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Breaking down the South Dakota Prep Media football poll for Sept. 25: Nine-man unrest after busy week

Landon Dierks, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·4 min read

Sep. 25—MITCHELL — The nine-man landscape in the South Dakota Prep Media football poll feels and looks a little different this week by virtue of a trio of big results from last week's slate.

Class 9AA Hanson toppled Class 9A then-No. 1 Canistota; Class 9A then-No. 2 Warner outlasted Class 9B No. 1 Faulkton Area; and Class 9B No. 3 Avon pulled away from Class 9B then-No. 4 Corsica-Stickney, leading to a shuffle among the three nine-man classes.

Warner moved up to No. 1 in Class 9A, with Harding County/Bison also leapfrogging Canistota to slot in at No. 2, just ahead of the Hawks at No.3 and Philip at No. 4. HCB garnered four more votes than Canistota this week, with the Hawks claiming eight more votes than Philip.

Meanwhile Faulkton Area remained at the top in Class 9B, though the Trojans lost control of some first-place votes, having previously been unanimous No. 1. Behind Faulkton, De Smet grabbed control of three first-place votes at No. 2, Avon remained at No. 3 and Corsica-Stickney traded places with Hitchcock-Tulare, now at No. 5 and No. 4, respectively.

Elsewhere, Hanson forced its way back into the Class 9AA picture, a place it hadn't been since receiving votes in the preseason poll. The Beavers are now the only Class 9AA program receiving votes outside the top five.

While the top five places in Classes 11AAA, 11AA and 11A kept their order from last week, Class 11B had a program enter the rankings for the first time this season.

Deuel, located in Clear Lake, supplanted Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan at the No. 5 spot this week, sending the Seahawks to the others receiving votes section. The Cardinals received 12 votes to BEE's nine, benefitting from a big win and BEE having an idle week. After not receiving a single vote at any point last season (in a 7-1 regular season) Deuel has received votes in every iteration of the poll this season and was the de-facto No. 6 team in all but the preseason poll prior to this week.

At 6-0, Deuel has won 15 of its past 16 regular-season games dating back to Oct. 8, 2021. The Cardinals are in their third season as an 11-man outfit and have a 19-6 overall record since the transition from nine-man football.

Also in Class 11B, Hot Springs snuck ahead of Elk Point-Jefferson despite both teams notching blowout wins last week. The Bison are now No. 3 with 35 votes, while the defending champion Huskies are No. 4 with 34 votes.

* Class 11AAA is back to having zero teams receiving votes outside the top five. That last occurred on Aug. 28.

* No longer receiving votes this week after inclusion in last week's poll: Sioux Falls Roosevelt in Class 11AAA; Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy in Class 9AA; and Lyman in Class 9A.

* Receiving votes this week after not being included in last week's poll: Hanson in Class 9AA and Herreid/Selby Area in Class 9B.

The South Dakota Prep Media football polls for the week of Sept. 25 are listed below, ranking the top five teams in each class. First-place votes received are indicated in parentheses, followed by record and total points.

Class 11AAA

1. Sioux Falls Lincoln (16), 5-0, 80; 2. O'Gorman, 4-1, 61; 3. Sioux Falls Jefferson, 4-1, 47; 4. Harrisburg, 3-2, 31; 5. Brandon Valley, 3-2, 21.

Others receiving votes: None.

Class 11AA

1. Pierre (16), 5-0, 80; 2. Yankton, 4-1, 64; 3. Tea Area, 3-2, 46; 4. Watertown, 3-2, 26; 5. Spearfish, 4-1, 21.

Others receiving votes: Aberdeen Central 3.

Class 11A

1. Dell Rapids (15), 5-0, 79; 2. West Central (1), 5-0, 64; 3. Canton, 3-2, 41; 4. Sioux Falls Christian, 3-2, 27; 5. Lennox, 4-1, 22.

Others receiving votes: Dakota Valley 7.

Class 11B

1. Winner (15), 5-0, 79; 2. Sioux Valley (1), 6-0, 65; 3. Hot Springs, 5-1, 45; 4. Elk Point-Jefferson, 4-1, 34; 5. Deuel, 6-0, 12.

Others receiving votes: Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan 9, Tri-Valley 5, Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central 1.

Class 9AA

1. Parkston (14), 6-0, 78; 2. Hamlin (2), 6-0, 66; 3. Howard, 5-1, 45; 4. Wall, 5-1, 31; 5. Elkton-Lake Benton, 5-1, 17.

Others receiving votes: Hanson 3.

Class 9A

1. Warner (16), 5-0, 80; 2. Harding County/Bison, 6-0, 50; 3. Canistota, 5-1, 46; 4. Philip, 5-0, 38; 5. Alcester-Hudson, 6-0, 21.

Others receiving votes: Wolsey-Wessington 3, Deubrook Area 1, Gregory 1.

Class 9B

1. Faulkton Area (13), 5-1, 76; 2. De Smet (3), 4-1, 66; 3. Avon, 5-1, 50; 4. Hitchcock-Tulare, 4-2, 25; 5. Corsica-Stickney, 4-2, 13.

Others receiving votes: Dell Rapids St. Mary 8, Herreid/Selby Area 2.