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SDSU's sixth-year seniors deliver on repeat championship aspirations

landon dierks, the daily republic, mitchell, s.d.
·4 min read

Jan. 9—FRISCO, Texas — For 365 days, it was the goal, the dream, the plan.

15-0. A championship repeat. Domination. All of it.

From Jan. 9, 2023 — the day following South Dakota State's first FCS championship victory — the Jackrabbits were already zeroed in on doing it again.

"It's got to be the beginning, right?" then-head coach John Stiegelmeier posed immediately following SDSU's 45-21 championship rout of North Dakota State.

On Sunday under a cloudless north Texas sky, the Jacks delivered an emphatic encore with a 23-3 victory over Montana.

And at the heart of the movement and the seamless transition from Stiegelmeier to Jimmy Rogers, was a collection of Jackrabbits dubbed the 'Tremendous 10' — DyShawn Gales, Garret Greenfield, Zach Heins, Jadon Janke, Jaxon Janke, Mason McCormick, Michael Morgan, Cade Terveer, Ryan Van Marel and Saiveon Williamson — who joined the program as true freshmen in 2018 and saw their journey through a sixth season of college football, coming back in 2023 for a shot at back-to-back titles.

A handful of others from the high school class of 2018, including Jason Freeman, John O'Brian, Isaiah Stalbird and Brian Willaims, joined the Jacks' roster as transfers.

All of them are going out as back-to-back national champs.

"This team was different," Jaxon Janke said. "We truly believed that we were the greatest team ever assembled at the FCS level and we wanted to prove that to everyone each and every week."

"To us, anything less than winning it all would've been coming up short," Williamson added. "We didn't want to be the team that went 14-1 or didn't finish. We knew what we were capable of and if we performed to the best of our ability, this is what was going to happen."

As members of the crew that experienced the heartbreak of a last-second defeat in the 2020 (spring 2021) title game and the bitter end of a dream run to the semifinals as an unseeded team the following fall, the veteran Jackrabbits buckled down and hasn't lost to an FCS opponent since. As Gales puts it, "We put our foot down, never put our heads down."

SDSU has now stacked up 29 consecutive wins, the third-longest streak in FCS history. During the past six years, SDSU won 66 games with a win percentage upward of 81%.

Among SDSU's sixth-year seniors, the consensus was that the most difficult challenge of re-staking their claim to the FCS mountaintop was being the pace-setter instead of a chaser still in pursuit of a first national title.

"It's not us versus anyone, it's us against us," Williamson said. "That's how we attacked this whole year, and here we are."

Long after the trophy presentation, many of those sixth-year seniors lingered on the field, soaking in the final scenes and moments of their college football careers. As the sun set over Toyota Stadium, they reflected on a long journey, one punctuated with blue and yellow confetti, a huge showing from Jackrabbit Nation, embraces from loved ones and an unshakeable brotherhood forged through six grueling seasons of trial and triumph.

"I'm never going to forget giving hugs to those guys that I've been with for so long," Heins said, an emotional tremble in his voice. "I'm so thankful for this place and what this university has meant to me and done for me. It's truly a special place to be, and I know a lot of people say that, but this place is different. If you're around this program for long enough, you will see it."

"I don't want to take these shoulder pads off, man," Gales said. "But it's going to happen and I'm going to forever be a Jackrabbit."

When the 'Tremendous 10' arrived in Brookings, SDSU football had only just made the national semifinals for the first time. Now, they depart having cemented their legacy as part of the greatest teams in program history and among the best the FCS has ever produced.

"It's a special feeling to go out on top with the brothers you set out on this journey with from day one," Jaxon Janke said. "We accomplished the goal we set from day one, and honestly, it didn't feel like it could've gone any other way."