season, don't just rely on one source. The NDHSAA website is the "official" word, but it’s often slow to update on Friday nights.
- Local Radio Apps: Stations like KFGO or WDAY often have guys at the games tweeting scores faster than the official trackers.
- Social Media Tags: Searching #ndpreps or #ndhsaa on X (formerly Twitter) is usually the fastest way to see a score change.
- The "Dakotabowl" Site: They keep a pretty good archive of the championship results if you need to settle a bet about who won in 2025.
Honestly, the landscape is changing. With more co-ops forming every year, the names on the jerseys are getting longer (looking at you, New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock), but the passion is exactly the same.
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The best way to stay ahead is to watch the regional standings starting in mid-September. That's when the "pretenders" start to drop off and you can see who the real contenders for the next Dakota Bowl will be. You've gotta look past the win-loss column and see who’s winning the "tough" games by 3 or 4 points rather than who’s blowin' out winless teams.
For anyone looking to dive deeper into the stats, checking out the MaxPreps leaderboards for the 2025 season will show you that while Fargo Davies took the AAA title, the individual stats were spread out all over the state. It's a healthy sign for the league when the talent isn't just concentrated in one or two schools.
If you’re planning your schedule for the 2026 season, keep an eye on the realignment talk. There’s always chatter about moving teams between AA and A based on enrollment numbers, and that can completely shift the power balance of a region overnight.
Next Steps for ND Football Fans
To get a jump on the next season, start by reviewing the 2025 All-State rosters to see which impact players are returning as seniors. You can also visit the NDHSAA website to check for any finalized schedule changes or division realignments for the 2026 season. If you want to see the 2025 championship games, many of them are archived on local sports networks or YouTube channels like WDAY.