SD Week 0 Games to Watch

Summer flew by and now we are diving into Week 1 of games here in South Dakota for Classes 11B, 9AA, 9A, and 9B! This season is my first as an Assistant Coach at Deuel High School. These stories will include our game for the week and other games to watch around the State as the season roles on! I pick these games based on teams past success, State rankings, rivalries, and playoff positioning! This season may have a lot of surprises from anywhere so stay tuned for all the different games to watch! I will also include key players for each game to follow. Week 1 will be tricky to name players from graduation and school transfers, so I will rely on some outside sources such as Midco for some help naming some players!   Our Game Deuel @ Clark- Willow Lake   Opening week, we travel to Clark to take on the CWL Cyclones! Watching some film from last season, they graduated quite a few kids, but return a lot of talented athletes. We are much of the same in terms of refilling a roster so this week will be a great test for both of us!   Players to Watch: Deuel Cardinals   '24 QB/DB [player_tooltip player_id='294150' first='Trey' last='Maaland']   '24 OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='294148' first='Robert' last='Begalka']   '24 OL/DL Aidan Baer   '25 WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='800374' first='Gabe' last='Sather']   '24 TE/DB Dexter Unzen   Clark- Willow Lake Cyclones   '24 OL/LB Collin Gaikowski   '25 RB/LB Elliot Bratland   '25 RB/LB Griffin Musser   '24 TE/LB Jack Helken   '24 OL/DL James Poppen   Games to Watch   Tri- Valley @ Winner   Winner has had a huge run in the last few seasons. Unfortunately, their 34 game win-streak was snapped in the 11B State Championship last season. Reloading again, the Warriors will open up their season against an always athletic Tri- Valley team. The Mustangs of Tri- Valley will look for another good season in 2023 with a lot of impressive pieces in their talented roster.   Players to Watch: Winner Warriors   '24 RB/LB [player_tooltip player_id='105505' first='Aiden' last='Barfuss']   '24 OL/DL Charley Pravecek   '25 TE/DL [player_tooltip player_id='800405' first='Shawn' last='Hammerbeck']   '26 RB [player_tooltip player_id='848979' first='Zac' last='Olson']   Tri- Valley Mustangs   '24 OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='294171' first='Isaac' last='Nehlich']   '24 RB/DB Carter Sorenson   '25 OL/DL Riley Easton   '25 [player_tooltip player_id='848984' first='Landyn' last='Reiser']   Howard @ Hanson   These two football teams have been near the top of their 9-man Classes every season I have been covering the Dakotas. I see this season being no different as they will both have impressive rosters returning this season! Howard having a more spread offense and like to stretch the field. Hanson keeping a more between-the-tackles look, but still being just as explosive. With this game being the opener, a lot of questions for both teams will be answered and will be a great start to the season for both!   Players to Watch: Howard Tigers   '24 QB/DB Taiden Hoyer   '25 WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='800484' first='Luke' last='Koepsell']   '24 WR/DB Will Maier   '25 OL/DL Carson Hinker   Hanson Beavers   '24 RB/LB Brock Tuttle   '24 OL/DL Gavin Whitledge   '24 OL/DL Isayah Price   '25 RB/LB [player_tooltip player_id='800480' first='Sutton' last='Dewald']   Estelline- Hendricks @ Deubrook Area   This is a bit of a stretch game for me. That meaning these teams have shown a lot of potential over the recent years, even if their numbers haven't directly shown it. Deubrook Area started off hot last season, then ran into a tough stretch of schedule. The promising factor is they return their key core of players for 2023. Estelline- Hendricks showed a lot of improvement last season. They also have their key players returning for 2023, but also some underclassmen to fill in some blanks with them.   Players to Watch: Estelline- Hendricks Redhawks   '25 TE/DL Braxton Pravecek   '25 QB/DB Carson Reitz   '24 WR/DB Trey Cass   '25 WR/DB Matthew McAninch   Deubrook Area Dolphins   '24 WR/DB Gavin Landmark   '24 DB Jake Jorenby   '24 QB/LB Jace Vomacka   '24 WR/DB Devon Landmark   Mobridge- Pollock @ Webster Area   This is a Week 1 Wildcard game between two 11B under the radar teams. Mobridge- Pollock has consistently made playoffs in the recent years and has an impressive amount of talented Juniors and Seniors with experience returning this season. Their offense was explosive last season with those key players returning along with a stellar defense as well. Webster has always been a team to keep an eye on each season. They will also put a large group of Seniors on the field this season that will boast some versatility.   Players to Watch: Mobridge- Pollock   '24 RB/LB [player_tooltip player_id='174185' first='Simon' last='Fried']   '24 OL/DL Deuce Fischer   '25 QB [player_tooltip player_id='800338' first='Jackson' last='Eisemann']   '25 TE/DL Shane Henderson   Webster Area   '24 OL/DL Trey Dunse   '24 WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='105498' first='Jacob' last='Keller']   '25 QB Ian Lesnar   '24 TE/DL Tommy Vergeldt

Summer flew by and now we are diving into Week 1 of games here in South Dakota for Classes 11B, 9AA, 9A, and 9B! This season is my first as an Assistant Coach at Deuel High School. These stories will include our game for the week and other games to watch around the State as the season roles on! I pick these games based on teams past success, State rankings, rivalries, and playoff positioning! This season may have a lot of surprises from anywhere so stay tuned for all the different games to watch! I will also include key players for each game to follow. Week 1 will be tricky to name players from graduation and school transfers, so I will rely on some outside sources such as Midco for some help naming some players!