Papendick: Rare 2021 sports moments from September to December
This is the final installment of a three-column look back at some rare moments in South Dakota sports in 2021.
This week, we cover September through December:
Sept. 2: Led by two freshmen, the Northern State University women's soccer won its sixth straight season opener 1-0 over Montana State-Billings. Freshmen Megan Fastenau (Aberdeen Central) scored the goal and goalie Alexus Townsend (Omaha, Neb.) made 10 saves for the Wolves.
Sept. 2: Aberdeen Central graduate Josh Heupel won his debut game as the University of Tennessee football coach as his Volunteers defeated Bowling Green 38-6.
Sept. 3: South Dakota State opened the football season with a 42-23 win at Colorado State.
Sept. 3: Wagner opened its new $2.2 million football and track complex with a win. The new turf field puts Wagner in elite company among the 11A, 11B and nine-man schools. Of the 106 teams in those five classes, only Wagner, Garretson, Sisseton, Wall and Aberdeen Roncalli play home games on artificial turf fields. In South Dakota classes 11AAA and 11AA, 18 of the 19 teams play on artificial turf.
Sept. 4: Rapid City Stevens upset Sioux Falls Roosevelt 43-33 to end a 12-game football losing streak dating back to Oct. 4, 2019.
Sept. 4: Mount Marty lost 20-3 to Dakota Wesleyan in its first football game in school history.
Sept. 11: Opening night at the new, on-campus $33 million Northern State regional sports complex was a success as the Wolves defeated Southwest State 30-13 in front of 5,867 football fans at sold-out Dacotah Bank Stadium.
Sept. 17: Alcester-Hudson’s Jovey Christensen ran for 547 yards and scored nine touchdowns, and Centerville’s Cole Edberg passed for 499 yards and seven touchdowns in Alcester-Hudson's 70-54 win.
Sept. 17: Spearfish defeated Sturgis 21-19 to end a 25-game football losing streak dating back to Oct. 5, 2018.
Sept. 25: Northern State defeated the University of Sioux Falls 41-10 for the Wolves first football win over the Cougars since 1959.
More: John Papendick: Rare 2021 sports moments between May and August
Oct. 2: The University of Sioux Falls nipped Augustana 28-26 in the 400th game called by Augie play-by-play man Jeff Fylling. He called his first Augustana football game on Sept. 3, 1984, when the Vikings defeated then-Sioux Falls College 45-14.
Oct. 5: Northwestern volleyball coach Nora Groft got her 600th career win (vs. 75 losses).
Oct. 9: The Northern State football team defeated Winona 52-49. The Wolves had lost 14 straight games to Winona and last beat the Warriors 37-34 on Oct. 30, 1999.
Oct. 11: Yankton College graduate and Raiders’ assistant coach Rich Bisaccia was named interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Oct. 11: Former Northern State All-American Dakotah (Bullen) Lindwurm finished 13th in the 125th annual Boston Marathon women’s race.
Oct. 13: Rapid City opened its $130 million, 11,000-seat Summit Arena in The Monument.
Oct. 22: Sioux Valley has now won every Class A cheer championship since the competitions started in 2007.
Oct. 23: Seven eighth-graders finished in the top eight places in the Class B girls’ cross-country championship race in Sioux Falls, including winner Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern.
Oct. 29: Red Cloud senior lineman and captain Justina Pourier, who played football throughout high school, and her Red Cloud teammates’ season came to an end in the semifinals of the All-Nations Class A playoffs. Pourier also scored a couple of touchdowns during her career.
Nov. 3: The South Dakota High School Activities Association sanctioned high school softball starting in 2022-23.
Nov. 10: Garretson junior kicker Jenna VanHolland became the first girl in state history to earn all-state football honors.
Nov. 13: The University of South Dakota's Jeremiah Webb hauled in a 57-yard Hail Mary pass from Carson Camp on the final play of the game to give the Coyotes a 23-20 victory over South Dakota State.
Nov. 29: Milbank native Kalen DeBoer was hired as the University of Washington football coach.
Dec. 7: Breakaway roper Sawyer Gilbert, 19, of Buffalo won the 36th National Finals Rodeo world title ever by a South Dakotan since the NFR started in 1929.
Dec. 9. Dakota Wesleyan sophomore Aby Dwight of Langford became her school’s first-ever All-American volleyball player.
More: John Papendick: Looking back at rare sports moments in the first part of 2021
Dec. 18: South Dakota State's football season ended in the FCS national semifinals. The Jacks played 25 football games over two seasons in 2021, the last four in four different time zones. In 2021, the Jacks traveled 19,594 miles, played in front of 231,553 fans and had 201 practices.
Dec. 29: A 19-year Rapid City resident won his professional debut against his hometown team on the same day as he signed as an emergency goaltender in the East Coast Hockey League. Former high school goalie Brady Devries was home on Christmas break from Grand Canyon State University. After Utah signed him, Devries started and helped the Grizzlies defeat the host Rapid City Rush 4-3 in overtime by stopping 18 of 21 shots. It was only Devries fourth hockey game of the fall as he had played in three games for his Arizona university’s club team in his first semester in college.
Long-time South Dakota journalist John Papendick is a freelance writer, public speaker and seeker of new life experiences. Email: papendickjohn@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Papendick: Rare 2021 sports moments from September to December
