SD 9-Man Games of the Week: Nate’s Six Predictions

<strong>SOUTH DAKOTA-- </strong>We highlight 6 key games in South Dakota 9-man football with an analysis of the top players to watch from these 12 football programs. We also dish out our predictions when we break down the film (if available) who will win each matchup! Enjoy. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Games</span></strong> <strong>Alcester-Hudson (0-1) @ Gayville-Volin (1-0)</strong> <strong>Analysis: </strong>Both of these teams have shared Dell Rapids St. Mary as an opponent this season and shared opposite outcomes. Gayville-Volin shocked the South Dakota 9-man football world in Week 1 by crushing the Cardinals by a large margin of 42-8. The Cubs of Alcester-Hudson had an opposite result, getting shut out by Dell Rapids St. Mary 40-0. There is a lot to like about Raiders athlete [player_tooltip player_id="93108" first="Kyle" last="Hirsch"], as he provides a multitude of options on both sides of the ball and has solid strong footwork and a good catch radius as a wide receiver and was a huge factor against the Cardinals. Alcester-Hudson is a hard squad to scout with little to no film available so my advantage goes to the Gayville-Volin Raiders. <strong>The Pick: </strong>Gayville-Volin <strong>Canistota-Freeman (1-1) @ Howard (2-0)</strong> <strong>Analysis: </strong>This might be one of the best early games we will see this year in 9-man football in South Dakota. I have been really impressed with Canistota-Freeman RB/DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="160914" first="Noah" last="Kleinsasser"]</strong> over the last two weeks as we made a great call making him top 105 prospect based on the limited film we had as he’s lived up to the hype. Another RB to watch is <strong>Isiah Robertson </strong>who logged two touchdowns and nearly 100 rushing yards last week. I also have been impressed with the passing percentage of <strong>Tage Ortman</strong> a familiar little brother of Northwestern (Iowa) signee [player_tooltip player_id="56280" first="Tyce" last="Ortman"]. A key defensive player to watch for the Pride is <strong>Ethan Balvin </strong>who logged double-digit tackles last week in their win over Elkton-Lake Benton and provides another key option in the backfield for Canistota-Freeman. I like watching the speed the Howard Tigers tailbacks have in <strong>Griffin Clubb</strong>, <strong>Karsten Hamilton</strong>, and <strong>Karsyn Feldhaus</strong> bring as a strong unit and you can never doubt the size they have on the O-Line with SDSU commit [player_tooltip player_id="56465" first="Jace" last="Sifore"], who has such excellent athleticism, as the Tigers showed reps of him at tight end in Week 2. <strong>The Pick: </strong>Canistota-Freeman, but this one will be extremely close like it has been in the last few years. <strong>Hamlin (1-1) @ Castlewood (2-0)</strong> <strong>Analysis: </strong>These two teams also have a mutual opponent in the Britton-Hecla Braves. In Week 1, Hamlin beat the Braves 66-12. The Warriors had the Braves at home as well in Week 2 and won 55-20. The Chargers have a solid 1-2 punch at running back in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56480" first="Sam" last="Grantham"] </strong>and one of the top 2024 prospects in the Dakotas in [player_tooltip player_id="89279" first="Luke" last="Fraser"]. The Chargers were upset last week against Florence-Henry by a 10 point margin but should be playing with a chip on their shoulder this week on the road at Castlewood. Hamlin also has QB <strong>Xander Sheehan </strong>who has a quick release and some really nice arm strength on his shorter passing routes. Castlewood’s rushing attack is led by <strong>Carson Kirwan</strong>, who has gone back to back games with over 200 yards rushing for the Warriors. Can he continue the trend again on his home field? The Chargers certainly have some more solid prospects than the Warriors have seen in the past few weeks in DL <strong>Michael Stevenson</strong>, <strong>Kaden Prouty</strong> amongst others. <strong>The Pick: </strong>The edge goes to the Hamlin Chargers. <strong>Herreid-Selby (2-0) @ Timber Lake (2-0)</strong> <strong>Analysis: </strong>When you analyze the roster between these two you cannot ignore the size advantage the Wolverines have at the offensive skill positions compared to the Panthers. With RB [player_tooltip player_id="56549" first="Brenden" last="Begeman"] (203 pounds) and FB [player_tooltip player_id="56526" first="Trey" last="Sayler"] (222 pounds getting the herd of the carries for Herreid-Selby on Friday, I expect the Wolverines to run down the Panthers line and linebackers to victory on Friday night in Timber Lake. Another QB to TE connection I will be watching is QB [player_tooltip player_id="56550" first="Tray" last="Hettick"] to TE prospect [player_tooltip player_id="56527" first="Trevor" last="Sayler"], as he was the leader of the Wolverines receiving core in the Wolverines win over the Cowboys. The Wolverines have also had a slightly better challenge in their games by defeating a Lemmon-McIntosh squad led by a new QB [player_tooltip player_id="105504" first="Sawyer" last="Thompson"] by a score of 32-16. Timber Lake does have one known advantage, they do have a larger roster size than the Wolverines which may help in the later quarters, however, there is also little to no film to evaluate the Panthers on, so the clear advantage leans on the Herreid-Selby Wolverines. <strong>The Pick: </strong>Herreid-Selby <strong>Leola-Frederick Area (2-0) @ Florence-Henry (2-0)</strong> <strong>Analysis: </strong>The first player to watch from the Titans that impressed me on tape was <strong>Mason Hinz</strong> (2022). Hinz has a high level of athletic ability with a great explosive step off the defensive line that has the speed to roll in and cause some trouble in the backfield. He shows a physical presence when he zones in on making a tackle and has a solid reach at linebacker as well to get his hands in the passing lanes.  Another prospect I like from the defensive line is <strong>Wil Nordine </strong>(2022) who has a low stance but shows a lot of power in his lower body to drive the offensive line crazy when he gets by them into the backfield. Looking over at the Falcons, golly has OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id="56458" first="Chase" last="Kelly"] been on a tear lately. Kelly made my Big Dogs of the Week in Week 1 and topped off again in Week making our Midwest performances of the week in Week 2. This young man is a significant force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball. A linebacker to watch is <strong>Clay Trupe </strong>who in that upset win over Hamlin logged 13 tackles, so look for his name to be on the loudspeaker again this Friday night. A big play prospect to watch for the Falcons is WR/DB <strong>Ethan Paulson</strong> who has been all over the stat sheet I have been sent by the Falcons and is one I would love to see get more looks his way in the receiving core against the Titans <strong>The Pick: </strong>Florence-Henry <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Additional Game to Watch</strong></span> <strong>Viborg-Hurley (1-1) @ Chester Area (2-0)</strong> <strong>The Pick: </strong>Chester Area If the connection between QB [player_tooltip player_id="56492" first="Stratton" last="Eppard"] and 2024 WR [player_tooltip player_id="56560" first="Jovi" last="Wolf"] can continue, look for the charge of the Flyers to win this one over Viborg-Hurley.