082517_YKTB_A3.pdf
FALL SPORTS 2017: PAGE 3
PRESS & DAKOTAN ? PLAIN TALK
Tennant Set To Lead Bucks Offense
BY JEREMY HOECK
jeremy.hoeck@yankton.net
Garrett Tennant dreamed,
like many youngsters in Yankton,
of one day taking the field as
the quarterback of his beloved
Bucks.
That’s not to say he didn’t
want to become a lineman or a
running back. No, he instead had
visions of being the one under
center. The one taking the snap.
The one in charge.
It’s now that time for Tennant.
The senior takes over this season as the starting quarterback
for the Bucks, who are looking
to erase memories of last season
(3-7 record, early playoff exit)
and reclaim their spot as a title
contender.
“I’ve been waiting for this my
whole life, and it’s finally here,”
Tennant said before a preseason
practice.
“It’s been quite the roller
coaster.”
That’s how it is for every
player with dreams of becoming a
varsity starter. You typically have
to work your way up the ladder
— from the freshman team to the
sophomore team to the junior
varsity team, and eventually the
varsity ranks.
Tennant has done that.
The 5-foot-11, 191-pound senior had a solid season for Yankton’s JV squad last season and
saw action in six varsity games.
He completed 3-of-8 passes for 14
Yankton setter Cameryn Specht is one of five seniors returning for the Ga- yards in that limited action as the
zelles volleyball team.
backup to Nate Stephenson.
An opportunity to soak up as
much knowledge from someone like Stephenson — who
had guided Yankton to a state
BY DYLAN HUGGINS
having some other new faces, but they championship in 2015 — wasn’t
seem to mesh really well as a group,”
sports@yankton.net
one Tennant said he was going to
she said.
waste.
There are 13 girls on the varsity rosEDITOR’S NOTE: This article origi“He knew a lot about the game
ter, including seniors Jennica Delvaux,
nally appeared in the Aug. 22 edition of
and had control of the offense,”
Cameryn Specht, Kate Budig, Emily
the Press & Dakotan.
Tennant said. “It was more
Oswald and Holly Mines.
leadership, too; he was a great
The junior class includes Caitlyn
The Yankton volleyball team finleader.”
ished with a record of 2-19 last season, Bargstadt, Maddy Hochstein, Jessica
And that’s a trait Tennant has
Reinhardt and Noel Kusek, while the
but head coach Tiffany Beste said that
carried over into his season as
sophomores include Hailey Gokie, Ivy
her team has stayed busy preparing
the team leader, according to his
Mines, Brooklyn Bernatow and Gabby
for the upcoming season and that she
coach.
is hopeful the preparation will help the Pietila.
“He did a lot of stuff in the
“Our team chemistry seems to be re- summer to get himself ready,”
Gazelles as the season goes on.
ally good, but we have a lot to improve Yankton head coach Arlin Likness
“We have had open gym a couple
on from last season and hopefully we
of days all summer long and attensaid.
can start this season like where we
dance has been great at those and we
“He’s fairly confident right
ended last season and improve as the
have had most of the girls show up,”
now, but we’ll have to see how
year goes by.”
she said. “We went to three different
that confidence in practice carReinhardt led the Gazelles last
team camps which gave our setters an
ries over to a game.”
season in digs with 247 and finished
opportunity to work with others in an
Sure, he’s confident, but even
with 134 kills. Specht had 296 assists
actual game setting and so hopefully
Tennant said he’s been anxious to
that time spent in the gym this summer and 222 digs on the season. Ivy Mines
finally get out there on the field
and the offseason is going to pay off for had 140 digs, Haley Mines finished with as the leader of his team’s offense
137 digs and Delvaux earned 109 digs.
us this season.”
— he’ll also play on defense in
Hochstein and Budig each had 89 kills. the secondary.
Beste said that there will be an
Beste said that the serve and
adjustment period due to having some
“I’m already having trouble
receive aspect of the game will be key
new players, but that the girls have
sleeping thinking about the first
once again for the Gazelles.
worked together well so far.
couple games,” Tennant said,
“We will have some new kids on the
YHS VB | PAGE 4 with a smile.
court so there will be some adjusting to
Gazelles Ready To Turn A Corner
YHS FB
rounded,” Diedrichsen said.
“And we’re working on
some new techniques and
things that help with pass
FROM PAGE 2
protection and everything to
keep Garrett safe.”
opposing defenses to key in
It became apparent
on the aerial attack, Likness
through the summer and the
said.
preseason practices that the
“Last year, we had to
offensive line looked stronthrow,” he said. “But I want to ger, according to Tennant
be able to throw when I want — he takes the quarterback
to and run when I want to.”
reins this season.
