2029 SD Rankings: Small Town Sleepers

With every rankings class we have ever done, we always have put out our Small Town Sleepers series for each of the Dakotas in every class. The reason why? It's my favorite content series that goes along with rankings content as even though I scout football for a living, I still just as a I was as a litte kid, am obsessed with US geography and what the population of every town I have ever driven thru, known about, etc. is and how it's grown or declined over the years. I've always said since I launched the Dakotas market in early 2021 that there is no region that defines "small town" more than the Dakotas do.   By definition, the term "small town" are towns that have a population of 5000 people or less and let's just say with every town listed in this scouting report, we find prospects from much smaller populations that that 5000 people number, in fact the largest population between two towns from one of the athletes in our report is just slightly over 2000 people. We tell you about the 2029 athletes that cracked our rankings from Small Town South Dakota and hit on some names on our watchlist that are names to watch for in this 2029 class from Small Town SD!    Hitchcock, SD Pop: 112 Tulare, SD Pop: 211 Total Pop: 323   Our first small town South Dakota sleeper in the 2029 class is [player_tooltip player_id='1746605' first='Neil' last='Salmen'] from Hitchcock-Tulare which between the two towns has a population of just over 300 people, easily defining the term of a small town sleeper. The 6'4 190 pound quarterback is our QB3 in the class and ranked #10 overall in our rankings and is the third Salmen brother I can recall that we have scouted from Patriots. His tape shows off good pocket awareness for his age and well-balanced arm strength for throws on intermediate routes. He also shows off his precision on tape which there's some upside to make it even better over the next handful of years for Neil. He shows off a fluid finish with his throws and has good upside to grow his throwing mechanics, which knowing how athletically-gifted his brothers were, there's no doubt Neil will develop that upside sooner rather than later in his HS career.     Herreid, SD Pop: 405 Selby, SD Pop: 606 Total Pop: 1011   Probably one of my favorite programs where we have found several small town sleepers since we launched in early 2021 (including SDSU RB Brendan Begeman) has been the Herreid-Selby Wolverines as they have another one in our ATH1 in the 2029 class in [player_tooltip player_id='1746596' first='Thatcher' last='Kihne']. Regardless of which side of the ball Thatcher was on as an 8th grader, he showed off the glowing football IQ for his age with his instincts. He offers the awareness as a defensive back to close down on the ball quickly and as a option quarterback, displays the great outside vision to identify the quick openings around the edges. He's also one that intrigues me with his sudden burst he generates along those edges as the seperation he gets on the outside shows off Energizer-bunny like stamina. Thatcher is one that I feel could be the next stat-stuffing freshman for the Wolverines on both sides of the ball, as RB1 2028 running back [player_tooltip player_id='1422534' first='Porter' last='Gregg'] nearly went for a milestone last year racking up three yards short of 1000 yards rushing.     Colton, SD Pop: 688 Crooks, SD Pop: 1369 Total Pop: 2057   Another familar last name to those that subscribe to PRZ Dakotas in our 2029 rankings, should be 2029 athlete [player_tooltip player_id='1740906' first='Breckyn' last='Reiser'] of Tri Valley which between the towns of Colton and Crooks, boosts one of our biggest populations of 2057. Breckyn's older brother [player_tooltip player_id='848984' first='Landyn' last='Reiser'] in the 2026 class, has been a consistent stockriser up our rankings and has two scholarship offers thus far. Much like his older brother, Breckyn plays on both sides of the ball for Tri Valley and was another name referred to us in our coaches network for this 2029 class. I am intrigued by the length for his size, as this young man has going into his freshmen year as from glimpses I got from 7v7 season, Breckyn appeared as two-way athlete that seemed to relish with his attention to detail and got better over time when watching his overall reps and played with presence that outweighed his measurables at the moment. <a href="https://x.com/BreckynR5">Twitter</a>    More Small Town Sleepers to Know via the Watch List   [player_tooltip player_id='1746664' first='Bo' last='Eide'], WR, Centerville   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of Dakota State WR Miles Eide</li> </ul>   [player_tooltip player_id='1746826' first='Colt' last='Leiferman'], QB/DB, Kimball/White Lake   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of South Dakota State TE Blake Leiferman</li> </ul>   [player_tooltip player_id='1747128' first='Rylee' last='Mundahl'], West Central   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of 2026 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1575905' first='Eli' last='Mundahl']</li> </ul>   [player_tooltip player_id='1747114' first='Grayson' last='Pischke'], WR/LB West Central   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of Dakota Wesleyan OL Gavin Pischke</li> </ul>   [player_tooltip player_id='1746534' first='Brenson' last='Ratzlaff'], RB/LB, Avon   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of 2027 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1320993' first='Grayson' last='Ratzlaff']</li> </ul>   [player_tooltip player_id='1746777' first='Max' last='Suther'], RB/ATH Britton-Hecla   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase standout [player_tooltip player_id='1668634' first='Bennett' last='Suther']</li> </ul>   [player_tooltip player_id='1746771' first='Jake' last='Zuehlke'], ATH/LB, Britton-Hecla   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Younger brother of Britton Hecla 2026 DE prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1575926' first='Jaxon' last='Zuehlke']</li> </ul>

With every rankings class we have ever done, we always have put out our Small Town Sleepers series for each of the Dakotas in every class. The reason why? It's my favorite content series that goes along with rankings content as even though I scout football for a living, I still just as a I was as a litte kid, am obsessed with US geography and what the population of every town I have ever driven thru, known about, etc. is and how it's grown or declined over the years. I've always said since I launched the Dakotas market in early 2021 that there is no region that defines "small town" more than the Dakotas do.