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(NewsDakota.com) The second week of the North Dakota High School Football season is going to closely resemble a playoff football atmosphere for two top five Class A Region I schools, and the contest they play against each other Friday night may once again decide who comes out on top in the region after the rest of the season is played out.

The Oakes Tornadoes, ranked #3 in the first Class A High School Football poll voted by the North Dakota Sportswriters and Sportscasters, and the Linton-HMB Lions, voted #5 face off yet again this Friday night at Cummings Field in Oakes. Last year, the Lions squeaked out a 12-9 victory, the definition of the word ‘squeaked’ based quite differently on which fan base one polls. Neither team lost another game during the regular season. Oakes was sent home by Maple Valley/Enderlin in the quarterfinals of the Class A playoffs, whereas Linton made it all the way to the title game, but came up well short to Stanley-Powers Lake.

This season, Linton was picked to finish first in the Class A Region I coaches poll, while Oakes was chosen second. The reverse was the case when it came to the Pigskin Preview magazine.

Oakes coach Greg Dobitz, who is an impressive 6-1 in home games in his young career, says having the contest played in their own backyard this time around cannot be understated.

Meanwhile on the Lion side of things, even though they may be slightly favored by a few observers, their head coach Dan Imdike says they’ve got to fix more than a few things to compete with Oakes, after losing last week to Mobridge-Pollock South Dakota.

Coverage of Friday night’s game can be heard on KDDR 1220 AM/95.9 FM and NewsDakota.com starting at 6:30. Kickoff from Cummings Field is set for 7 p.m.