FALL SPORTS 2017: PAGE 19 PRESS & DAKOTAN ? PLAIN TALK Parkston Makes Transition To 9-Man Football BY DYLAN HUGGINS sports@yankon.net PARKSTON —The Parkston football team is about to take on a whole different ball game. Parkston, which won the 2014 Class 11B state championship, will now compete in Class 9AA. Parkston head coach Eric Norden said that the decision for Parkston to make the transition to 9-man football was about the enrollment numbers and that in the end, it was a matter of doing what is best for the players. “When we looked at the numbers coming through the system, it was the best choice for the students and the players and that is kind of what we need to base our decision,” he said. According to the South Dakota High School Activities Association website, Class 11B schools must maintain average daily membership of at least 56 male students. Parkston averages a daily membership of 52.290 which is below the threshold to be in Class 11B. Teams such as Irene-Wakonda, Parker and Viborg-Hurley are now also apart of Class 9AA. Norden said that the decision involved not only the team, but the community as well. “Once we made that decision, and it was not taken lightly, we got the community involved in it and we asked the players what their generals thought were and we made our explanations and it was one that we thought was the right move,” he said. After finishing with a record of 5-4 last season in Class B, Parkston will now join the Little Missouri Valley Conference. “We are excited to play in that schedule because there are some great teams in there and all the teams are good from top to bottom and so we are going to be challenged every week,” Norden said. “It is something we looked at and there are a lot of good football teams and with the ones in that conference, we will have to be ready to play every week.” Norden said that it will be different to play in another conference, but at the end of the day, it is still football. “It is going to be different because we will be playing different teams than we did the past couple of years,” he said. “A lot of the teams we have played against and they have just moved down in years prior and some of it is going to be familiar and some of it will be different, but it is still the game of football.” Follow@dhugg23 on Twitter. 11-Man Reunion Several of the teams on Parkston’s inaugural 9-man schedule have also played 11man within the past 20 years. Aug. 18...............at Bon Homme Aug. 25.......................... Gregory Sept. 1 .......at Kimball-White Lake Sept. 8 ....................Potter County Sept. 15 ...........at Platte-Geddes Sept. 29 .... at Wolsey-Wessington Oct. 6... Miller-Highmore-Harrold* Oct. 13 .......................Lower Brule Teams in bold have played 11-man in last 20 years. Underline: site for game * - Miller played 11-man before co-op. S.D. FB FROM PAGE 18 Even Highland (Fr.); Jessica Langerock (Fr.); Will Huber (Fr.); Jeremy Waldner (Fr.); Connor Koppman (Fr.); Logan Langerock (Fr.); Lawton Langerock (Fr.); Levi Bender (Fr.); Weston Freier (Fr.) McCook CentralMontrose COACH: Ryan Evans ASSISTANTS: Kent Anderson, Jon Lyon, Mike Garry, Jarod Morken, Greg Mehlbrech, Mike Steffen VITALS: Class 11B, Region 3, Big East Conference LAST YEAR: The Fighting Cougars finished with a record of 4-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. RETURNING: Tanner Grocott (Sr., 5-10, 195, OG/LB); Kyle Tuschen (Sr., 6-2, 205, C/ LB); Paul Lauck (Sr., 5-9, 155, RB/DB); Joe Eichacker (Sr., 6-1, 220, TE/DE); Jared Ries (Sr., 6-1, 160, WR/DB); Spencer Smith (Sr., 6-4, 150, WR/ DB); Matt Wegener (Sr., 5-8, 180, RB/LB); Bryce Smart (Sr., 6-0, 145, DB); Cody Hawk (Jr., 6-0, 245, OL/DL); Austin Thu (Jr., 5-9, 