South Dakota Thursday Night Takeaways

We swirled around South Dakota watching a good chunk of games last night as for some it was their first game of the playoffs and for others, their final regular season game. With those games, we zoomed into the athletes that were producing for there teams on Thursday night, as we had upsets in 11AAA, four total games, and more!   #3 Sioux Falls Jefferson 24, #1 Brandon Valley 21 (11AAA)   Live Evals    Will has surely solidified himself as a ranked prospect in our 2027 class based on what we have seen in relief leading the top-ranked Brandon Valley Lynx at quarterback. He is one that last night's eval showed off a quarterback that has grown his mechanics since our last eval. Surely another skillset that has developed for Will this season is his ball placement, as the now 6'3 180 pounder was pinpoint on his first touchdown of the evening. He seems like a quarterback that has grown his football IQ and that chemistry is starting to show with his receiving core. Surely a riser in this 2027 class.   <a href="https://x.com/WVanleur61857">TWITTER</a>     Daevion has surely been the bellcow of the Cavaliers rushing attack for a couple years now as the Sioux Falls running back commit showed that yet again in their gritty win over Brandon Valley last night. Looking at our 2026 rankings, its hard to see if there is another running back in the class that runs as well thru contact as Daevion does, as everytime he gets the ball the mentality shows an RB that is going to run thru someone versus shift around someone which was evident last night in my live eval.   <a href="https://x.com/daevions1monsen">TWITTER</a>     Chayce got his first start at defensive back last night for Brandon Valley and made the most of it based on the live eval I got in the first quarter. The 5'11 165 pounder unleashed a monsterious hit in his first tackle of the game not only unloading on contact but the textbook side of it was sound as well. You want to see the field in 11AAA as a sophomore? You show off as a hard-hitting defensive back, you are going to see it as I am fired up to get more tape on Chayce as a DB for the Lynx upcoming.   <a href="https://x.com/chaycehartman">TWITTER</a>     This was the first look I got at Cason thus far this season. What I grasped in the live eval is that this young man has some solid upside. He's got good pocket awareness and good legs to get out of jams outside of the pocket. The upside aligns to me with his footwork as I would like to see him create more balance with his lower body but yet, he was efficent with the quicker throws he had to make with his release. He should be one to add to our radar in the 2027 class.   <a href="https://x.com/cason_mediger3">TWITTER</a>    #3 Lennox 34, #2 Dell Rapids 14 (11A)   Live Evals    Another quarterback first look yestreday came thru from Lennox 2026 Jhimann Huntington. The 6'3 210 pounder impressed me with his precision as the first skillset that popped out when I watched his throws as he was able to find his sizable WR targets to get them upfield with ease. Jhimann showed off well-versed touch as well on every throw I watched in the first half for the Orioles. He could be a good senior eval on those in the Midwest still looking for a quarterback next-year.   <a href="https://x.com/Jhaimann12">TWITTER</a>     One of the two targets that caught our attention in the live eval amongst that WR group for Lennox was [player_tooltip player_id='848993' first='Tate' last='Gerdes']. It didn't take long to see how instinctive Tate was when the ball reached his hands on his muliple routes as this young man knew how to progress with utilzing his size to get away from the defenders. On the few reps I watched, he showed off ample durability after the catch and on particular rep appeared to be dragging tacklers with him before the pack was able to bring him down. I didn't think I would say this this late in October of his senior season, but man is Tate under recruited.     Surely a live eval last night that had me kicking myself from a rankings perspective was the one I got from Lennox's [player_tooltip player_id='1422314' first='Ramsey' last='Williams']. The speed, the suddenness, the fluidity all bursted out at the seams in my eval. He's one that has flashed in the past as a DB in a live eval, but he surely looks like a two-way athlete at the next-level with pos. flexibility. The 5'10 180 pounder is still waiting on his first offer.   <a href="https://x.com/_ramseyw">TWITTER</a>    #3 Herreid-Selby 22, Canistota 0 (9B)   Live Evals    We got a live eval of our ATH1 in the 2029 class in Thatch Kihne out of 3rd ranked Herreid-Selby in 9B. What did we see? Thatcher showed off his growing out of the pocket presence with his legs which got the Wolverines pentration on numerous reps with his athleticism. Another area of growth, I saw from Thatcher was his arm strength has grown stronger and I saw more balance with his touch throws I watched him make. As a 2029 he has plenty of time to develop, but I liked what I saw from the youngest prospect we have on our list from last night.     Another new name alert out from last night's swirling around South Dakota, as Herreid-Selby Area 2027 linebacker is one that caught my attention. You are not going to be able to find tape on this young man, but he recorded a big tackle for a loss against Canistota, that caught my attention from a physicality standpoint as he rocked back the Hawks offense with hit-stick like contact you might not have expected.     Tyson might not be the biggest kid you will see out of this group, but this kid showed efficency on muliple levels of the field was noted in my eyes. Certainly played with a presence that goes bigger than his measurables with his tackling ability especially.    Platte Geddes 42, Lyman 30 (9A)   Live Evals    Another new name alert this time coming from the 2026 class, is Platte-Geddes quarterback Jye Bailey. Jye showed off great vision and instincts as the efficency he showed out of the read option was eye-catching to say the least, as we saw numerous splash plays that he was able to create for the Black Panthers offense that the Raiders defense had their troubles stopping. Jye could be another senior eval from this class that could be a good fit at the NAIA level in the Dakotas as his athleticism struck a chord last night.     Based on the live eval last night, my eyes tell me Lyman quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1422315' first='Conway' last='Collins'] has progressed forward this season at the quarterback position. He certainly showed off longer deep ball arm strength than I saw in my last live eval and showed it on one of his passing touchdowns at the end of the first half. Like I said a couple days ago already, the position flexibility that Conway has should enlighten college football programs in the Dakotas.

We swirled around South Dakota watching a good chunk of games last night as for some it was their first game of the playoffs and for others, their final regular season game. With those games, we zoomed into the athletes that were producing for there teams on Thursday night, as we had upsets in 11AAA, four total games, and more!