It's unlikely Watford City varsity football head coach Fred Fridley played Olivia Newton John's hit single "Let's Get Physical" to motivate his team before it took the field this past Saturday against Devils Lake in the semifinals of the Class AA state playoffs.

It was a more physical style of play, however, that was key to the Wolves defeating Devils Lake and earning a berth in Saturday's state title game against Valley City at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.

Devils Lake ousted the Wolves from the playoffs last season and already had a victory against them this season before meeting this past Saturday in Watford City for another rematch.

"I think the big thing is that when we played the other games, they were just more physical than we were," Fridley said of finally getting past the Firebirds. "We talked about that. I think it's an aspect of the kids getting themselves ready and just we were more physical this time around. We just had to prove to ourselves that hey, we're better than what we did the last couple of times."

Reviewing the game film from this year's earlier contest also produced a special strategy for the Wolves in this past Saturday's semifinal. Two passes off of fake punts kept drives alive and led to one touchdown for Watford City. "It was designed because we saw on film that when we were punting, they were bringing everybody. They were bringing the whole works," Fridley said. "We practiced it all week, and when we called to do it, it worked. It's not all the time it works either, but it worked to perfection on Saturday."

Fridley and the Wolves are hoping that perfection continues this week against Valley City.

"They're going to throw a running attack at us and try to use their speed. They try to get to the perimeter," Fridley said. "They can run inside too, but they like to get off tackle to the outside and run some misdirection at us."

Fridley said Valley City is excellent in cutting back against the grain offensively.

"We got to not over pursue and take the right angles and tackle well," he added.

The Wolves are heading to Grand Forks today and are scheduled to work out briefly at the University of North Dakota's outdoor Memorial Stadium to get a feel for playing on turf that's inside the Alerus.

"It's probably what we call a fast track when you play on that and that probably leads a little bit of an advantage to Valley City," Fridley said. "They got quickness and speed; that is an advantage on their part. We have a couple of quick kids too, but not probably what Valley City has."

The bottom line for Fridley and the Wolves is execution.

"What will get the job done up front? You're only as good as the people in front of you," he said. "We're hoping we can work that battle out in our favor too."

Meanwhile, Valley City's defense has been very good against the run, he said.

"They put a lot of people up in front. We got to be able to throw the ball and have success throwing the ball, and I think we can," Fridley said. "We got a good quarterback that can spread it around to a lot of different receivers. I think that is a plus."

Fridley said from what he has seen, most of the teams Valley City played this year are running teams offensively.

"For the first time, I think they're going to see a team that can throw the ball pretty well," he said.

Watford City has a rich football tradition that includes its last appearance in the state title game in 2006.

"A lot of these kids go back to 2006 when we played. They were all probably dressed for the game there; just a couple of them got to play," Fridley said. "But that experience being back there, it's a hyped type of thing. You just got to get your kids settled down and play the game."

Hopefully from gaining that little prior experience, the kids can properly prepare for the game, he said.

"Don't get too high and get too overanxious and everything else. You still got to get in the right groove and hopefully that will work in our favor," Fridley said.

From the start of this season, the Wolves believed they would get to the playoffs, and that effort took wings against Beulah.

"We said if we could win that, we're going to be in the playoffs. Then it got to Hazen. Now if we beat Hazen, because we're the only two unbeaten teams, we can have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs," Fridley said.

He said the momentum just seemed to keep building.

"As it built up, we just kept on getting better too," Fridley said.

That improvement was also seen on the practice field, where Fridley said the work ethic got better every week.

"The kids have great attitudes and great work ethics," he said. "From that aspect, that is where we got better."