And the offensive line
“It’s going to be a good
was, as a result, an area of
year for the line,” Tennant
emphasis over the summer
said. “They look strong and
and through the preseason.
fast and physical. It’s nice to
The goal, according to Diedfeel comfortable back there.”
richsen, is to avoid senior
Yankton’s running game
quarterback Garrett Tennant graduated its two top rushers
being chased all over the
from a year ago, but returns
field after the line breaks
senior Ray Wermers (129
down.
yards, 2 TD), junior Caid Ko“We really tried to work on letzky (70 yards) and junior
getting our offensive line a lot Levi Wiersma (11 yards, 1
stronger and more technically TD).
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But it’s in the passing
game where the Bucks return
the most weapons.
Back is leading receiver
junior Rex Ryken (32 rec., 495
yards, 7 TD), as well as senior
Oakley Palmer (17 rec., 156
yards), senior Cameron Krejci
(11 rec., 122 yards, 1 TD),
senior Casey Krejci (10 rec.,
90 yards, 1 TD), Wermers (7
rec., 53 yards) and senior
Josh Galvan-Hofer (6 rec., 50
yards).
It’s those weapons around
him that Tennant said makes
him feel comfortable in his
first season as a full-time
starter.
“It’s nice to know I have
guys out there who can go
make plays, even if I don’t
necessarily make a great
pass,” he said.
On the defensive side of
the ball, Yankton will be looking for new leaders to emerge.
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Garrett Tennant attempts a pass during a Yankton football preseason practice. Tennant, a senior, takes over as the starting quarterback for the Bucks this season.
“It’s very nerve wracking, but
at the same time you have to
go in with confidence and push
through it.”
Tennant now takes the reins
of an offense that struggled to
maintain a run game last season.
Yankton averaged under 80 yards
per game on the ground, but the
Bucks did manage to average just
under 200 yards (199.9) through
the air.
And as such, if every facet of
the offense takes a step forward,
Tennant’s job will be far less
stressful, Likness said.
“If everybody does their job,
that makes it easier,” he said.
The Bucks put a major
emphasis over the offseason on
strengthening and improving the
offensive line, which struggled
to the point that Stephenson
was frequently forced out of the
pocket.
“This year hopefully we can
The Bucks graduated their
top six tacklers, but return
Ryken (33 tackles, 6 INT),
Cameron Krejci (32 tackles,
1 INT), senior Kobe Bowker
(29 tackles), Palmer (28
tackles), Wiersma (28 tackles,
0.5 sacks) and Wermers (22
tackles, 2.5 sacks), among
others.
It’s not as though the
Bucks are short on experience on defense, but they’re
looking for that side of the
ball to take a step forward,
Likness said. Opponents last
season averaged 199.9 rushing yards and 134 passing
yards per game.
As far as special teams,
Yankton returns junior Michael Drotzmann (36.3 yards
per punt, eight inside the
20-yard line) to the punting
duties. At kicker, the Bucks
return Cameron Krejci (14-of16 extra points) and junior
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sit in the pocket when we want
to and roll out when we want to,”
Likness said.
While Tennant may not have
the mobility of Stephenson (who
also rushed for 213 yards last
season), he can certainly tuck the
ball and run when necessary.
“He’s a deceptive runner and
throws the ball pretty well,” Likness said. “We’ll wait and see, but
right now in practice his pre-snap
reads are all pretty good.”
So far, Tennant looks the
part of a leader who can guide
the Bucks to an improved 2017
season, but the coaches know his
true impact will be known once
he sees more action, Likness said.
“We’ll see if the pressure
of a game gets to him, but if it
doesn’t, he’ll be pretty good for
us,” Likness said.
Cole Sawatzke (1-of-2 field
goals), and also have junior
Miles Carda on the roster.
As Yankton looks to turn
a corner this year and return
to its place as a Class 11AA
contender, the Bucks know
certain steps have to be
taken, according to Likness.
One step, he said, would
be to win a game away from
Crane-Youngworth Field —
which Yankton didn’t do a
year ago.
“We have to win on the
road this year, and we didn’t
do that last year,” Likness
said.
“This year we have five
road games, and I think all
five (teams) will be ranked
during the year.”
Plus, as he pointed, Yankton’s three games against
Class 11AAA competition
(Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Sioux
Falls Lincoln and Brandon
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Valley) are all on the road.
The Bucks open the
season with road games at
Brookings and Pierre, and
might winning even just one
of those games serve as a
springboard for the rest of
the season?
“I sure hope so,” Likness
said, “because we would
need to win a couple of
those games to get ourselves
toward the top for the playoffs.”
Although the Bucks aren’t
expecting to go out and win a
championship, they do have
high expectations for the
2017 season.
“I expect to go all the way
and see what we can do in
the dome,” Haak said. “We’re
going to definitely be a competitive team.”
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