Week 5 Games to Watch (SD)

Since I'm back into coaching this season, my scouting will slow down a little bit but here is one way I can still keep up with it. I will pick a few games in South Dakota each week and highlight the ones that will be a lot of fun to watch. It may be two teams that are at the top of the Class, two evenly matched teams, or just a fun rivalry between teams! Week 5 is loaded with games you are going to want to watch!   Elkton-Lake Benton at Canistota- two teams in two different classes that put up some gaudy numbers and have had some impressive battles so far this season. Both teams have athletic QB's with plenty of targets to throw to. The defenses on both sides are something not to be ignored. This should shape up to be a chess math between the two!   Players to Watch:   Elkton-Lake Benton: [player_tooltip player_id='101184' first='Ryan' last='Krog'], Blake DeVries, [player_tooltip player_id='210630' first='Tanner' last='Stein'], & Riddick Westley.   Canistota: [player_tooltip player_id='315065' first='Trace' last='Ortman'], [player_tooltip player_id='160914' first='Noah' last='Kleinsasser'], [player_tooltip player_id='205269' first='Tage' last='Ortman'], & [player_tooltip player_id='89277' first='Brandon' last='Kjetland'].   Dell Rapids at Canton- The top ranked Quarriers travel to the third ranked C-Hawks for a classic showdown. Both teams make their runs in the 11A playoffs each year and this year will be no different. The only question will be; at which seeds will they be at? This head-to-head matchup will play a large role in the final seedings.   Players to watch:   Dell Rapids: [player_tooltip player_id='294170' first='Mason' last='Stubbe'], [player_tooltip player_id='294167' first='Aiden' last='Geraets'], & [player_tooltip player_id='161260' first='Chase' last='Jones'].   Canton: [player_tooltip player_id='80114' first='Matthew' last='Anderson'], Avery Herting, & Derek Tieszen.   Elk Point-Jefferson at McCook Central-Montrose- This game will answer a lot of questions around Class 11B. EPJ has hit the mercy rule in each game so far this season. MCM has won their share of dogfights and blowouts. Whoever emerges victorious from this game will be making plenty of noise for the rest of the Class to hear.   Players to Watch:   EPJ- [player_tooltip player_id='101174' first='Devon' last='Schmitz'], [player_tooltip player_id='101175' first='Noah' last='McDermott'], Benjamin Swatek, & [player_tooltip player_id='423286' first='Lucas' last='Hueser'].   MCM- [player_tooltip player_id='161256' first='Will' last='Cleveland'], [player_tooltip player_id='174204' first='Carter' last='Randall'], [player_tooltip player_id='276832' first='Jake' last='Vanhout'], & Lane Deutsch.   Bridgewater-Emery-Ethan at Sioux Valley- This will be another 11B showdown between two top finishers in the Class each year. BEE is always a well disciplined team with a lot of speed that has also won a share of close games and handled games. Sioux Valley shows speed and muscle throughout their lineup, which led to their lopsided wins and close grinds. This game will also have an effect on the 11B standings   Player to Watch:   BEE- [player_tooltip player_id='160934' first='Aguer' last='VanSickle'], [player_tooltip player_id='423327' first='Sam' last='Hofer'], & Sutton Arend.   SV- [player_tooltip player_id='234186' first='Aidan' last='Brower'], Donovan Rose, & [player_tooltip player_id='105500' first='Boden' last='Schiller'].   Avon at Hitchcock-Tulare- This game intrigues me, because I know close to nothing about either of these programs, but they are always on Dakota News Now, and always ranked close to the top in Class 9B. This year is no different. Hitchcock-Tulare (4-0) is ranked #2 and Avon (3-1) is ranked #4. Both teams have put up some big scores this year and played some pretty good defense as well.   Players to Watch:   Hitchcock-Tulare- [player_tooltip player_id='161214' first='TJ' last='Salmen'], [player_tooltip player_id='418272' first='Landon' last='Puffer'], & [player_tooltip player_id='305526' first='Erik' last='Salmen'].   Avon- Paxton Bierema & Randall Powers.   Alcestor-Hudson at Chester Area- This game is interesting because it could go one of two ways, a defensive battle, or an offensive shootout. Both teams have put up a lot of points this year, both have won a dogfight with roughly the same score to the same opponent. AH has a little more success over the past few years, but Chester has a good core of athletes to compete this year.   Players to Watch:   AH- Owen Bovill, Dominic Van Edgom, & Caden Windquist.   Chester- [player_tooltip player_id='56560' first='Jovi' last='Wolf'], [player_tooltip player_id='395538' first='Dalton' last='Reiff'], & [player_tooltip player_id='210628' first='Layke' last='Wold'].   Yankton at Pierre TF Riggs- This game will be a playoff preview. Both of these teams have made their late season runs quite frequently these past couple years, and this year will be no different. Both teams love to spread the field and chuck the ball all over the yard so this will be a fun game to watch! This may be a game of which offense will make the first mistake, and which mistake will hurt the most. Lots of lopsided scores.   Players to Watch:   Pierre- [player_tooltip player_id='56570' first='Lincoln' last='Kienholz'], [player_tooltip player_id='101165' first='Jason' last='Maciejczak'], [player_tooltip player_id='231745' first='Christian' last='Busch'], [player_tooltip player_id='276834' first='Jayden' last='Wiebe'], & [player_tooltip player_id='289598' first='Jett' last='Zabel'].   Yankton- [player_tooltip player_id='56547' first='Tyler' last='Sohler'], [player_tooltip player_id='56566' first='Rugby' last='Ryken'], [player_tooltip player_id='161254' first='Cody' last='Oswald'], Gavin Swanson, & Dominic Antrobus.   Sioux Falls Christian at Madison- I had to put this game in because both teams are good teams under .500. If we had to rate strength of schedules in the first five weeks, there two would be close to the top. Not only did they play tough teams, they kept those teams in check for the most part, keeping games to within a score. Both teams are versatile offensively, and defenses play well too. This game may shake up middle of the pack rankings.   Players to Watch:   SF Christian- [player_tooltip player_id='56552' first='Carter' last='Van Donge'], Tate Snyder, Kade Van Edgom & Tate Van Horssen.   Madison- Caden DeVries, Trent Olson, Joe Gors, & Israel Ouverson.

Since I'm back into coaching this season, my scouting will slow down a little bit but here is one way I can still keep up with it. I will pick a few games in South Dakota each week and highlight the ones that will be a lot of fun to watch. It may be two teams that are at the top of the Class, two evenly matched teams, or just a fun rivalry between teams! Week 5 is loaded with games you are going to want to watch!