Defending The Title: Who's Back In SD 2022? (11-man)

Here’s the 11-man story of the ’Defending the Title.’ One more class in SD 11-man football, so a little more content. Here’s the 2022 analysis from each champion in 11-man football. Class 11B- Winner Warriors (12-0)- Winner kept their win streak going for the second straight season ending with their second straight title as well. They won all of their games pretty handily, with their closest game being a 20-point margin. They are a run-heavy offense but will pass for the big play when needed or wanted. Their defense played sound all year only giving up more than 20 points one time all season. Players Leaving: WR/RB/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="93075" first="Kaden" last="Keiser"]- Keiser showed he’s a versatile athlete last year on both sides of the ball. With his wrestling background, he is a great tackler anywhere on the field. The kid has the sneaky speed where his movements are slow but he’s moving quick. His strength is the big part of his game, primarily blocking, but will run a guy over carrying the ball and tackling a guy. Played pass coverage well and was a good punt returner. QB/DL- Joey Cole- set the edge well at DE for the Warriors. He was a very physical D-lineman and took a good angel off the edge and laid a good hit on the ballcarrier. His hand technique was good in placement and quickness, he was able to shed blocks quick and put a lot of pressure on the QB. He broke down and made sure he made the tackle, whether it was for loss or not, brought a big hit if he had the right angle. OL/DL- Charley Pravecek- Explosive is the word I would use to describe this kid. Quick first step off the ball and good leverage helps him control his opponent on both sides if the ball. He has great hand placement and strikes his opponent first and really drives off the ball. He was good at pancaking his opponents and opening gaps. He stays low and wrecks his D-lineman on pull-blocks. Defensively, he drives his O-lineman off the ball and sheds him quick and makes the play in the backfield, puts pressure on the QB on passing downs. He also did a great job shooting gaps when he needed to make a play in the backfield. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GLDbu">Senior Film</a> Players Returning: RB/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="77463" first="Riley" last="Orel"]- Orel again carried the load in the run game for the Warriors. He was looking to run through kids, then once he broke through the line he could really hit the jets and break away for a big play. He had great vision to find the open field, and was just shifty enough make a good move and break into the open field. Defensively, he sat back and ball-hawked very well. He stayed as the deepest guy on the field and made a play on the ball. He made great breaks on the ball to knock the ball down, or take the receiver out. He used his shoulder pad very well and made a lot of good hits. FB/LB- [player_tooltip player_id="105505" first="Aiden" last="Barfuss"]- Barfuss had a good year running the ball, taking part in the triple-threat rushing attack from the Warrior backfield. He ran with pretty good pad level and was patient in letting his blocks develop. He wasn’t a shifty back, but he ran through many defenders, especially when he got to the second and third levels of the defense. He had a decent amount of speed to break away from the defenders and good balance to stay up when he was hit around the legs. LB- [player_tooltip player_id="161343" first="Jack" last="Peters"]- Peters played the LB position really well. He read the O-line well and attacked the gaps quickly and with force. He had great form in his tackles and wrapped up perfectly for the tackle in the backfield. He scraped across the field well and took great angles to the ballcarrier to make plays. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2G2ySp">Wessington Springs Tape</a> Class 11A- Madison Bulldogs (12-0)- Madison had a lot of hype coming into the year and they lived up to it each week. Capping a perfect season with and impressive win in the State Championship game. While we knew their offense was going to be explosive with all their different weapons in both the pass and run game, it was their defense that was the deciding factor in winning the championship. The offense would put up the puts to win games and the defense did it’s job to ensure the win. Players Leaving: QB- [player_tooltip player_id="93078" first="Nate" last="Ricke"]- Ricke emerged as a fearful QB this year. He was a great dual-threat QB and did both assets well. He was very accurate and really zipped the ball in to his receivers. He really had the arm strength and the touch to hit his receivers anywhere on the field in stride. He also had a lot of speed to break off big runs, but he was also a physical runner to run through a couple guys if he needed to. