Another week in B-town

Well, it has been yet another week for me in Bottineau. It's snowing right now! We are supposed to get 5-10 inches possibly. Also tonight I get to "coach" during the intersquad Lumberjack hockey game.

Anywho, this week started out with me covering the final home games of both the Bottineau volleyball and football teams on Tuesday night. Had some trouble with my flash at the football game, but still managed to grab some good pics from both.

Saturday the Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn Sioux defeated the TGU Titans 20-16 in a game that was both in the Minot paper and on the Minot television. They play Mott-Regent this Sat. still not sure if that is at home or away, if it's in Mott, I probably won't go.

I'm thorougly dissapointed in the Vikings and the refs for blowing the game.

Also I went 6-8 in my NFL picks last week. It was my worst week thus far, I appear to be getting worse every week, which is dissapointing.

Here are some pics from the week (I appologize if some of them are a bit low quality).

Stars junior Ashley Aufforth (left) and sophomore Katryna Hahn (right) get ready to block an incoming Bulldogs shot.

Stars senior Alyssa Fugere makes an athletic dig last Tuesday in Bottineau.

Aufforth sets up a teammate in the Stars' 3-1 win last Tuesday.

Bottineau punter sophomore Trevor Wettlaufer punts in the first half last Tuesday night in Bottineau.

BHS junior Mark LaCroix (left) and senior Cody Steinhaus (right) attempt to bring down Belcourt's Skyler Poitra.

LaCroix runs a in a touchdown in the second quarter in the 36-21 Bottineau win last Tuesday.

Senior Jake Folven returns a kick past midfield.

LaCroix makes an athletic grab over a defender last Tuesday for a big gain.

BHS freshman quarterback Harrison Aide throws a pass in the second half.

Aide about to attempt a pass on a two-point conversion in the second half.

Sioux senior runningback Brandon Brodehl breaks free for a 76-yard touchdown last Saturday.

Sioux senior Taylor Teske catches a pass and sets up a touchdown in the 20-16 Saturday win.

Brodehl again breaking a tackle enroute to a big gain.

Sioux freshman quarterback Hunter Braaten runs it in the second half in last Saturday's win.

Sioux junior Sam Zelinski throws a pass on a trick play last Saturday.

Teske catching that pass from Zelinski, Kodie Hancock also looks open.

Karlie Hancock carries the ball in the second half for the Sioux.

Kodie Hancock and Teske pressure TGU quarterback Tyler Thorson in the first half.

One long layout

Due to the overwhelming amount of ads we received this week, and as ads dictate the amount of pages we produce in the paper, we had a long layout and a big paper.

We had a paper of 26 pages, none of which were full page ads mind you, and ended up scrambling for content and creating two full photo pages.

Besides the hectic 14.5 hour work day I had monday (layout day), I also covered some sports last week.
Last Tuesday I went and covered the 52-16 beating that Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn dealt to Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (MLS) in nine-man football, giving them the top seed in Region 5 and a first round bye.
The bye then opened up my weekend schedule and I got to travel home for the weekend.
But first, Thursday I went to Newburg to cover the final home game of the Newburg-Westhope Eagles and ended up seeing a sensational match as the Eagles squeaked out a close victory over the visiting Mustangs of MLS.
So, due to the bye, I decided to make the just over six hour drive back to Albany and visit the folks and some friends and especially my godson, Samuel. I got to see him walk for the first time (man he really can scoot) and also got to eat a Gordy Burger from the Bowling Alley, which was delicious. The drive there and back were both terrible, but the drive back was a little better due to the fact I listened to the Vikes win over the Cowboys.

Speaking of the NFL, I went 7-7 in my picks again this week. As my initial impressions of the teams this year wear off, my picks have been getting worse and worse. Next year I think im just going to pick the winners right before the week happens, then maybe I'll have a better record.
Anyways, here are some pics I took this week:

Sioux senior Brandon Brodehl carries the ball for a gain in last Tuesday's 52-16 win over MLS.

Sioux senior Taylor Teske drags down Mavericks runningback Adam Undlin for a loss last Tuesday.

Eagles seniors Alisha Braaten (left) and Hailiee Sivertson (right) block a Mavericks shot last Thursday on senior night.

Eagles senior Kendra Thom prepares to serve last Thursday in Newburg.

Thom serving the ball last Thursday.

Brodehl eludes Maverick defenders enroute to a big gain last Tuesday.

Another week, more of the same

Work is starting to get pretty routine for me in Bottineau. Each week I cover volleyball and football, with a mix of both college and high school. I know where I need to go for games, who I need to talk to and which players to watch for.

However, sports change with the seasons, and soon, my coverage will change with them. In about a month, the routine that I just got used to will transition me away from volleyball, football and cross country and will shift over to basketball and hockey.

