In the first edition of the Player’s Forum by players from across South Dakota we take a look back at week 7 and I was able to contact some of the students who played in the games in the past week and I asked them a few questions.
The first question I asked them was for them to review their game or games from the last week in 25-50 words. Here is what some of them had to say:
Pat Leary (West Central, Football) – “Last night was fun! We didn’t really know what to expect from [Jackson County] because they’re from [Minnesota]. We got on them early but they played tough. I give JC a lot of credit they are big strong boys. I'm proud of my football team for hanging in when it got tough.” [West Central won 22-20]
Greg Billion (SF O’Gorman, Football) – “We came out strong right away offensively, scoring on our first few possessions and also defensively, shutting them out in the first three quarters.” [O’Gorman won 41-7 over RC Central]
Steven Miller (Harrisburg, Football) – “Harrisburg vs. Vermillion looked closer than it was we struggled with turnovers and in the red zone but the defense played tough” [Harrisburg did end up winning 13-3.]
Brad Tunge (Marion, Football) – “It was a fun game! The snow was not really a factor against us. I had 339 yards which is my best yet in a game.” [Marion won 50-0]
Michael Ruppelt (Bon Homme, Football) – “We started off the game well with a good defensive stop and then got a quick score by Joey Sykora. We took the 2nd half kickoff down to the 3 and then punched it in and got the 2-point conversion for a 7 point lead. Our defense held strong in the 4th to hold on to the win.” [Bon Homme won 21-20.]
Kristin Ackermann (Harrisburg, Volleyball) – “Tuesday's "Dig for the Cure" fundraiser with Elk Point went off without a hitch. Unfortunately that was not so for our game, the Huskies beat Harrisburg but not without a fight- especially us taking the 2nd game.” [Harrisburg lost 3 games to 1 on Tuesday]
“Thursday night in Dakota Valley gave our varsity team insight on how we can improve our play. We learned that it takes individual drive to keep a team going- something we lacked that night. Currently we are pushing ourselves and each other to become a better team.” [Harrisburg also lost 3 games to 1 on Thursday.]
Austin Sumner (Brandon Valley, Football) – “Really physical game last night in Pierre. [I’m] probably as sore as I've been ever. Pierre had a good scheme on defense that slowed us down a bit along with the weather. There was a few turnovers on both sides, but then I punched it in with a about 2 minutes left to go up 21-18.” [Brandon Valley won over Pierre 21-18]
I next asked them to highlight a teammate’s performance and tell me about it, they said:
Nick Mears (Milbank, Football) – “I thought Colin Porath really stepped up when we needed him. We were faced with a 3 and 13 at the end of the 4th quarter when we were trying to run the clock out and he picked up the first down on a nice run. That sealed the game right there. He finished with 148 yards on 24 carries.”
Austin (Brandon Valley) – “Ethan Sawyer our senior linebacker led the defense with two picks.”
Kristin (Harrisburg) – “Morgan Fisher's consistent serving has become an especially important asset to the Tigers.”
Greg (O’Gorman) – “Our [offensive] line played well and did a good job blocking for Kelby Tague, Miles McLaughlin, Tony Viger, and myself in order to get a good running game going. Tony also had a few nice TD passes.”
It began to snow in parts of South Dakota Friday night, enough to cover the ground past noon the next day, so I asked our athletes if they were ready for the snow! Through the shivering they said:
Kristin (Harrisburg) – “At this point, its ready or not! Yes, I love snow.. not so much the cold, but it comes with the South Dakota territory I guess!”
Austin (Brandon Valley) – “Sure it was cold out there, but the wind was just terrible.”
Pat (West Central) – “The snow was crazy it came out of no where.”
Greg (O’Gorman) – “We tried to make the weather as little of an issue as possible.”
Looking forward to next week I asked them about their mindset for next week’s games:
Greg (O’Gorman) –“We look into next week [vs. Sturgis Brown] as a game that will help us prepare for our matchup in 2 weeks against Washington.”
Pat (West Central) – “Next week we play Dell Rapids and the mindset is to take back was is ours!”
Kristin (Harrisburg) – “We're going to come out swinging at Dell Rapids on Tuesday and work on getting one point (and one game) at a time to take them out. Thursdays game in West Central proves that volleyball is a top priority, because we will all be missing Harrisburg's last home football game.”
Brad (Marion) – “We have a bye this next week but we will have to work hard and prepare for [Emery-Ethan].”
As for closing thoughts, I asked them all to give me parting thoughts, comments, concerns or quotes, and here is what they offered:
Kristin (Harrisburg) – “The varsity has had its high points and low points this season, but we have all decided things must improve. ‘Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and better is best.’ - Tim Duncan”
A special thanks to all of those who participated in this, it was fun to read through all your responses during the weekend. Good luck next week as South Dakota athletics continues to rise!
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