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11569320/619ba787ff0cdc09788d6a81">Senior Film</a> RB/LB- Trey Smith- Emerged as a strong tackler and playmaker on the field. He flowed to the ball really well and could sniff the ball out quickly and always made a strong tackle. He really brought good form and always brought his shoulder through the ballcarrier. Offensively, he was the bruising back that would get the short yardage situations, but he can break loose for the big gains and scores as well. DL- Cam Buchholtz- Buchholtz was a very good blitzer off the edge the whole season. He did not give the opposing QB's much time to throw if any at all. He was quick off the snap and took a good angle to get himself past the lineman, not give up contain and hit the ballcarrier all at the same time. He was also very physical with the opponent, running through the lineman and shedding them easily to get to the backfield. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11569323/617c6fc3bd6a2b15f4cfdb57">Regular Season</a> WR/DB- Mike Peters- Peters was a good cover corner. He sat in his zone and followed receivers close and make good check offs to his teammates. He also sat on routes and did a good job baiting the QB into throwing to his guy, then jumping on the route and making a play. He was also good in man coverage, he had a good initial jam at the line, recovered and ran with his guy and made the play on the ball. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GKksz">Senior Film</a> Players Returning: FB/LB- Caden DeVries- DeVries is the typical FB, and does it really well. He runs full speed and drills the first wronged colored jersey in his path. He is quick off the snap and immediately goes to his gap, finds his guy to block and takes him out of the play. On the defensive side, it was much of the same. He read his keys quickly went right to his gap and found the ball. He controls his motor to not over run the play, once he gets to the gap, he sits and finds the ball hits hits him hard, but also wraps up and finishes the play. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GQthk">Junior Film</a> FB/LB- Joe Gors- Gors is another high-motored kid that is fun to watch! Getting some snaps at both RB and FB offensively and did well at both of them. Another kid that loves to run into people as fast as he can, with or without the ball. Defensively, he loved to blitz out of his LB/DE position. He times the snap well when rushing off the edge and on his stunts and seems to find the gaps to run through untouched to get into the backfield. He puts a lot of pressure on the QB on passing downs and wrecks run plays in the backfield. He brings a lot of physicality when he makes tackles, he wraps up really well and keeps driving his feet until the whistle. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/14965526/Joe-Gors/highlights">Hudl Profile</a> Class 11AA- Pierre T.F. Riggs Governors (10-2)- Pierre found way to win the title again for the fifth straight year. A faster paced offensive team that will hit you with speed, but will hurt you with power. A well balanced run-pass attack that kept opponents on their toes each and every game. The defense did their jobs and got it done each and every game to get them to State and held strong in the big game against an always impressive Tea Area team. Players Leaving: OL- Kyle Albertson- Albertson is a ranging tackle on film. That means he gets to run up field a lot and attack the second and third levels on screen and run plays. He is very fast, and when the big man gets moving, he rolls kids left and right and frees space up for his backs to run through and creates big plays. He has good feet and shuffles quickly to keep his QB up in pass plays. Defensively, he drives his lineman off the ball Players Returning: QB/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="56570" first="Lincoln" last="Kienholz"]- Kienholz again had a good year running the offense. He seemed extremely comfortable in the backfield, by himself in most of his plays on film. Most plays were ran out of an empty formation and he had five targets to pick from on each play, if they were all covered, he pulled down and ran for it. His stats made him seem like the leading passer and rusher on the team. He made quick decisions and delivered a perfect ball, both in the pocket and on the run. His arm strength and accuracy was impressive as well, both setting and throwing and on the run. Defensively, he positioned himself extremely well in pass coverage and played the ball really well to not get flagged and break passes up. He also did a good job playing backside to take away cutback lanes for big plays. