With the first Presidential debate safely in the books, and the moderator handling things about as well as the NFL replacement referees, is there room for debate for the teams vying for the six (soon to be seven) state football championships? Of course there is! Let’s have a quick look at the current picture:

 

In class 11A, Sioux Falls Washington has again risen to the top of the class, despite surviving a first half scare in Pierre last week. Outside of the Sioux Falls teams, Brandon Valley seems to be the only team with a serious shot at the state championship, while Yankton and Pierre have the talent to make a run; they just seem to have a few too many holes to win it all. I’m going out on a limb saying that I think Roosevelt will put it all together for a deep playoff run that will land them back at the dome for a showdown with Washington in the finals again.

 

Class 11A is deeper than in recent years. I don’t think any team will be finishing the regular season undefeated, the class goes at least five teams deep with serious aim on the state championship (Dell Rapids, West Central, Tea, Dakota Valley and Harrisburg). All of those teams have their strengths and weaknesses, and it will come down to the team that minimizes their weaknesses the best that comes out on top in five weeks. There is no other class where seeding matters more, we’ll see those seeds take shape after an important Friday night this week where Tea hosts Tri-Valley (11B) and Dakota Valley hosts Dell Rapids. My best guess is that Tea and Dell Rapids will have their rematch in the Dakota dome, but wouldn’t be surprised if Harrisburg and Dakota Valley find their way to the finals.

 

Class 11B is always a dogfight that goes at least six deep, but this season it’s a bit top-heavy with four teams either undefeated or very close to it (Roncalli, Flandreau, Tri-Valley, and Winner). While Webster and Wagner have a loss each and anything can happen once the playoff knockout begins, it’ll likely come down to two of the four teams listed earlier in the Dakota Dome. I think Roncalli’s young backfield is improving at a phenomenal rate and will make their way to the finals against a Tri-Valley team that is battle tested and playoff savvy.

 

As for the nine-man ranks (and how great would it be for us as fans to see all these teams playing for one title like our neighbors to the north?), 9AA is the most top-heavy with Deubrook, Kimball/White Lake and White River leading the way, but let’s not sleep on traditional powers Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan and Potter County. These teams always seem to be sniffing around Vermillion around championship time. Class 9A still has seven undefeated teams, but Canistota is still going to be the team to beat, while in 9B, Harding County finally allowed an opposing team to score, and remains the lone undefeated squad in that class. Despite this, it is the most wide-open of the three nine-man classes. My picks are 9AA Kimball White Lake vs. Bridgewater, 9A Herreid Selby vs. Canistota and in 9B Harding County vs. Viborg/Hurley.

 

This debate will go for the next five weeks and conclude on a 100-yard expanse of field turf in Vermillion, so let’s just move on to this week’s previews.

 

CLASS 11A DOGFIGHT (WITH AN 11B TEAM TOSSED IN)

1. Tri-Valley (4-1) at Tea (4-1)

One of these powerful teams will take their second loss this week. The Tea Titans faced their first challenge against a team with a winning record last week in Dell Rapids, and although they kept the game close until halftime, the Titans literally fumbled the game away in the third quarter. The Quarriers unleashed Cole Langer in the second half, and ran away with a shootout victory. This is a phase of the game that Tea needs to button up securely before dealing with the Tri-Valley Mustangs rushing game this week.

The Mustangs have incredible team speed, which has rolled up 271.6 rushing yards per game this season. Logan Koopman leads that charge with 676 yards on 66 carries (10.2 yards per carry). But Tea can throw the ball better than the Mustangs.

 

“Tea has a very potent offense,” Tri-Valley Head Coach Steve Bazata said. “They are capable of scoring on big plays but also sustaining long drives if needed. We need to find a way to slow them down, any way we can. Defensively, they are fast and fly to the ball.”

 

A tall order for both teams to be sure, but I think Tea is a little more battle-tested, and will win at home by two.

 

2. Dell Rapids (4-1) at Dakota Valley (5-0)

While the Dakota Valley Panthers are the only class 11A team that is undefeated, the teams they’ve beaten only have a combined 5-21 record. So Dakota Valley is facing the same test this week that Tea did last week against Dell Rapids. The main difference is that Dakota Valley is playing on their home field in this game.

 

“Everything worries us about this game!” Dakota Valley head coach Jason Jund said. “They are very good up front on both sides, they have experience in key places, they don’t make mistakes.”

 

The Panthers will have to creatively use their strong defensive front four to even hope to stop Langer in this game, as well as get to the outside when Lane LeBrun and Riley Schmidt get the ball as well. Both teams have strong backfields and offensive lines and can move the ball. Dakota Valley’s Tanner Lambert and Dell Rapids’ Cole Langer are pure-bred bulls with the football. The problem is Dell Rapids’ experience in game such as this, and their overall team speed. Dell Rapids should come out of North Sioux City with a two-touchdown victory Friday night.

 

AFTERNOON DELIGHT

3. Kimball/White Lake (6-0) at Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan (4-1)

Football this Friday will get its start at 2:30 p.m. central time on a small field in Ethan, SD. This game is bigger than most that would be played, as the winner will most likely take top seed in region 3 in the class 9AA playoffs. The Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan Seahawks have been in or very close to the Dakota Dome for the last decade and have done so with a strong two-back running game and strong defensive play. That was the mode of play when they won a state title 11 years ago, and it remains today as one of the state’s strongest nine-man teams.

As for the visiting WildKats from Kimball/White Lake, they’ve scored 44.8 points per game, and the points that they have allowed has been mostly in garbage time. This WildKats team reminds me of the 2007 Colome team. They lost big to Iroquois in the state title game and proceeded to take it out on the rest of the state the following season. Make no mistake, Kimball/White Lake is a very dangerous team, and is on a mission to avenge their state title game loss to the Seahawks from last season, and roll to the Dakota Dome again this season.

 

I’m taking Kimball/While Lake to pull the early afternoon upset with their seasoned backfield of Jesse Taylor, Trevor Reinesch, Kyle Peters and Jacob Kirsch.

 

 

REMATCH IN THE RED SEA

4. Sioux Falls Washington (6-0) at Yankton (5-1)

When these teams met last year in Sioux Falls, the Warriors had control of this game the whole way, but two things transpired – The Yankton Bucks never let the game get out of control, and they actually outplayed the Warriors in the second half of that game.

 

As mentioned before, the Sioux Falls Washington Warriors survived a major scare in Pierre last week. It took the efforts of their passing game and four touchdown passes to Nate Gerry, who has verbally committed to play with the Nebraska Cornhuskers next season, to win that game. The Warriors are not used to having to use their passing game that heavily to win a game, but proved they could do so when they need to. This season these teams head to Yankton and the “Red Sea” (Go to a game there once. It’s as much red as you’ll see without being in Lincoln on a Cornhusker game day). Quarterback Michael Rucker leads the Bucks offense, which like Washington, plays a spread offense but focuses more on the rushing attack. They run the ball well, and can also throw to leading receiver JJ Hejna as well. I just think that Yankton’s loss to Roosevelt last week exposed a few too many holes, ones that Washington coach Brian Hermanson will exploit to the fullest and take a 21-point win back to Sioux Falls.