The Prospect List: Northwest South Dakota (VIP)

One of my favorite things outside of watching the game of football is geography. As a young kid, I would always get a map and be able to tell my family what the population was of this little town, or that little town, etc. I also loved putting those small towns on the map. With this article for Prep Redzone Dakotas subscribers, I put my two favorite things together, geography and football. I reached into Northwestern South Dakota to see where I could find some football prospects. To those native to this area, you are well-aware of the oiled machine of the Lemmon-Mcintosh Cowboys, which is the major powerhouse football program from this region. I found six prospects from the likes of Lemmon-Mcintosh, Faith, and Harding County (Buffalo) that I feel could be some next-level players. I hope you enjoy my analysis of the handful of players I found from NW South Dakota! <strong>Matthew Gray, TE/DE, Faith (2023)</strong> When Gray lines up at tight end, he does an excellent job of getting separation quickly from the secondary. His ability to be elusive as a defensive end by getting off blocks speedily and causing some havoc in the backfield. His burst off the line on defense makes him one of the most athletic players on this Faith roster. Gray’s ability to move laterally makes me see him as a linebacker at the next level. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2ESegg">Sophomore Tape</a> <strong>Gabe Bushong, DL/OL, Faith, (2022)</strong> Bushong doesn’t have any updated 2020 film but indicates he is still a junior at Faith. From what I caught on film, Bushong wastes no time at all getting off blocks against one of West River’s best 9-man programs. His blocking ability on the offensive side of the ball also shows a quick hand technique when clearing out defenders he goes up against. Bushong needs to develop a bigger punch on both sides of the football. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2B9fpM">Tape vs. Harding County</a> <strong>Cayden Floyd, ATH/RB, Harding County (Buffalo) (2022)</strong> Floyd is a challenging prospect to tackle when he has the football. He has a quality burst off the line, and I love how he executes his power running ability in the inside lanes. Floyd is undoubtedly one of those "bully ball" backs in 9-man where you insert your strongest player in the running lanes and just let him go to work. With a little development with his interior speed, he could be a next-level prospect if he doesn’t go the basketball route. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EUb1q">Junior Tape</a> <strong>Tell Mollman, DE, Lemmon-Mcintosh (2022)</strong> Mollman does a really excellent job using his hands off the edge for the Cowboys. A 6’2 205 edge rusher that uses his power soundly to erupt on whoever has the football. He could be even more powerful on edge with a few more agility drills in which he has the offseason to develop. Mollman put up some video game-like numbers last season with 93 tackles (32 for a loss) and a whopping 14 sacks for the Cowboys. Mollman looks to be a prospect I’ll need to add to our 2022 rankings on the next update. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EXE4g">Junior Tape</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="93084" first="Talon" last="Trogstad"], TE/WR, Lemmon-Mcintosh (2022)</strong> Trogstad is a prospect I wanted on my rankings mainly for his versatility. He looks like a wide receiver as far as his frame but is listed as a tight end but a TE with a  burst of speed to go deep if you want the deep ball. Another trait I like about Trogstad is his ability to pull in the highly contest balls as he shows great awareness in the first click of his film, grabbing a highly contested ball for a touchdown. Trogstad also has a good range with his stretching ability to get a ball that might be just out of reach. I’m incredibly impressed with this Lemmon-Mcintosh Cowboys program, as they seem to churn the cream of the crop in Northwestern South Dakota. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2ESEJ8">Junior Tape</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="105504" first="Sawyer" last="Thompson"], QB, Lemmon-Mcintosh (2024)</strong> The younger Thompson doesn’t have any film yet, but I can imagine by the time he took over the reins of QB1 (probably this season), he’ll hopefully become a passing clinic, much like his brother, the Black Hills State commit [player_tooltip player_id="56339" first="Cody" last="Thompson"]. &nbsp;