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GUZvx">Junior Season</a> OL/DL- [player_tooltip player_id="231745" first="Christian" last="Busch"]- Busch did a good job controlling the middle of the Line of Scrimmage. His snaps very always in a good spot for the QB, then he did a good job keeping a good pad level off the snap. He moved his feet well and kept a good position between the ballcarrier and his defender. He did a good job climbing levels and finding someone to block each play. He also did pretty well on pull blocks, he covered ground quickly and got his hands on a defender each time. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2G4MRG">Junior Season</a> WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id="223096" first="Jack" last="Merkwan"]- Merkwan put together a great season and made the label for himself at 'big play guy.' Most of his film are big play TD's in the passing game. He ran great vertical routes and just flat out outran his DB for the deep ball. Hardly ever having to break stride for a ball after he beat his DB up the seam, then hit the jets after catching the ball as well. After catching the ball, he had amazing vision and looked to extend plays anyway he could. He never went down easy, if you didn't finish your tackle, he wasn't going down, never went down by and arm or shoestring tackle, very good balance as well. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GUm1u">Junior Season</a> RB- Trey Lewis- Lewis had a great sophomore season, in fact on his film he never looked like a sophomore, looked like a seasoned veteran on the field. He ran good short routes to create space, but knew to break on a deep route when the play was extended and made himself a reliable target in the offense. In the backfield, he was a ground-and-pound type back, but he had a quick burst of speed when he broke one. He had great vision as well, finding open field after following his blocks and springing a big play. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GRSm8">Sophomore Season</a> RB/DB- Jayden Wiebe- Wiebe had an excellent season at CB this season. I loved watching this kid's motor, he never gave up on a play. If a WR got behind him he stuck as close as he could to him and still made the play knocking passes down and sometimes picking them off. His hand technique in press coverage was pretty good and kept his feet moving to turn and run with his guy as well. He used his peripheral vision well, keeping the guy in his zone and the QB in sight to keep himself in position to make plays. He was also a great tackler on the perimeter, kept the ball inside, broke down, and wrapped up the ballcarrier when he needed to. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GV2iM">Junior Season</a> Class 11AAA- Harrisburg Tigers (12-0)- The Tigers were the preseason favorite for Class 11AAA and they delivered each and every week. This was not a team you wanted to get in a track meet or dog fight with. They were a very well-rounded team with a lot of speed and muscle and used both very wisely. Both offense and defense did a great job picking each other up all year and when one didn’t have a good night the other side did. In most games they did a great job starting fast, but in other games they did a better job finishing strong. Players Leaving: QB- [player_tooltip player_id="56447" first="Jacob" last="Knuth"]- Knuth really lived up to his hype that he had coming into this season. I had always seen him on film and thought he was pretty good, then I watched him in person this year and saw that he was legit. He has really nice zip on his ball and can squeeze passes into the tightest of windows. I liked watching him go through his reads and making the best decision for the play. I also like his mobility to escape pressure and keep his eyes downfield to make a throw, not running unless he has to. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GB7Ze">Senior Season</a> DL/FB- [player_tooltip player_id="56487" first="Ayden" last="Viox"]- Viox really sparked the run game this year. He loved leading the way for his RB's and hitting the first wrong colored jersey that crossed his path. He was like a lineman after contact, kept driving his feet and burying that defender on every run play. When he got the ball on run plays, I saw many defenders avoid him because they thought he was going to hit them again. It took many players to bring Viox down when he was running the ball, he earned every single yard. Defensively he engaged his lineman well and controlled the Line of Scrimmage really well to slow the run game. He played a gap-to-gap defense really well, hand technique worked really well when shedding blocks and getting in the backfield. He also tackled very well when the ballcarrier came across him. