6+ hour, 21+ min ago (431+ words) FARGO " Graham Jones took the puck from center ice, blew threw three defenders and wired a shot inside the post to give Fargo a 3-2 overtime victory over Chicago on Saturday in USHL play in front of 3,683 fans at Scheels Arena. "I kind of saw that Chicago was kind of flat-footed, so when there's a lot of open ice like that you can get in with speed and I kind of cut through their D," the Boston College commit said. "And yeah, it happened from there and (I) scored." Graham, who notched his team-leading ninth goal of the season, said he had time to peek at what Steel goaltender Sam Caulfield was giving him. "The goalie was kind of cheating toward the other side, so I saw a little opening for myself and shot it and it went in," he said. Forward…...

2+ day, 12+ hour ago (488+ words) COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. " Carson Hegerle hasn't played in a football playoff game since his senior year at West Fargo High School in the fall of 2021. That changes at noon Saturday, Nov. 29, when St. John's hosts Monmouth (Ill.) College in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville. "It's been super fun and super refreshing," said Hegerle, who took last season off from football after starting his college career at North Dakota State. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Hegerle has 32 catches for 374 yards and seven touchdowns in nine games for the Johnnies, who have a 9-1 overall record. Hegerle, slowed by a hip issue early in the season, has 22 catches for 259 yards and six TDs over the past five games. "I think we're ready," Hegerle said. "We've been working for this moment the whole year. It's going to be fun…...

3+ day, 2+ hour ago (152+ words) The second of three Hutchinson Community College players has left the Gophers' 2026 recruiting class. Safety Micheal "MJ Graham said late Tuesday that he will decommit from the U class for next year. He pledged to the U after a visit earlier this month. Graham, of Oklahoma City, joined fellow Hutchinson (Kan.) player, receiver Derrick Salley, in backing away from the U. Salley made his decision public earlier Tuesday as he flipped to Kansas State. "After a thoughtful conversation with my family, I will be decommitting for the University of Minnesota," Graham wrote on X. "I like to thank all the coaches and staff there, and I appreciate them for believing in me and giving me a opportunity!" Meanwhile, Hutchinson defensive tackle KJ Henson is still in the Gophers" class on Wednesday morning. Graham, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, is considered…...

4+ day, 10+ hour ago (758+ words) FARGO " Tim Polasek will not be going to Oregon State, Colorado State or anyplace else. At least for a while. The North Dakota State football head coach has agreed to a new seven-year contract, the news breaking Tuesday via ESPN college football writer Pete Thamel. The new deal includes "a significant raise, additional staff money and more program resources," according to Thamel. There is a sigh of relief among Bison fans, who fretted the last few days about the possibility of the fired-up, popular and successful coach getting hired away after just two years for the brighter (or at least richer) pastures of Corvallis, Oregon, or Fort Collins, Colorado. Polasek was reportedly a candidate for open coaching positions in those locales. Polasek is 26-2 in his two seasons as the head guy at NDSU, 14-2 with a Football Championship Subdivision national title…...

4+ day, 12+ hour ago (461+ words) FARGO " Tim Polasek isn't going anywhere. Days after being touted as a possible candidate to be the next head coach at FBS Oregon State, the North Dakota State football head coach agreed to a new long-term contract. ESPN's Pete Thamel first reported Tuesday that Polasek has agreed in principle to a new seven-year contract through the 2033 season. In a post on X, Polasek simply said, "Thank you!!!!" The new deal includes a significant raise, additional staff money and more program resources, according to Thamel. Polasek was named Bison head coach in December 2023 and signed his original contract in early 2024. It was a five-year deal worth a total of $1.6 million. Including bonuses, Polasek made about $500,000 in 2024 and is approaching that figure this year. Polasek has been reported to be a candidate for the open head coaching job at Oregon State, a…...

4+ day, 23+ hour ago (162+ words) Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story. Live at 7 p.m.: Shanley Deacons vs Fargo North Spartans boys hockey on WDAY Xtra WDAY Xtra is live tonight starting at 7 p.m. for boys hockey between the Shanley Deacons and Fargo North Spartans. Catch all the boys hockey action Tuesday, November 25 between the Shanley Deacons and Fargo North Spartans airing on WDAY Xtra. The puck drops at 7 p.m. You can watch this…...

5+ day, 8+ hour ago (521+ words) J.J. McCarthy has been placed in concussion protocol by the Minnesota Vikings. The second-year quarterback reported symptoms on the team's flight back to the Twin Cities following a disastrous display by the Vikings in a 23-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field. Asked for more details about the situation on Monday afternoon at TCO Performance Center, Kevin O'Connell said he couldn't pinpoint a particular play that might have led to McCarthy having symptoms. "We're looking into it," O'Connell said. "It had to be late in the game based upon how the game went." The performance from McCarthy featured more growing pains as he completed 12 of 19 passes for 87 yards while being intercepted twice. He also was sacked a handful of times in the loss, including twice by Micah Parsons, who took over the game with his pass…...

5+ day, 21+ hour ago (856+ words) GREEN BAY, Wis. " It's hard to effectively sum up how bad the Minnesota Vikings were after halftime in the embarrassing 23-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field. The ineptitude displayed might go down as the worst 30 minutes that will ever be put forth under head coach Kevin O'Connell. It was a total system failure across the board for the Vikings after rookie returner Myles Price muffed a punt near his own goal line. That opened the floodgates as quarterback J.J. McCarthy was forced to take on a heavier workload than he could bear. He looked completely overwhelmed for prolonged stretches while struggling to put together consecutive positive plays from scrimmage. Major problem that McCarthy seems to be regressing. Though growing pains were to be expected for a young signal caller, there aren't a lot of things…...

6+ day, 10+ hour ago (986+ words) GREEN BAY, Wis. " The game briefly appeared to be there for the taking on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field after the Vikings managed to force a punt shortly after halftime. The offense had proven capable of moving the ball, even if it hadn't found the end zone. The defense had proven capable of getting the necessary stops, even if they hadn't forced a turnover. The tenor changed on an inexplicable decision by rookie returner Myles Price. After opting not to call for a fair catch near the goal line on the ensuing punt, Price accidentally made contact with the ball as it bounced off the turf. It resulted in a turnover that opened the floodgates on the Vikings in what ended up a 23-6 blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers. Though the blunder on special teams was undoubtedly the turning…...

6+ day, 22+ hour ago (683+ words) FARGO " Let the second season in Division I Football Championship Subdivision begin, and it didn't come without a surprise. North Dakota State got the No. 1 seed as expected and the road to Nashville will have to go through Fargo or Bozeman, Montana. The Bison will get a first round bye and play the winner of Illinois State at Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. Montana State, which won the Big Sky Conference title by beating Montana on Saturday, is the second seed. NDSU defeated the Bobcats in last year's FCS title game. "You have to stay focused on 1-0, as boring as it sounds to say that, we're constantly fighting complacency here," NDSU head coach Tim Polasek said on the FCS Selection Show Sunday. "The one thing that is helpful is we're playing to the standard that was set by so many…...