Defending The Title: Who’s Back in 2021 SD

The Inaugural ’Defending the Title’ report for South Dakota. This article mentions the State Champions for each Class in SD as well as the key players returning and the key players lost to graduation. The player descriptions will come off film shared from the teams and players of each team if it is provided on Hudl. Here it goes! 11AAA- Brandon Valley Lynx (9-1) Brandon Valley was solid across the board in every position, lots of team speed and a good mix of strength as well. After dropping a close game in the opener to the Roosevelt Rough Riders, the Lynx would win out the rest of the season for the State title, most in convincing fashion. While they lose many key weapons on both sides of the ball, they will be returning athletes with a lot of experience as well. Here are some of those players: Key Losses: <strong>RB-[player_tooltip player_id="56249" first="Tate" last="Johnson"], WR- [player_tooltip player_id="56268" first="Jackson" last="Hilton"], QB-[player_tooltip player_id="77508" first="Joe" last="Kolbeck"], DB- Josh Pickthorn, [player_tooltip player_id="56329" first="Joey" last="Nemec"], FB [player_tooltip player_id="56318" first="Luke" last="Wickersham"], OL Jaxen Mullet, LB [player_tooltip player_id="56359" first="Parker" last="Reed"], Aidan Swift.</strong> Key Returners: <strong>WR [player_tooltip player_id="93090" first="Sam" last="Scholten"], [player_tooltip player_id="56537" first="Noah" last="Thompson"], <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Peyton Carroll, </span></strong> <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">QB [player_tooltip player_id="101217" first="Lucas" last="Slack"], </span></strong> <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">RB [player_tooltip player_id="56459" first="Jordan" last="Johnson"], </span></strong> <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">DB Carson Askdal, </span></strong> <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">TE/K [player_tooltip player_id="118819" first="Zach" last="Brummels"], </span></strong> <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">OL [player_tooltip player_id="56514" first="Sam" last="Klein"], [player_tooltip player_id="77493" first="Navarro" last="Schunke"], Brady Koupal</span></strong> <strong>LB [player_tooltip player_id="93091" first="Ryan" last="Doll"]</strong> <strong>DL Owen Warren</strong> 11AA- Pierre TF RIggs Governors (9-2) Key Losses: <strong>RB Macguire Raske, DL [player_tooltip player_id="56253" first="Gunnar" last="Gehring"], Preston Taylor, LB [player_tooltip player_id="56278" first="Josh" last="Rowse"], Collin Brueggeman, TE [player_tooltip player_id="56243" first="Regan" last="Bollweg"], OL Jacob Larson.</strong> Key Returners: <strong>QB/DB [player_tooltip player_id="56570" first="Lincoln" last="Kienholz"]</strong> <strong>WR/DB Jack Merwan</strong> <strong>OL Christian Busch</strong> 11A- Tea Area Titans (11-0) Key Losses: <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="77509" first="Austin" last="Lake"], RB [player_tooltip player_id="56412" first="Kaden" last="Johnson"], FB [player_tooltip player_id="56328" first="Garrett" last="Kolbeck"], WR/DB Connor Mulder, OL [player_tooltip player_id="56233" first="Caden" last="Ellingson"], [player_tooltip player_id="56286" first="Luke" last="Rettedal"], Ian Bennett, LS [player_tooltip player_id="56413" first="Michael" last="Wallin"]</strong> Key Returners: <strong>RB Jaxon Weber</strong> <strong>DB [player_tooltip player_id="56573" first="Blake" last="Thompson"]</strong> <strong>LB TJ Krietlow</strong> <strong>LB Isaac Johnson</strong> <strong>OL Griffen Schnider</strong> <strong>OL Thomas Ostrem</strong> <strong>DB Jeff Worth</strong> 11B- Winner Warriors (11-0) Key Losses:<strong> QB [player_tooltip player_id="56367" first="Brady" last="Fritz"], OL [player_tooltip player_id="56344" first="Bosten" last="Morehart"], Preston Norrid, Landon Thieman, Jack Hansen, RB/DB Evan Farner.</strong> Key Returners: <strong>WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id="93075" first="Kaden" last="Keiser"]</strong> <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="77463" first="Riley" last="Orel"]</strong> <strong>WR/DB Blake Volmer</strong> 9AA- Platte- Geddes Panthers (12-0) Key Losses: <strong>QB Kelby VanDerWerff, WR Nate Whalen, </strong> Key Returners: <strong>RB/LB Grayson Hanson</strong> <strong>WR/DB Caden Foxley</strong> <strong>TE Jackson Olsen</strong> 9A- Canistota- Freeman Pride(11-1) Key Losses: <strong>QB/DB [player_tooltip player_id="56280" first="Tyce" last="Ortman"], TE/LB [player_tooltip player_id="56407" first="Logan" last="Katzer"], WR/DB Tate Tieszen</strong> Key Returners: <strong>WR/DB Tye Merrill</strong> <strong>RB/LB Noah Kleinsasser</strong> 9B- Wolsey- Wessington Warbirds (10-1) Key Losses: <strong>WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id="77465" first="Tristan" last="Abbott"], QB Corbin Haarmeyer, TE/LB [player_tooltip player_id="91748" first="Jake" last="Williams"], LB Ethan Nelson</strong> Key Returners: <strong>WR/DB Marty Gohn</strong> <strong>RB/DB Eric Klanchik</strong> <strong>WR/DB Carson Zomer</strong> In the next week, I will release an article about each of these teams for a more in-depth analysis.