South Dakota Gridiron Report: 13 figures that tell the story of the high school football season so far
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 7—With the regular-season finish line in sight, several key storylines have emerged across the South Dakota high school football landscape this fall.
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Some were predictable. Others, not so much.
From top teams continuing a reign of dominance to long losing streaks coming to an end, and standout players to notable schedules, here are a dozen facts and figures that help tell the story of the 2026 season so far.
14 — Undefeated teams remaining in South Dakota high school football. Classes 11AAA, 11AA, 11A and 9AA all only have one possible perfect season left on the books. Classes 11B and 9B each have three, while Class 9A still has four unbeaten squads. The list of unbeatens includes: Sioux Falls Jefferson (11AAA), Pierre (11AA), Sioux Falls Christian (11A), Elk Point-Jefferson (11B), St. Thomas More (11B), Clark/Willow Lake (11B), Parkston (9AA), Sully Buttes (9A), Castlewood (9A), Freeman (9A), Timber Lake (9A), Wall (9B), Dell Rapids St. Mary (9B) and Warner (9B).
7 — State finalists from 2025 that are currently in line for a top-two playoff seed. Of course, a top seed doesn't guarantee a return trip to the DakotaDome, but it does provide the inside track. Right now, it appears that the most likely championship rematch is in Class 11B where defending champion St. Thomas More is No. 2, right behind last year's runner-up Elk Point-Jefferson at No. 1. Defending champions from the three largest enrollment classes — Brandon Valley (11AAA), Pierre (11AA) and Sioux Falls Christian (11A) — are all in a top-two position. Coincidentally, the only two nine-man teams that fit the criteria are 2025 Class 9A champion Wall and defending Class 9B champion Dell Rapids St. Mary. Offseason realignment now has the Eagles and Cardinals both in Class 9B, where they look to be on a collision course.
19 — Wins in a row by Dell Rapids St. Mary. The reigning Class 9B champions are right in the thick of a perfect title defense, out to a 7-0 start on the back of a 12-0 campaign in 2025. It just so happens that the Cardinals have played one more game to date than Wall, St. Thomas More and Sioux Falls Christian, who all also went 12-0 last season and are unbeaten at 6-0 in 2026, putting those win streaks at 18 for the time being. DRSM is idle this week, meaning all four could be at 19 wins in a row entering the games on Friday, Oct. 16. Of note, the community of Freeman has also been a part of 19 wins in a row between the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy 12-0 season last year and Freeman's 7-0 record as a standalone program this fall.
52.8 — Points per game averaged by the Freeman Flyers. Technically speaking, this figure is listed at 45.4. However, that includes a forfeit win over Canistota that is officially scored as a 1-0 victory for Freeman. In the six games that the Flyers have decided on the field, they've been the top scoring team in all of South Dakota high school football. The next-closest team is at 48.0 points per game. Apart from a 36-point performance in the season opener, Freeman has put up at least 51 points in every game. Notably, even the misleading figure of 45.4 points per game still ranks No. 1 in Class 9A.
7.0 — Points per game allowed by the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers. The No. 1 defense in South Dakota high school football by points allowed belongs to the defending Class 11A champions. It's a figure bolstered by a string of three consecutive September shutouts against Custer, West Central and Brookings. SFC's defense has been in control against many of the top contenders, too, as the Chargers have already beaten four of the five teams that sit second through sixth in the seed-point standings.
30 — Touchdowns responsible for by Freeman quarterback Tayden Kerrigan. The high-powered Freeman offense is led by a junior in his first season as the starting signal-caller. Kerrigan has 23 passing touchdowns and 1,269 yards through the air, plus seven rushing touchdowns. He's spread the ball around, as Easton Tschetter has eight receiving touchdowns, while David Walter has seven and Oliver Waltner has six. Last season's Mitchell Republic football player of the year, Riley Tschetter, was responsible for 43 total touchdowns in 12 games while quarterbacking Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy to a perfect season.
2,051 — Total offensive yards by Pierre quarterback Jerren Deal. Midway through last season, Deal was thrust into the starting lineup as a sophomore and helped guide the Governors to yet another Class 11AA state championship. Unsurprisingly, he's picked up this season where he left off, accumulating more than 2,000 offensive yards through six games. That includes 1,560 passing yards with 17 touchdowns against one interception on a 76.3% completion rate. Carter Schiefelbein has nearly 700 receiving yards and eight scores to lead the pass catchers, a group that also includes Penn State tight end commit Cooper Terwilliger.
25-1 — Parkston's home record since the start of the 2022 season. The Trojans have been dominant at H.B. Garry Stadium in the last five seasons, which includes a run with a 48-3 overall record, three trips to the state championship game and a Class 9AA state title in 2023. Only Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy, the Class 9AA champions in 2025, have won at Parkston in that span, which was a 20-6 Phoenix win. (The Phoenix's successor, the Freeman Flyers, are in Class 9A, so the teams won't meet up this season.) The home success could continue into November for the Trojans, who are 6-0 overall and in position to potentially have a home-field advantage in the Class 9AA postseason once again.
