Watertown, Aberdeen Central face important games in Class 11AA

Only two weeks (one for some) remain in the 2022 high school football season for South Dakota's Class 11B and nine-man football teams and three weeks for the state's Class 11AAA, AA and A squads.

That means things are really getting interesting for teams fighting to make the playoffs and for others trying to help their potential seed position in the playoffs.

One of the interesting things this week is the number of Watertown and Aberdeen area schools who have their bye week on Friday. The group includes Deubrook Area, Clark-Willow Lake, Mobridge-Pollock, Deuel, Groton Area, Sioux Valley, Iroquois-Lake Preston, Northwestern, Faulkton Area and Langford.

Here are the teams who are playing this week:

Friday's Games

Redfield at Dakota Hills, 4 p.m. in Wilmot: Redfield puts its 4-2 record on the line against the 0-7 Grizzlies.

Tiospa Zina at Flandreau Indian School, 6 p.m.: Tiospa Zina is 3-3 and FIS 0-5 heading into this All-Nations Conference game.

Ipswich at Dupree, 7 p.m.: Ipswich hits the road with a 4-2 record to take on 1-6 Dupree.

Brookings at Aberdeen Central, 7 p.m.: Give credit to the Golden Eagles, who have won three-straight games after and 0-3 start and moved into the No. 5 spot in the Class 11AA rankings. It could be a battle with the fourth-rated Bobcats, who are 4-2.

Watertown at Mitchell, 7 p.m.: Some thing has to give in this matchup of two 1-5 teams. Both the Arrows and Kernels have lost four-straight games after winning the second week of the season.

Leola-Frederick Area at North Central, 7 p.m. in Eureka: LFA is 3-3 and North Central 1-5.

Sisseton at Milbank, 7 p.m.: Don't look at the records, this is still a rivalry game between two Northeast Conference foes. Milbank is 0-6 and Sisseton has lost five-straight games after a season-opening win.

Herreid-Selby Area at Potter County, 7 p.m. in Gettysburg: The top-rated Class 9B Wolverines roll into Gettysburg with a 6-0 record. The host Battlers are 2-4.

Arlington at Gayville-Volin, 7 p.m. in Gayville: This is another game where somebody is going to walk away with its first win. The Cardinals and Raiders are each 0-6.

Aberdeen Roncalli at Webster Area, 7 p.m.: Fifth-rated Class 11B Roncalli (6-0) looks to stay perfect with a Northeast Conference win over the Bearcats (2-5).

Great Plains Lutheran at Hamlin, 7 p.m. in Hayti: The 3-3 Panthers still have playoff hopes and the Chargers (6-1) would like to rebound from a loss to Warner that dropped them to No. 4 in the state's Class 9AA rankings.

Elkton-Lake Benton at Florence-Henry, 7 p.m. in Henry: The Elks are also 6-0 heading into a matchup against the 4-2 Falcons.

Wolsey-Wessington at Britton-Hecla, 7 p.m. in Britton: This seems like an interesting matchup between 3-3 Wolsey-Wessington and 4-2 Britton-Hecla.

Castlewood at Waverly-South Shore, 7 p.m. in Waverly: The third-rated Class 9A Warriors (5-1) came out of their bye week to record a big win last week over Oldham-Ramona-Rutland and will look to match the feat against the 0-6 Coyotes.

Estelline-Hendricks at Warner, 7 p.m.: The Redhawks, in case you haven't noticed, are on a really nice run. They've won four games in a row to improve to 4-2. The host Monarchs, however, are 6-0 at No. 1 rated in Class 9A.

Hitchcock-Tulare at De Smet, 7 p.m.: A battle between two rated Class 9B teams, the No. 2 Patriots (6-0) vs. the No. 5 Bulldogs (4-2).

Tri-State vs. Griggs-Midkota, 7 p.m. in Glenfield, N.D.: Tri-State (0-7) will try to close out its regular season with a win over a 1-6 team.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: This week's high school football schedule includes 17 area games.