South Dakota 2025 Rankings Preview

SOUTH DAKOTA-- The wait is over, the 2025 rankings have now been unleashed for our Prep Redzone Dakotas subscribers. Some might ask what took so long? This 2025 class was the toughest to evaluate due to the limited tape that was present, as although a solid amount of these prospects from smaller schools saw varsity snaps, those prospects at the 11AA and 11AAA either had shorter clips to get a clear-cut evaluation on. What I did this winter is making a couple trips out to Sioux Falls in order to get some live-evaluations from this 2025 class and it really helped build out the size of our 2025 class in the Mount Rushmore State.   Reminder of the PRZ Prospect Evaluation Process:   Our #1 priority and goal with Prep Redzone is to put prospects on the map for college coaches and programs at all levels to advance their exposure. We rate prospects on next-level potential not stats, not on the team's rankings in the state, it's all about the prospects potential and how his skillsets fit at the next level. Some prospects will peak early in their high school career and that's why our rankings change 3-4 times per year at Prep Redzone Dakotas, because we also love to factor in several live evaluations year-around and we have seen prospects within a 3 month span add 30 pounds of muscle and height, while others stay the same. That is our process with every rankings update for those of you that are new to us!   What Happened Since Last Update?   Before today's release, we just had a 2025 watch list on the website which just had a list of some 2025 prospects that intrigued us last time around. Now we have ranked 120 prospects in South Dakota and had another 45+ prospects on our watch list of prospects that need to add or update their tape for a deeper evaluation.   Meet Our First Top Five in the SD 2025 Class Ever:   We will breakdown this class and what skillsets we like about each prospect in this top five in the coming week, but here is a quick rundown of the top five prospects in the 2025 class in South Dakota.   5) [player_tooltip player_id='800369' first='Holden' last='Havlik'], QB, Woonsocket-Wessington Springs-Sanborn Central <a href="https://twitter.com/holden_havlik">Twitter</a>   4) [player_tooltip player_id='472843' first='Israel' last='Ouverson'], OL, Madison <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelOuverson">Twitter</a>   3) [player_tooltip player_id='210623' first='Elijah' last='Boutchee'], DL, Pierre T.F. Riggs <a href="https://twitter.com/ElijahBoutchee">Twitter</a>   2) [player_tooltip player_id='321168' first='Lincoln' last='Semchenko'], OL, Sioux Falls Christian <a href="https://twitter.com/LincolnSemchen2">Twitter</a>   1) [player_tooltip player_id='205260' first='Sam' last='Knuth'], QB, Harrisburg <a href="https://twitter.com/KnuthSam">Twitter</a>   Which High School Dominated the 2025 Rankings?   Sioux Falls Lincoln (15)   The Sioux Falls Lincoln dominates this 2025 list with 15 prospects listed on our rankings and watch list. The most notable Patriots in my eyes are linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='321181' first='Connor' last='Gray'], defensive linemen [player_tooltip player_id='798250' first='Luke' last='Krempges'], linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='321188' first='Griffin' last='Keller'] amongst others. Connor has been an interesting stock-rising linebacker from our last Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase, as this kid's versatility intrigues me. Krempges is a defensive end that has plenty of physicality in his game and shows off a good football IQ of block recognition on his tape. Griffin is a linebacker that I like his range he can cover from sideline to sideline.   Sioux Falls Jefferson (7)   The 2022 state champion Sioux Falls Jefferson Cavaliers line up in second with seven prospects on our rankings and watch list, as they try to reload a sizable 2023 class, but still have plenty of studs on both side of the ball. They return already a two-year starter at center in [player_tooltip player_id='351548' first='Carson' last='Hughes'], a twitchy likely slot receiver in [player_tooltip player_id='564003' first='Weston' last='Pechous'], a offensive linemen that I believe has significant upside in [player_tooltip player_id='798261' first='Victor' last='Hernandez'] that at 6'4 280 pounds shows a good pad-level.   Sioux Falls Washington (7)   This 2025 class is the deepest class the Warriors have had in the last three years from top to bottom of this list in my eyes. The top of the list starts off at #9 overall with [player_tooltip player_id='351556' first='Hudson' last='Arbach'], who at 6'0 295, has an outstanding punch and pad level mixed with good foot speed in his footwork. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='454669' first='Tommy' last='Hoffman'] will enter his second season for the Warriors as QB1 and should continue to grow with improving his throwing ability on all three levels. I got glimpses of [player_tooltip player_id='242537' first='Tony' last='Ojullo'] two weekends ago in Iowa, and he looks like a prospect that might play on both sides of the ball this fall, adding to the versatility to his tape you will see after the 2023 season.   Harrisburg (6)   Last year's runner up Harrisburg came in with 6 prospects on our 2025 rankings, but probably has one of the deeper classes out of those six with the Knuth brothers as a QB/WR duo in quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='205260' first='Sam' last='Knuth'] and wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='205261' first='Jonah' last='Knuth'] and have some extreme length in their receiving core with 6'4 180 pounder [player_tooltip player_id='533118' first='Dominic' last='Kalacinski'], who has made some significant gains as a stockriser this spring on the 7v7 circuit. I also just last week learned about cornerback [player_tooltip player_id='782753' first='Justin' last='Kabera'], who shows off some aggression with his ball tracking ability and has solid technique with his footwork from a recent live evaluation.   Tea Area (6)   If this doesn't paint you an accurate picture that Tea Area won't be playing 11AAA in the coming years, I don't know what will with how loaded the Titans continue to be. The list of Titans starts with [player_tooltip player_id='797956' first='Jacob' last='Jongejeugd'] who plays well bigger than his 6'4 235 pound frame and has plenty of room to grow with two more years of college football under his belt. The Titans also have running back [player_tooltip player_id='321166' first='Riley' last='Svanda'] who is a back that has some solid skillsets with getting good chunks of yards after contact and has some upside with his longevity in his longer-runs. Tea also has the only kicker on our rankings in [player_tooltip player_id='797960' first='Marshall' last='Smythe']. There also is the little brother of South Dakota State commit Reis Kirschenman in [player_tooltip player_id='797962' first='Jase' last='Kirschenman'] listed on our 2025 watch list who is one with good football pedigree.   Smaller Schools with Highly Ranked 2025 Prospects:   Sioux Valley (4)   The Cossacks have four prospects on our list and have some good ones to chat about. My favorite Cossacks prospect is athlete [player_tooltip player_id='800372' first='Donovan' last='Rose'], as he showed out at a couple prospect camps I was at last summer at SDSU and is a swiss army knife on both sides of the ball despite not having the biggest measurables on the table. [player_tooltip player_id='800375' first='Brock' last='Christopherson'] is another bulldog at tailback that plays well-bigger than his measurables show off with his consistent yards after contact.   Sioux Falls Christian (2)   The Chargers have two prospects on our 2025 rankings in South Dakota and both are inside our top 20. It starts up front with [player_tooltip player_id='321168' first='Lincoln' last='Semchenko'] who I have rated as the #1 offensive linemen in the 2025 class in South Dakota as his excellent punch, feet, and pad level along with a Division I level frame built in too at 6'4 280 pounds. Our #3 athlete in South Dakota's 2025 class is [player_tooltip player_id='798248' first='Cole' last='Snyder'], who is a prospect I had my first look on the other day, and enjoyed his flow of versatility on his sophomore tape on both ends of the ball and has a good football pedigree with his brother playing college football at Northwestern (Iowa) next year.   What is Next?   We will be pressing the gas pedal over the next two weeks between two states in full-content mode nearly everyday covering as many prospects to match to the just under 300 we evaluated via tape. Some of the articles you will see are:   New Additions:Who are the new faces to the 2025 South Dakota Rankings?   Stockrisers: Even though technically this is a new batch of rankings, we will still analyze who are some risers from live-evals this winter and spring.   Small Town Sleepers: Which South Dakota prospects from cities under 5000 people have the best football skillsets in South Dakota?   Position Breakdowns: We will breakdown why we ranked each prospect in their rankings spot they are in and what they could potentially do to move up during future updates.

SOUTH DAKOTA-- The wait is over, the 2025 rankings have now been unleashed for our Prep Redzone Dakotas subscribers. Some might ask what took so long? This 2025 class was the toughest to evaluate due to the limited tape that was present, as although a solid amount of these prospects from smaller schools saw varsity snaps, those prospects at the 11AA and 11AAA either had shorter clips to get a clear-cut evaluation on. What I did this winter is making a couple trips out to Sioux Falls in order to get some live-evaluations from this 2025 class and it really helped build out the size of our 2025 class in the Mount Rushmore State.