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11516731/619530ad578d7b0af037f7f3">Senior Offense</a> <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11516731/614a22698cdddc1488d3a607">Senior Defense</a> LB- [player_tooltip player_id="56536" first="Cade" last="Larson"]- Larson is an absolute field general for the Tigers. He is always around the ball when the play is over and usually the one making the tackle. He reads his keys really well and extremely quick and does not waste time finding the ball. Doesn't matter if its an inside run or a perimeter, Larson found his way to the ball. He has good sideline-to-sideline speed and takes great angles to make the play. He finished all plays he made with a great, textbook tackle, could also lay a big hit when he was squared up right. Senior Season DB- [player_tooltip player_id="56494" first="Carter" last="Bahrenfuss"]- Bahrenfuss showed that he was one of the better ballhawks in the State this year. He roamed the defensive backfield very well and found his way to many takeaways and pass breakups. He sat on routes well and did a great job baiting the QB into throwing some tight passes that he could pick off. He did a good job breaking on routes when the ball was thrown his way and had good technique when either breaking the pass up, tackling the WR or picking the pass off. He threw some good hits too on the sidelines. OL- [player_tooltip player_id="56528" first="Jordan" last="Larsen"]- Jordan was good lineman that helped sparked the run game every game, but also kept the QB upright and gave him time to make good decisions. He has very good feet in pass blocks and did not let his defender get any kind of pass rush. He was also a good puller, set the gap he was leading through and climbed levels really well. He has good hands as well to keep good leverage on his defender and win the battle on each play. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11516655/617f040fbd746c0bb45b77cc">Senior Season</a> OL- [player_tooltip player_id="56529" first="Josh" last="Larsen"]- Josh did a great job setting the edge for the perimeter runs to his side. He was quick off the snap and kept a good pad level to wash down the DT's on his down blocks and finished through the whistle. He was also very light on his feet to keep good position on his defender and used his hands extremely well to help the offense stay in motion. He did a great job picking up stunts on the outside and taking away the biggest threat to get the most time for the play to develop. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GRG0w">Senior Season</a> ATH- [player_tooltip player_id="152384" first="Tyman" last="Long"]- The one game I watched, Long was literally just about doing everything; returning kicks, playing DB or LB depending on the formation and I think I saw him get some snaps on offense, either in the slot or in the backfield. Defensively, he was a good flat defender, whether that be defending he pass or helping string out and contain jet sweeps. He was a good tackler with good hands, constantly attacking the football on every tackle. He was a good return man, giving the offense the best field position with some good returns. He is a shifty guy that will be physical to get the job done. WR- [player_tooltip player_id="56449" first="Andrew" last="Walter"]- Walter got a lot of attention this year from opposing defenses, also didn't help his stats that the Tigers have plenty of athletes to share he wealth with. Walter is still a dangerous target when matched up one-on-one, which the Tigers got creative this year in exposing those match-ups. He was quick off the ball and got up to full-speed in a hurry and ran a good route to get open. He had a reliable set of hands to be a favorite vertical threat and a big play guy for the offense. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GCJYa">Senior Season</a> Players Returning: RB- [player_tooltip player_id="56546" first="Gavin" last="Ross"]- Ross really kept the Tiger offense moving forward. he gave them a good alternative if the pass game wasn't working. He has a high motor and really grinds out gains. His low center of gravity gives him enough balance and agility to make plays, then he has the power to run guys over as well. He was also a good target out of the backfield when they tried creating mismatches in coverages on the defense and made plays being the safety valve. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/10342744/619523d3dfe298092c81f9ea">Junior Season</a> TE/DL- [player_tooltip player_id="56553" first="Aidan" last="Foley"]- Foley came up big this season and played both ways for the Tigers. Offensively, he doubled as a run blocker and reliable pass catcher. He was a sixth lineman with all the good lineman qualities that really helped spark the run game. His quick first step, pad level and drive through the defender, along with good hand placement in his blocks. He released off the ball and ran good routes to get himself open, really sold faking blocks and releasing for routes. He was the possession receiver that they went to for first downs. Defensively, he was a gap plugger, slowing down run games and keeping linemen off the linebackers, if he slipped through, he made the play. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/12637046/619684773df596086022d008">Junior Season</a>