53-1 — Wall's regular-season record since 2020. The Eagles have firmly established themselves as one of the perennial nine-man powers. Over the past six years, Wall has five 8-0 regular seasons, with 2026 potentially as a sixth in seven years. The Eagles' lone loss in this span was a 22-12 defeat against Philip on Aug. 25, 2023. Including postseason play, the Eagles own a 67-5 overall record since 2020. For its efforts, Wall has a 2022 Class 9AA championship and 2025 Class 9A championship in its trophy case.
129 — Consecutive losses combined between Baltic, Wilmot and Lakota Tech prior to Sept. 18. The stars aligned on Friday, Sept. 18, as three losing streaks of 40-plus games all came to an end on the same night. Baltic snapped its run of misfortune at 42 games, while Wilmot (formerly part of Dakota Hills), stopped its skid at 40 games. In the All Nations Conference, Lakota Tech, which started its program in 2021, earned its first-ever varsity win after 47 losses in row. In the weeks since, Lakota Tech is now on a three-game win spree, and Baltic also picked up a second win.
3-1 — Record by South Dakota Class 11AAA teams against Nebraska opponents. For several years, it was speculated that South Dakota was working toward finding out-of-state high school football partners, particularly for Class 11AAA. That came to fruition this fall with five Sioux Falls metro-area schools getting games against Nebraska programs from the Omaha area. The early returns have been good for the South Dakota sides, with Sioux Falls Jefferson, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Brandon Valley all picking up wins. Only Sioux Falls Washington lost so far. One more out-of-state matchup is still to come, as Harrisburg duels Omaha North on Oct. 9.
.691 — Win percentage for Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan opponents. The Seahawks' return to Class 9AA has been anything but easy. BEE has faced the single most difficult schedule in all of South Dakota this fall by opponent win percentage. Only eight teams in the state currently have a figure above .600, and BEE's figure is 38 points above the next-closest team. Of the six opponents already in the Seahawks' rearview mirror, five own a record of 4-2 or better. That includes Nos. 1, 5 and 6 in the Class 9AA seed-point standings, plus Nos. 3 and 6 on the Class 9A leaderboard. That's why, at 1-5, BEE would still be comfortably in the 16-team Class 9AA playoff field. As the top one-win team in the standings, the Seahawks are at No. 13, ahead of three two-win teams and nearly two full seed points up on the closest one-win team.
.327 — Win percentage for Rapid City Christian opponents. On the other end of the spectrum, the Comets' return to Class 11B has been met with facing the single easiest schedule in all of South Dakota this fall by opponent win percentage. All six of RCC's opponents to date currently own records of 3-3 or worse, including winless Custer and Miller/Highmore-Harrold. Only unbeaten St. Thomas more in the regular-season finale is guaranteed to have a mark above .500. As such, the Comets are the lowest of the four one-loss teams in the Class 11B seed-point standings, slotting in at No. 8, even behind two-loss McCook Central/Montrose.
These results from last week's action caught our attention.
Mitchell 23, Watertown 22 (2OT): The left arm of Rocky Clark delivered a win for the Kernels, as the standout defensive tackle blocked what would have been a game-tying extra point in double overtime. It was the Kernels' first win over a ranked Class 11AA opponent since 2022 and helped spur Mitchell into the South Dakota Prep Media poll at No. 5 this week, also for the first time since 2022.
West Central 24, Lennox 12: There appears to be a new top contender behind Sioux Falls Christian in Class 11A. West Central's fourth win over Lennox in five meetings prompted a swap for the No. 2 spot in the Class 11A media poll this week. It also leaves the Trojans as the lone one-loss team behind the undefeated Chargers in the standings. Lennox fell into a mix of three two-loss teams with Canton and Madison.
Garretson 35, Viborg-Hurley 34: Under the radar for much of the season so far, the Blue Dragons took down a ranked Cougars squad to take over the No. 5 spot in the Class 9AA media poll. That ranking matches Garretson's place in the seed-point standings, with the Blue Dragons in the midst of six teams now with 5-1 records.
Have these games on your radar this week.
Philip at Bennett County: Both these teams are currently 5-1, with Philip at No. 5 and Bennett County at No. 8 in the Class 9A seed-point standings. Class 9B Wall is responsible for the lone loss to date by both sides. As it stands, both teams likely believe they can make some noise in the Class 9A playoffs, but a loss will be damaging, particularly for the Warriors.
Hamlin at Garretson: This will be a proving ground for the Blue Dragons, who will put themselves firmly in state finalist discussions with a victory over a Charger program that is among the most consistent in Class 9AA. Despite being ranked No. 2, Hamlin has somewhat quietly reached 5-1 after a season-opening setback against Castlewood. During their five-game win spree, the Chargers have won by an average score of 48.6-10.8.
McCook Central/Montrose at Clark/Willow Lake: After an 0-2 start, MCM has won four straight and is the top two-loss team in the Class 11B seed-point standings at No. 7. Notably, the Fighting Cougars have been pesky against other top opposition, as their two losses were a 28-13 loss to No. 1 Elk Point-Jefferson and an 8-7 decision against No. 5 Deuel. Meanwhile, No. 3 CWL is already 7-0 but has a nine-game regular-season slate, a rarity for a Class 11B squad.