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South Dakota State football rolls out latest recruiting class

matt zimmer, the daily republic, mitchell, s.d.
·4 min read

Dec. 20—BROOKINGS — The recruiting class for South Dakota State football — the reigning national champions' — for 2024 includes five players from South Dakota, as well as several others with an impressive pedigree. The names were made official Wednesday with the opening of the early signing period for college football.

Jack Henry (Dell Rapids) and Jack Smith (Sioux Falls Lincoln) are the local headliners among the local athletes to sign with SDSU, and they're joined by Thomas Martian, an offensive lineman from Rapid City Stevens, and a pair of tight ends — Blake Leiferman, of Kimball and Brayden Delahoyde from Spearfish.

Other highlights of the class are a pair of running backs in Maxwell Woods of Chanhassen, Minn., and Quin Renfro of Joplin, Mo. Renfro comes from the same high school that produced current Jackrabbit star Isaiah Davis, while Woods turned heads by recently flipping his commitment to the Jacks from North Dakota State.

The Jacks added a third tight end to the class by dipping into Kentucky for 6-7, 240-pound Beau Baker, while offensive lineman Shane Willenbring of La Crosse, Wisc., chose the Jacks over a preferred walk-on offer from the Wisconsin Badgers, among other Division I offers. The Jacks signed six to the offensive line and five on the D-line, including Marcus Hicks, a transfer from Oklahoma and the brother of current SDSU defensive end Quinton Hicks. They also brought in a transfer in the secondary with Colby Humphrey, a 6-1 cornerback, coming to Brookings after two years at Northern Arizona.

The Jacks filled a need at kicker in Jack Stevens from Augustana, S.C., one of a handful of players from states outside SDSU's usual recruiting territory. They also signed players from Washington and Alaska in addition to Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky while touching in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska as usual.

And Bennett Lihs, a 6-6, 250-pound defensive lineman, is originally from Germany and comes to SDSU out of a prep school in Connecticut.

The signees include:

* Beau Baker, 6-7, 245, tight end, Springfield, Kentucky (Washington County High School);

* Nick Bakken, 6-5, 265, offensive lineman, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin (Whitefish Bay H.S.);

* Sammy Dresie, 6-2, 180, wide receiver, Maize, Kansas (Maize South H.S.);

* Jack Henry, 6-3, 200, quarterback, Dell Rapids, South Dakota (Dell Rapids H.S.);

* Fernando "JR" Lecuona, 6-3, 250, defensive end, Omaha, Nebraska (Millard South H.S.);

* Blake Leiferman, 6-6, 225, tight end, Kimball, South Dakota (Kimball H.S.)

* Bennet Lihs, 6-6, 250, defensive tackle, Ravensburg, Germany (Loomis Chaffee School);

* Anthony Palano, 6-1, 210, linebacker, Arlington Heights, Illinois (Buffalo Grove H.S.)

* Kyan Rauk, 6-8, 280, offensive lineman, Northfield, Minnesota (Northfield H.S.);

* Quinton Renfro, 6-0, 190, running back, Joplin, Missouri (Joplin H.S.);

* Carsten Reynolds, 6-3, 195, linebacker, Sedro-Woolley, Washington (Sedro-Woolley H.S.);

* Trey Ridley, 6-1, 190, safety, Overland Park, Kansas (Blue Valley Northwest H.S.)

* Cade Sears, 6-1, 180, wide receiver, Westphalia, Iowa (Harlan H.S.);

* Max Stanard, 5-11, 190, safety, Manhattan, Kansas (Manhattan H.S.);

* Jack Stevens, 5-11, 155, kicker, North Augusta, South Carolina (North Augusta H.S.);

* Hayden Venenga, 6-6, 270, offensive lineman, Willmar, Minnesota (Willmar H.S.);

* Sam Watts, 6-3, 230, defensive end, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Linn-Mar H.S.)

* Shane Willenbring, 6-5, 275, offensive lineman, La Crosse, Wisconsin (Aquinas H.S.);

* Maxwell Woods, 5-10, 180, running back, Carver, Minnesota (Chanhassen H.S.).

College transfers

* Marcus Hicks, 6-5, 305, offensive line, Wichita, Kan. (Oklahoma)

* Colby Humphrey, 6-1, 180, cornerback, Birmingham, Ala. (Northern Arizona)

Walk-ons accepted for admission:

* Max Chapman, 6-2, 220, defensive lineman, Creston, Iowa (Creston H.S.);

* Brayden Delahoyde, 6-4, 210, tight end, Spearfish, South Dakota (Spearfish H.S.);

* Caden Hotz, 6-2, 280, offensive lineman, Waverly, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock H.S.);

* Thomas Martian, 6-4, 260, offensive lineman, Rapid City, South Dakota (Stevens H.S.);

* Jack Nash, 6-2, 185, linebacker, Palmer, Alaska (Colony H.S.);

* Lofton Ogroske, 6-1, 195, wide receiver, Coon Rapids, Minnesota (Coon Rapids H.S.);

* Jack Smith, 6-0, 190, wide receiver, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Lincoln H.S.);

* Joseph Vieth, 6-3, 200, linebacker, Omaha, Nebraska (Gretna H.S.).