180, RB/LB); Trustyn Wolf (6-0, 165, OL/DB); Tate Reiner (Sr., 5-8, 145, RB/DB); Logan Dalton (Sr., 5-9, 200, OL/DL); John Loudenburg (Sr., 5-11, 225, OL/DL) NEWCOMERS: Rylee Klinkhammer (Jr., 6-0, 195, OL/DL); Dylan Klinkhammer (Jr., 5-10, 170, TE/LB); Koltan Lindstrom (So., 6-2, 190, OL/ LB); Blake Gessner (So., 5-11, 170, RB/LB); Parker Scheier (So., 5-10, 165, RB/LB); Raygen Randall (So., 5-10, 175, LB); Collin Kolbeck (So., 6-3, 240, OL/DL) Parker COACH: Derrek Sattler ASSISTANTS: John Silvernail, Scott Hybertson, Corey Minarik, Bob Fansin, Brandin Jensen VITALS: Class 9AA, Region 3 ROSTER: Zam Centeno (Sr., RB/LB, 5-8, 180); Travis Leber (Sr., OL/DL, 5-7, 170); Grant Plucker (Sr., RB/DB, 6-0, 160); Connor Carlson (Sr., OL/DL, 6-5, 200); Joe Hoogestraat (Sr., RB/LB, 5-8, 180); Austin Licht (Sr., OL/ DL, 5-9, 185); Alex Kasten (Jr., RB/DB, 5-11, 145); Sam Gillespie (Jr., QB/RB/DB, 5-10, 160); Blake Olson (Jr., RB/ DB, 5-10, 155); Nick Haroldson (Jr., OL/DL, 5-8, 160); Jackson Fiegen (Jr., OL/DL, 6-1, 215); Joe Joffer (Jr., OL/ DL, 6-4, 225); Dallas Popkes (Jr., OL/DL, 6-3, 225); Trey Christensen (Jr., OL/DL, 6-4, 225); Jacob Hoffmeister (Jr.); Matthew Van Vliet (So., RB/ DB, 5-9, 140); Mace Plucker (So., QB/DB, 6-0, 150); Kaleb Buseman (So., RB/DL, 5-11, 160); Jake Hazen (So., RB/DB, 5-7, 145); Keaton Laible (So., RB/DB, 6-0, 165); Zavier Centeno (So., OL/LB, 5-8, 160); Tanner Even (So., RB/LB, 6-0, 180); Blake Eldeen (So., RB/ LB, 6-0, 170); Colby Olson (Fr., QB/DB, 5-5, 125); Trevor Becker (Fr., RB/DB, 5-9, 145); Lane Wieman (Fr., RB/LB, 5-8, 150); Tristan Becker (Fr., RB/ DB, 5-9, 145); AJ Pawletzki (Fr., RB/DB, 5-7, 125); Zanto Centeno (Fr., RB/DB, 5-5, 140); Geoff Dunkelberger (Fr., OL/ DL, 5-11, 215); Jackson Nordlund (Fr., OL/DL, 5-11, 235); Eli Kreider (Fr., OL/DL, 5-8, 190); Cole Jurgens (Fr., OL/ DL, 6-1, 180) Parkston COACH: Eric Norden ASSISTANTS: Matt Grave, Craig Bruening, Chad Jodozi, John Gilman, Jason Weber VITALS: Class 9AA, Region 3, Missouri Valley Conference LAST YEAR: The Trojans lost to Winner in the playoffs. RETURNING: Luke Bietz (Jr., 5-10, 180, RB/LB, 189 rushing yards, 26 tackles); Dawson Semmler (Sr., 5-8, 170, RB/S, 422 rushing yards, 25 tackles, 2 INT); Tulsa Janish (Sr., 5-11, 160, RB/ DB, 11 rushing yards, 14 Scott Jolley, 18, and the Canistota-Freeman Pride are in their first season of a new football co-op. tackles); Brady Schoenfelder (Sr., 5-8, 215, L, 7 tackles); Brady Albrecht (Sr., 6-1, 190, L, 41 tackles, 1 INT); Slayton Neugebauer (Jr., 5-10, 200, L); Brayden Leischen (Sr., 6-2, 190, 182 receiving yards) NEWCOMERS: Nathan Boettcher (So., 6-0, 160); Rylan Leischner (So., 6-1, 165); Cole Van Zee (So., 5-8, 160); T.J. Biggie (Sr., 6-1, 290) landers, 5-5, lost to Warner in the second round of the playoffs. RETURNING: Travis Skorepa (Sr., 6-5, 215, TE/DE); Bryan Vaughan (Sr., 5-9, 160, RB/DB); Derek Pedersen (Sr., 5-9, 185, FB); Jimmy Baker (Sr., 5-11, 180, OL); Lucas Pedersen (Jr., 5-10, 175, QB/ DB); Derek Pedersen (Sr., 5-9, 185, LB); Braden Wolfe (Sr., 5-10, 165, LB) NEWCOMERS: Micah DeBoer (So., 5-11, 215, OL/ COACH: Marc Aisenbrey DL); Mason Dennis (So., 6-2, ASSISTANTS: Darren 185, WR/DB); Ty Mogck (So., DeNeui, Andy Van Essen 5-11, 175, TE/DE); Trevor VITALS: Class 9A, Region Fuerst (Sr., 5-11, 180, OL/DL); 3, Missouri Valley Conference Michael Lange (Sr., 5-10, 230, LAST YEAR: Platte-GedOL/DL); Ethan Johanneson des lost to Scotland 27-14 in (Sr., 6-6, 245, OL/DL); Dane the first round of the playoffs. James (Jr., 5-10, 175, RB/LB); RETURNING: Payton Fox- Nic Baker (Jr., 6-0, 160, WR/ ley (Sr., 6-2, QB/DB, 69 total DB); Garret Vitek (Sr., 6-2, yards; 38 tackles); Peyton 165, RB/DE); Dallas Fuerst Nelson (Sr., 6-0, FB/LB, 857 (Jr., 5-9, 160, FB/LB) total yards, 9 TD, 48 tackles, All-Conference); Xavier Marshall (Sr., 5-10, RB/DE, Tripp-Delmont-Armour/An640 yards, 3 TD, 17 tackles); des Central-Dakota Christian Jackson Johnson (Sr., 5-11, COACH: Mark Gemar TE/LB, 57 tackles, All-State, ASSISTANTS: Lee Irvine, All-Conference); Trevor Sprik (Sr., 6-0, WB/DB, 271 yards, 2 Chad Bietz, Ron Weber, DarTD, 63 yards, All-Conference) ryl Deumier, Kendrall Strand, Bryan Bietz, Matt Trammel, NEWCOMERS: Blake Jeff Kramer Bultsma (Sr., 6-0, OL/DT); VITALS: Class 9AA, Stewart Van Zee (Jr., 6-0, TE/ DE); Sawyer DeGroot (Jr., 6-2, Region 3, Great Plains ConferOL/DT); Kip Nelson (Jr., 5-11, ence LAST YEAR: This is the OL/DT); Kade Starr (So., 6-2, first year of a new co-op. RB/DB); Eli DeNeui (So., 6-2, RETURNING: Cade Gemar TE/DE); Nate Whalen (Fr., 6-1, (Jr., QB); Mason Koehn (Sr., WB/DB); Kelby VanderWerff (Fr., 6-2, TE/DL); Brady Sprik L/LB); Jacob Kriz (Jr., L); Cody Fischer (Sr., L); Jason (Fr., 5-10, FB/DL) Schnabel (Sr., L); Riley Hrdlicka (Sr., L); Hunter Stoltenburg (Sr., RB); Kendall Veenstra COACH: Ryan Robb (Sr., L/LB); Ethan Black Cloud ASSISTANTS: Calvin Hun- (Sr.,RB); Alex Moss (Jr., L); hoff, Derrik Nelson, Bryan Cliff Johnson (Jr., L); Jacob Fuks Maynard (Jr., L); Gabe Baas VITALS: Class 9B, Region (So., L); Jarred Ketchum (Sr., 3, Great Plains Conference PK) LAST YEAR: The HighNEWCOMERS: Ethan Stoe- Platte-Geddes bner (Fr., L); Logan VanPelt (Fr., L); Chance Ziegler (Fr., L); Tyler Swanson (So., B); Tristin Bialas (So., B); Micah Lau (So., B) Viborg-Hurley COACH: Galen Schoenefeld ASSISTANTS: Brett Mellem, Camron Groenke, Tanner Waage VITALS: Class 9AA, Region 3, Cornbelt Conference LAST YEAR: The Cougars finished the season with a record of 2-6. RETURNING: Tanner Pulscher (Sr., 5-11, QB/DB, 71 rushing yards, 84 passing yards); Connor Paetow (Sr., 6-3, RB/LB, 228 rushing yards, 55 tackles, 4 sacks); Jack Lee (Sr., 6-3, B/DB, 43 yards receiving, 23 tackles); Chase Gust (Jr., 6-1, TE/LB, 22 rushing yards, 42 yards receiving, 20 tackles); Garrett Knock (Jr., 5-9, G/DT, 12 tackles, 1 forced fumble); Shane Anderson (So., 6-2, TE/DE, 15 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles) Wagner COACH: Jason Knebel ASSISTANTS: Mike Koupal, Riley Kirwan, Jon Podzimek VITALS: Class 11B, Region 3, Southeast South Dakota Conference LAST YEAR: The Red Raiders finished with a re- cord of 1-7. RETURNING: Alex Sully (Sr., 5-10, RB/LB, 200 yards receiving); Jace Faulkner (Jr., 5-10, QB/LB); Jace Johnson (Sr., 6, Line); Tyler Wilson (Sr., 5-10, Line); Dawson Lensing (Jr., 6-0, Line); Kelby Kafka (Jr., 6-0, Line); Emilo Cournoyer (Jr., 6-0, WR/DB) NEWCOMERS: Malcom Janis (Fr., 6-0, WR/DB); K.J. St. Pierre (So., 6-4, LB/WR); Jaden Peters (Fr., 5-10, QB/ DB); Sagon Ulrich (Jr., 6-0, Line); Preston Nedved (So., 5-10, WR/DB); Julien Weddell (Jr., 6-0, Line); Tony Brugier (So., 5-8, RB/LB); Calvin McBride (Sr., 5-7, RB/LB); Tysin Arpan (Jr., 6-1, WR/DB) T-D/A/AC/DC Scotland We accept ALL PATIENTS of ALL AGESthose on Medicaid, Medicare, with or without insurance. We offer reduced prices through our Sliding Fee Program! Yankton Community Health Center & Dental Services 409 W Summit St, Suite 3400 • Yankton Avera Pavilion, 3rd Floor 605.260.0310 Elk Point Community Health Center 204 E Main St • Elk Point 605.356.3317 Trey King, 12, returns for an Irene-Wakonda squad that was eliminated by eventual champion Colman-Egan in the first round of the 9A playoffs. Press & Dakotan photos are now available for purchase online! If you are looking for photos of your favorite team or activity, go to www.yankton.net and click on the Photo button to access the galleries. 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