South Dakota 2025 Rankings Preview
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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…
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Continue ReadingSOUTH 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) Holden Havlik Holden Havlik 6'3" | 210 lbs | QB WWSSC | 2025 State SD , QB, Woonsocket-Wessington Springs-Sanborn Central Twitter
4) Israel Ouverson Israel Ouverson 6'2" | 285 lbs | OL Madison | 2025 State SD , OL, Madison Twitter
3) Elijah Boutchee Elijah Boutchee 6'2" | 230 lbs | DL Pierre | 2025 State SD , DL, Pierre T.F. Riggs Twitter
2) Lincoln Semchenko Lincoln Semchenko 6'4" | 290 lbs | OL Sioux Falls Christian | 2025 State SD , OL, Sioux Falls Christian Twitter
1) Sam Knuth Sam Knuth 6'4" | 200 lbs | QB Harrisburg | 2025 State SD , QB, Harrisburg Twitter
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 Connor Gray Connor Gray 6'0" | 185 lbs | LB Sioux Falls Lincoln | 2025 State SD , defensive linemen Luke Krempges Luke Krempges 6'4" | 225 lbs | DL Sioux Falls Lincoln | 2025 State SD , linebacker Griffin Keller Griffin Keller 5'10" | 180 lbs | LB Sioux Falls Lincoln | 2025 State SD 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 Carson Hughes Carson Hughes 6'3" | 270 lbs | OL Sioux Falls Jefferson | 2025 State SD , a twitchy likely slot receiver in Weston Pechous Weston Pechous WR Sioux Falls Jefferson | 2025 State SD , a offensive linemen that I believe has significant upside in Victor Hernandez Victor Hernandez 6'4" | 280 lbs | OL Sioux Falls Jefferson | 2025 State SD 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 Hudson Arbach Hudson Arbach 6'1" | 290 lbs | OL Sioux Falls Washington | 2025 State SD , who at 6’0 295, has an outstanding punch and pad level mixed with good foot speed in his footwork. Quarterback Tommy Hoffman Tommy Hoffman 6'2" | 170 lbs | QB Sioux Falls Washington | 2025 State SD 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 Tony Ojullo Tony Ojullo 6'0" | 175 lbs | DB Sioux Falls Lincoln | 2025 State SD 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 Sam Knuth Sam Knuth 6'4" | 200 lbs | QB Harrisburg | 2025 State SD and wide receiver Jonah Knuth Jonah Knuth WR Harrisburg | 2025 SD and have some extreme length in their receiving core with 6’4 180 pounder Dominic Kalacinski Dominic Kalacinski 6'4" | 180 lbs | ATH Sunshine Bible Academy | 2025 State SD , who has made some significant gains as a stockriser this spring on the 7v7 circuit. I also just last week learned about cornerback Justin Kabera Justin Kabera 6'0" | 160 lbs | DB Harrisburg | 2025 State SD , 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 Jacob Jongejeugd Jacob Jongejeugd 6'4" | 255 lbs | OL Tea Area | 2025 State SD 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 Riley Svanda Riley Svanda 6'0" | 165 lbs | RB Tea Area | 2025 State SD 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 Marshall Smythe Marshall Smythe K Tea Area | 2025 State SD . There also is the little brother of South Dakota State commit Reis Kirschenman in Jase Kirschenman Jase Kirschenman ATH Tea Area | 2025 SD 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 Donovan Rose Donovan Rose 5'9" | 165 lbs | ATH Sioux Valley | 2025 State SD , 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. Brock Christopherson Brock Christopherson 5'10" | 160 lbs | RB Sioux Valley | 2025 State SD 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 Lincoln Semchenko Lincoln Semchenko 6'4" | 290 lbs | OL Sioux Falls Christian | 2025 State SD 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 Cole Snyder Cole Snyder 5'11" | 165 lbs | ATH Sioux Falls Christian | 2025 State SD , 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.