With six basketball teams and three hockey teams to cover, winter will undoubtedly be more difficult to cover. However, I have help and once I get in the routine, I'll be good to go (until spring).

For now I have some pictures from Ladyjacks volleyball, Bottineau football and Lumberjacks football.

I left the Lumberjacks game early to attend my cousin's wedding in Drake/Anamoose and had a real good time. It's been nice living in my family's home state.

I went 7-7 this week in my NFL picks. I still haven't been below .500 for a week, but 43-33 overall isn't anything to brag about. However, I did pick the Oakland over San Diego upset.

Here are some pictures from the events this past week:

Members of the DCB hockey team are fired up as the DCB volleyball team is rallying back against the Williston State Tetons.

DCB sophomore Kate Helgeson tries to direct it away from Teton defenders last Tuesday in Bottineau.

DCB freshmen Kelsey Gullet hammers home a point for the Ladyjacks.

DCB sophomore Jen Thiessen skirts one over the net on an awkward hit last Tuesday.

Bottineau sophomore Jeremiah Aberle lays a hit on Carrington's Jordon Mittleider.

Bottineau lines up during warm-ups as the sun sets on the Bottineau skyline.

Bottineau senior Jake Folven scampers away from Carrington's Shelby Marcotte in the second quarter last Friday.

Folven scoops up the football on a kick return in the second quarter last Friday in Bottineau. Carrington won 55-12.

Lumberjack running back Jeremy Hill cuts throught a hole last Saturday in Bottineau's 63-6 loss to Iowa Western.

DCB's Carlos Fonseca hits Manning-sized quarterback, the 6'5", 220 pound Zack Stoudt and forces an incompletion.

DCB sophomore James Tipton punts the ball away in the first half last Saturday.

DCB return man Osman Arango follows a block and looks upfield in the first half last Saturday.

Lumberjack defensive limenman Freddie Garcia wraps up Reiver's running back Antaries Daniels.

Lumberjack's running back Kentavis Mcnichols is wrestled down by Reiver's strong safety Dakota Miller in the first half last Saturday.

It's hard to believe

It's hard to believe that I have been on the job here in Bottineau for nearly two months already. I have met some very nice people, amazing athletes and had a lot of fun so far in my time here. I hope everything continues to go well.

The past week I watched a lot of volleyball as all three teams that I cover were at home this week.

Tuesday I drove to Newburg to cover the Eagles. Wednesday the Ladyjacks played at home, and Thursday Bottineau beat TGU at home.

I got a call wondering why we haven't been covering cross country and came up with two reasons. One I had no idea that Bottineau had a cross country team (I was told that sometimes they do, sometimes they don't) and had no indication that they did until now. And two, they hadn't run anywhere close to here, so I hadn't heard of any meets that they may have went to.

However, thanks to whomever was concerned, I found out they would be running in Rugby last Saturday, so I made a trip down there and photographed both junior and senior high runners.

I went 8-6 on my NFL picks as most of my upsets came up short. Picks have been going down hill lately, but I had a good week in fantasy football getting wins on each of my three teams.

Bottineau eigth-grader Maria Diepholder finishes 23rd last Saturday in Rugby with a time of 13:41 in the 3k long race.

Another Bottineau eighth-grader Alysha Thompson sprints to the finish last Saturday. She finished with a time of 16:37.



Bottineau seventh grader Evan Koch starts of his race in Rugby last Saturday.



Koch finishing the race last Saturday in Rugby.

Bottineau junior high runners Maria Diepholder (left) and Alysha Thompson (right) begin their race last Saturday.

DCB sophomores Jen Thiessen (left) and April Moen (right) attempt to block a Bismarck State shot last Wednesday.

Ladyjack's sophomore hitter Kate Helgeson hammers a shot right into the waiting arms of Jenna Maas.

Moen poised for a kill last Wednesday in Bottineau.

Helgeson attempting to block a Mystics shot.

DCB freshmen Kelsey Gullett leaps in an attempt to block an incoming Mystics shot.

Gullett attempts a kill last Wednesday in Bottineau.

Eagles senior Alisha Braaten gets one of 13 digs last Tuesday against TGU in Newburg.

Eagles senior Hailee Sivertson attempts a kill last Tuesday.

Eagles senior Kendra Thom gets one of her team leading eight kills.

Sivetson hits one past a TGU blocker.

Thom hits one with intensity.

BHS sophomore Katryna Hahn attempts a kill last Thursday against TGU.

(L-R) Junior Ashley Aufforth, senior Kendra Suchor, junior Whitney Page and junior Mikayla Hahn celebrate an ace last Thursday.

BHS sophomore McKenzie Jensen comes in as a serve specialist last Thursday.

Katryna Hahn watches a hit go to the TGU side last Thursday.

Katryna Hahn winds up for a spike last Thursday in Bottineau.