Breaking down the South Dakota Prep Media football poll for the week of Sept. 12: Hanson, Parkston swap places

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

Sep. 12—MITCHELL — Following

a defense-heavy 8-6 Hanson win over Parkston on Sept. 9

, the Beavers moved up one place to No. 4 and bumped the Trojans back one spot to No. 5 in this week's Class 9AA media poll.

The Beavers-Trojans swap was one of few movements across all classes, as many top teams cruised to victories on Friday and Saturday night. In four of the seven classes, this week's top five was identical to last week, and in two of the remaining three, Nos. 4 and 5 simply swapped places, including Hanson and Parkston.

Class 11A experienced the most movement this week, with No. 1 West Central and No. 2 Dell Rapids continuing to fight for the top spot in Class 11A, but the chase behind them continues to take shape.

Canton was this week's biggest mover, as the C-Hawks — Class 11A's preseason No. 3 — notched a 36-25 win over Lennox that catapulted them back into third from a place outside the top five just last week. Below Canton, Beresford remained in fourth despite a 22-0 loss at Class 11B No. 1 Winner, Dakota Valley fell from third to fifth following a 24-14 loss to Sioux Falls Christian and Madison dropped out of the rankings after a 28-25 loss to West Central.

While no No. 1s lost last week or fell from their top spots in this week's poll, the dispersal of first-place votes changed slightly.

Sioux Falls Jefferson became the unanimous No. 1 in Class 11AAA after a 30-13 Presidents Bowl win over No. 3 Sioux Falls Lincoln on Saturday and No. 2 O'Gorman's 44-41 defeat to Class 11AA No. 2 Tea Area on Friday.

Tea Area's win over the Knights also allowed the Titans to wrestle away a single first-place vote from No. 1 Pierre, which defeated Mitchell, 50-6, on Saturday and had been the unanimous top choice in each prior poll.

The top four teams — Gregory, Warner, Castlewood and Canistota — continue to garner first-place votes in Class 9A, but the No. 1 Gorillas continue to chip away at the rest of the pack. Warner and Canistota each got multiple votes for first a week ago, but have joined Castlewood with all three clinging to one, as Gregory took 19 of 22 this week.

The South Dakota Prep Media football polls for the week of Sept. 12 are listed below, ranking the top-five teams in each class. First-place votes received are indicated in parentheses.

Class 11AAA

1. Sioux Falls Jefferson (22), 3-0, 110; 2. O'Gorman, 2-1, 76; 3. Sioux Falls Lincoln, 2-1, 63; 4. Harrisburg, 2-1, 56; 5. Rapid City Stevens, 2-1, 14.

Also receiving votes: Brandon Valley 11.

Class 11AA

1. Pierre (21), 3-0, 109; 2. Tea Area (1), 3-0, 87; 3. Yankton, 3-0, 68; 4. Brookings, 2-1, 44; 5. Mitchell, 1-2, 15.

Also receiving votes: Sturgis 7.

Class 11A

1. West Central (17), 3-0, 105; 2. Dell Rapids (5), 3-0, 93; 3. Canton, 2-1, 45; 4. Beresford, 2-1, 44; 5. Dakota Valley, 2-1, 23.

Also receiving votes: Madison 13, Sioux Falls Christian 4, Lennox 3.

Class 11B

1. Winner (22), 4-0, 110; 2. Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan, 4-0, 78; 3. Elk Point-Jefferson, 3-0, 72; 4. St. Thomas More, 3-0, 31; 5. Mount Vernon/Plankinton, 4-0, 20.

Also receiving votes: Aberdeen Roncalli 13, McCook Central/Montrose 3, Sioux Valley 3.

Class 9AA

1. Howard (21), 4-0, 109; 2. Wall (1), 4-0, 86; 3. Hamlin, 4-0, 58; 4. Hanson, 3-1, 51; 5. Parkston, 3-1, 21.

Also receiving votes: FreemanMarion/Freeman Academy 4, Elkton-Lake Benton 1.

Class 9A

1. Gregory (19), 3-0, 107; 2. Warner (1), 4-0, 82; 3. Castlewood (1), 3-0, 65; 4. Canistota (1), 2-2, 37; 5. Lyman, 4-0, 35.

Also receiving votes: Alcester-Hudson 3, Harding County/Bison 1.

Class 9B

1. Herreid/Selby Area (22), 3-0, 110; 2. Hitchcock-Tulare, 4-0, 85; 3. De Smet, 3-1, 56; 4. Avon, 3-1, 42; 5. Sully Buttes, 4-0, 34.

Also receiving votes: Kadoka Area 2, Corsica-Stickney 1.