Nine-man teams loaded and ready

The world of nine-man football is quite divisive in this state. For some fans, it’s the only form of high school football they’ll watch in the state, and it’s easy to see why. The nine-man fan experience is unlike anything I’ve witnessed before in a football game. The crowds are some of the loudest you’ll hear around the state, and the games seem to have an excitement that isn’t normally seen. Just trust me, if you haven’t been to one of these games, it’ll be a good experience. Just prepare to follow the action from behind the sideline ropes.

There’s a lot to talk about in the coming 12 items , so let’s get to it, and as always, don’t forget to follow the Dakota Dozen on Twitter all season.

CAN THEY REPEAT?

1. Last year’s class 9AA champion Hurley/Marion will face some very specific challenges in defending their title this season. First, as mentioned yesterday, 2009 represents the final year for this co-op. Second, they’ll have a new head coach for this season, as former head coach Scott Meyer took the head coaching position in Lennox, which is where he’s from. Third, even though he was the main cog in the Cobras’ offensive engine room, Brad Tunge had backfield help last season that took a good bit of the pressure off Tunge. Still, when a team has a back like Tunge, who gained 2,197 yards rushing and scored 24 touchdowns, as well as linemen Taylor Stanage and Tanner Gates blocking for him, not much else is needed to win games. These guys enter the season as one of the clear favorites going into the season.

2. As for the defending class 9A and class 9B champions, at least one of them won’t be repeating this year. Avon practically walked to a state championship last year on the shoulders of Matt Dykstra and Earv Archambeau. This season, both of those backs have graduated, being replaced by quarterback Marshall Cihak and running backs Jeff Bertus and Derek Cihak.

The Hanson Beavers, on the other hand, moved up to class 9A this season after winning the class 9B title last season. Their coach, Jim Haskamp doesn’t have the behemoth linemen or backs quite as talented as he’s had the past 4-5 seasons, but he always has his team ready to play every game. Though they won’t be quite the team they’ve been, there’s no reason not to believe that they’ll be in the hunt by season’s end. The biggest litmus test for these two class 9A powerhouses will be on Sept. 4, when they play each other in Sioux Falls. The last two times these teams played each other, it was a great game, so we’ll see what happens in the second week.

In my belief, both Avon and Hurley/Marion have what it takes to get back to the Dakota Dome this season and quite possibly hoist another state championship trophy this season.

FIRST-TIME NINE-MAN JAM

3. The Howard Tigers and Hamlin Chargers decided to play nine-man football this season, after playing eleven-man football for quite some time. The Howard Tigers are the more notable of these teams, having played the 11-man game very well in the recent past. It will be very interesting to see how they make this adjustment, as the Tigers have always played a power-rushing oriented game. Unless they’ve got a few fast backs in their hand, this could pose a problem against their speed-oriented opposition, especially on their 100-yard field. Their schedule doesn’t do them any favors, either. They have Chester, Hurley/Marion, Lyman and Baltic on the road this season, as well as Emery/Ethan and Hanson at home. I think that if they can get through this schedule with a winning record, they can be considered one of the favorites come playoff time. This would be the year to shake a nasty playoff stigma that they’ve carried for many seasons.

THE RETURN OF THE DVC

4. For the last few seasons, the Dakota Valley Conference has waned in comparison to the rest of the state. This season, there are no fewer than six of these ten teams that could easily make a deep playoff run. The clear favorite of these is Dell Rapids St. Mary, who played in one of the most scintillating playoff games of last season, a close loss to Hitchcock-Tulare. So the big question remains: For all the success that this team has in the regular season, can they finally put it together in the class 9B playoffs and win it all? The answer is yes, but it won’t be this season. More on that below.

5. The remaining power in the DVC will come from their class 9A teams. Arlington, Estelline, DeSmet/Iroquois, Colman-Egan, and Castlewood all have good teams that could win the conference, if not make a run to the Dakota Dome this season. Arlington, Estelline and Castlewood all have traditionally good teams, while DeSmet/Iroquois have developed some great talent since those towns formed that co-op two seasons ago. The wild card here is Colman-Egan who recovered nicely after a bad start and even won a playoff game last season. After having several coaches and a few different schemes over the past few seasons, coach Jeff Hegge finally has the C-E Hawks moving in the right direction, but they’ll need a better start to prove they’re for real early this season.

NORTHERN LIGHTS

6. The jewel of the class 9B world this season is the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots. Two seasons ago, they were a very young team, and a passing interest. Then last year, Kenny Huether took over as head coach, and immediately this team full of sophomores and juniors ran off an 8-0 regular season, nipped Dell Rapids St. Mary in their great quarterfinal game, and even gave Hanson an early threat in the class 9B championship game, despite playing on only two days’ rest in that game. This season, quarterback Ryan Huizenga and running back Connor Skaare as well as most of the line will be back to take what could be their last serious run at a state championship for a while. I believe that after watching essentially this same team play last year, that there’s not a lot in the Patriots’ way for a return trip to the title game.

7. Grant-Deuel should regain their dominance of their conference schedule this season. They had an extremely young team last year with only 2 seniors and 4 juniors on last year’s roster. Despite that young squad, they still finished their regular season at 7-1 before losing in the playoffs.

Teams that did well last year, including Ipswich and Langford/Roslyn lost a bit too much to be real factors this season.

SLEEPING BEAUTIES

8. These pop up every year, the teams that seemingly come from so far under the radar that most don’t see them until they’re about 6-1 and surprising teams left and right. Examples include Gayville-Volin and Great Plains Lutheran last season, and Colome and Campbell County in 2007. Obviously no one has any idea who these teams might be in 2009, but my early picks are Sanborn Central, who has one of the best backs in the state in Lucas Van Laecken, and Sully Buttes, who have almost all of their starters back from their 4-4 team last year. Both of these teams are just enough under the state’s collective radar to make a huge splash this season.

A-WAY OUT WEST…

9. While we don’t yet have a lot of information about the west river teams, I can tell you that Lyman will once again have a great team this season, led by running back Dawson Jandreau. Their test this season is whether they can hold their regular season successes together when they face some of the tougher teams on the eastern side of the state. Harding County is always a tough squad, and their move to 9A this year only further loads that class. Newell is another side to watch for in class 9A as well. It turns out that region 4 in class 9A is more loaded than first glance, whereas class 9B is wide open as can be, but is ultimately pretty weak this season.

THE PREDICTION IN CLASS 9AA

10. Though not as strong as in years past, there’s a clear front-runner in three of the four regions. Region 3 is a bit down this year, but region 2 will be on the rise with the inclusion of Howard and a surging Chester team.

THE PREDICTION IN CLASS 9A

11.  Here’s where the state’s nine-man power lies this season. I see at least seven teams that could make the ultimate run to the Dakota Dome. I love classes like this one, because there’s always the suspense of not knowing who will end up on top until the playoff melee starts. By the way, region 2 is positively loaded, and could see six playoff teams, and zero teams under .500 this season.

THE PREDICITON IN CLASS 9B

12.  Honestly, outside of Dell Rapids St. Mary and Hitchcock-Tulare, this is a very wide open class, but not necessarily strong by comparison. Regions 1 and 2 have most of the power going into the season.