South Dakota: 11AA All-State Championship Team
In this article:
VERMILLION, SD– After some travel on the road last week, we circle back to the DakotaDome on Saturday afternoon in Vermillion at the South Dakota 11AA State Championship between Pierre (12-0) and Tea Area (10-2), and give you our player nominees…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingVERMILLION, SD– After some travel on the road last week, we circle back to the DakotaDome on Saturday afternoon in Vermillion at the South Dakota 11AA State Championship between Pierre (12-0) and Tea Area (10-2), and give you our player nominees for our South Dakota 11AA All-State Championship Team aka our Super Team from both rosters of the Governors and the Titans. Also, if you want more intel from this one, check out my colleague Jake Evans game recap that was just published recently.
The Process to our South Dakota: 11AA All-State Championship Team
How did we put this team together? We took several pages of notes from multiple scouts live streaming the game, and utilized the stats portion as well (although as usual at PRZ, we don’t just evaluate off stats at Prep Redzone Dakotas alone-the skillsets we saw on the field matter most in our eyes) Unlike how it is done at the state championship games, we do not just give the team that won all the love as for a lot of these seniors, this might be the last time they get recognition at the high school level which is why it so important to read the eyes of how BOTH teams players looked throughout the 11AA state final. Between the now 6-time 11AA state champion Pierre Governors, and the 11AA runner-ups from the Tea Area Titans, we identified 26 players (some on both sides of the ball) to make our South Dakota 11AA All-State Championship Team showing off the best of the best players from both rosters. I also looked at it from the perspective of, if I could build a Super Team from both of these rosters, who would I build it around on both sides of the ball? What does this team look like? Both these team teams are loaded with D1-NAIA talent and there is plenty that is still plenty of uncommitted 2023s at this time of the year I would certainly look at.
Quarterbacks:
1st Team
Lincoln Kienholz Lincoln Kienholz 6'3" | 185 lbs | QB Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
- Lincoln won his third straight Joe Robbie and the current Washington commit is headed to Columbus this weekend for a visit with the Ohio State Buckeyes in their massive Big Ten battle against Michigan. Expect the Buckeyes to make an even bigger push for Kienholz to flip this weekend, after Memphis (TN) QB Brock Glenn flipped his commitment from the Buckeyes to Florida State.
2nd Team
Maddix Slykhuis, Tea Area (2023) Twitter
Running Backs:
1st Team
Chase Van Tol Chase Van Tol 6'1" | 185 lbs | RB Tea Area | 2023 State , Tea Area (2023) Twitter & Tape
- Recent South Dakota State commit.
2nd Team
Blake Thompson Blake Thompson 5'11" | 165 lbs | DB Tea Area | 2023 State , Tea Area (2023) Twitter & Tape
- Recent Northwestern (Iowa) commit.
Brock Moser Brock Moser RB Pierre | 2024 State SD , Pierre (2024) Twitter & Tape
Wide Receivers:
1st Team
Jack Merkwan Jack Merkwan 6'3" | 180 lbs | WR Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
- Jack was named Back of the Game by the media members of the SD State Finals and rightfully soo as he had 8 receptions for 234 receiving yards which was a state record. Jack has several D2 offers and I would not be surprised by some early winter FCS attention coming his way.
2nd Team
Wyatt Stuntebeck, Tea Area (2023) Twitter
Tight Ends:
1st Team
Jett Zabel Jett Zabel 6'4" | 210 lbs | TE Pierre | 2024 State SD , Pierre (2024) Twitter & Tape
Offensive Linemen:
1st Team
Jason Maciejczak Jason Maciejczak 6'4" | 320 lbs | OL Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
- North Dakota commit.
Gavin Stotts Gavin Stotts DL Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
- Gavin was named Linemen of the Game by the voters of the media and is still an uncommitted senior looking for some next-level opportunities this winter.
Christian Busch Christian Busch 6'4" | 250 lbs | OL Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
2nd Team
Griffen Schnider Griffen Schnider 6'0" | 235 lbs | OL Tea Area | 2023 State , Tea Area (2023) Twitter & Tape
- Northwestern (Iowa) commit.
Defensive Linemen:
1st Team
Matt Halbur, Tea Area (2023)
Jason Maciejczak Jason Maciejczak 6'4" | 320 lbs | OL Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
2nd Team
Josh Rydberg, Pierre (2023)
Reis Kirschenman Reis Kirschenman 6'4" | 245 lbs | DL Tea Area | 2023 State , Tea Area (2023) Twitter & Tape
- South Dakota State commit.
3rd Team
Elijah Boutchee Elijah Boutchee 6'2" | 230 lbs | DL Pierre | 2025 State SD , Pierre (2025) Twitter & Tape
Linebackers:
1st Team
Chase Carda, Pierre (2023) Tape
Trey Lewis Trey Lewis LB Pierre TF Riggs | 2024 State SD , Pierre (2024) Twitter & Tape
2nd Team
Peyton Thompson, Tea Area (2023) Tape
Jessen Wiebenga Jessen Wiebenga 6'2" | 210 lbs | LB Tea Area | 2024 State SD , Tea Area (2024) Twitter & Tape
Defensive Backs:
1st Team
Deegan Houska Deegan Houska 5'10" | 170 lbs | DB Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape
Blake Thompson Blake Thompson 5'11" | 165 lbs | DB Tea Area | 2023 State , Tea Area (2023) Twitter & Tape
2nd Team
Special Teams:
1st Team
Chase Van Tol Chase Van Tol 6'1" | 185 lbs | RB Tea Area | 2023 State , Tea Area (2023) Twitter & Tape
Jayden Wiebe Jayden Wiebe 6'1" | 170 lbs | DB Pierre | 2023 State , Pierre (2023) Twitter & Tape