Who Were SDs Top Regular Season Teams this Past Year?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This will be more of a bite-size article series I will be doing to take a look at some teams from all around the state and this will be the first part of this where we look at some more known top teams and take deep dives as we go on. So, let's jump into the first of many parts of looking at teams. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Sioux Falls Jefferson </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sioux Falls Jefferson has been the top team in South Dakota this year without a doubt and has done it with some elite players in their core that have allowed them to chug along. Their offense has been the thing that has kept them in the game at all times with [player_tooltip player_id='56545' first='Taylen' last='Ashley'] leading the unit with his talented QB skills and has shown to be one of the best dual-threat QBs I have seen this season. The running game had other threats with [player_tooltip player_id='56567' first='Nelson' last='Wright'] who has been elite as an overall rusher who can use his power and speed to break away. The defense in my view is where the team really stepped up and lead the team so many times to defensive victories where they blanked the other team's offense, allowing them to get the ball in their hands. The safety duo on this team were the two best defensive players too, [player_tooltip player_id='89291' first='Beau' last='Giblin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='273643' first='London' last='Kolb'], who were simply in lockdown which led them to have one of the best defenses in South Dakota this year. There were too many players to name on this team and you should go check out all of the talents that they have and see why they played so great this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Pierre T.F. Riggs</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pierre without a doubt was relying on their offense and that is not a bad thing at all, as they had one of the best offenses has ever seen. Put simply they were a Show on the Turf with the scoring that would probably decide the game before the half it does, it was simply dominating to see this in action. [player_tooltip player_id='56570' first='Lincoln' last='Kienholz'] was of course the person behind their ability to score at will with him being one of the best QBs that South Dakota has ever had, and might just be the best. The offensive unit around him was functioning like it was a well-oiled machine and it seemed as if they could just pump points out at will. [player_tooltip player_id='223096' first='Jack' last='Merkwan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='289598' first='Jett' last='Zabel'], both of which were top targets for Kienholz in the offense and found them out in the field for either a massive gain or a TD. That was the story of this team this year, it was based around a three-headed monster that dared you to try and slay, and they simply could not. Pierre will be going into the playoffs this year as the title favorites once again, and that is no surprise, only question is if they can get it done one last time with this core. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Tea Area </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tea has had sustained success the past few seasons and this year was no different at all, they had run over everyone en route to having a top rushing offense and a defense that was stifling. What I liked most about the Tea defense is how they did not have one star player or someone who played with an ego, they all played like a cohesive unit that showed that only wanted to win at all costs. They had played lockdown defense and more importantly, they have also come to have a reputation to be clutch in the big moments and get stops when they need to. Their offense was mainly had in the running game where they had a Hydra-like unit of three elite players of [player_tooltip player_id='56573' first='Blake' last='Thompson'], [player_tooltip player_id='447237' first='Keegan' last='DeYoung'], and Chase VanTol. These three led the offense all year with their elite rushing abilities that allowed them to beat opponents in many different ways, mainly with the rushing styles of the RBs. Overall, Tea Area started off as playing spoiler to the big teams to being an elite team that is looking to make some noise, and I think they can do it. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->