South Dakota State football celebrates national championship with fans
BROOKINGS – More than a thousand fans gathered at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex on Tuesday night to welcome home the national champions.
With the fans chanting ‘Let’s Go Rabbits’, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits emerged from their locker room, led by coach John Stiegelmeier, who carried the championship trophy they earned on Sunday with their 45-21 win over North Dakota State in front of more than 18,000 Toyota Stadium fans in Frisco, Tex. It marked the first football championship in school history, arguably the crowning achievement in the history of South Dakota athletics and an accomplishment that serves as the ultimate validation for the school’s controversial-at-the-time move to Division I in 2004.
The Jackrabbits were a good-but-not-great Division II program that played in a run-down stadium on natural grass without a true locker room or an indoor practice facility. Now they’re in Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, the coaches have luxurious offices that sit high above the turf field in the Dykhouse Center, and when it’s cold (or they need a place for an indoor celebration) they have the SJAC.
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Sunday’s win was the climax of that rags-to-riches story, and one of the themes of Tuesday’s celebration. When the Jacks went Division I, this was what everyone fantasized about, but whether it was truly realistic or not was another story. Now that the trophy is in the case, every step on the journey feels that much more necessary to have led them to where they are.
“It took so much work,” said athletic director Justin Sell. “From building facilities to scholarships to cost of attendance. To do all those things, to go through this long journey but do it without losing the sense of who we are as a program, that’s what makes this so valuable and so emotional.”
Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the Jacks won their first national title the same year the Jackrabbit Former Player Association bought the team new helmets. That organization has taken off over the last two years, and as this year’s playoff run hit a fever pitch, the influence of the JFPA and the current players’ appreciation for the former ones, was impressive to witness. Stiegelmeier mentioned the former players who helped build the foundation (2022 was SDSUs’ 10th straight year in the playoffs) in Sunday’s postgame press conference, and hundreds of players were in Frisco. They met with the team in the days leading up to the game and celebrated with them on the field after.
Cam Jones, a standout tight end who was a senior in 2015, was at Tuesday’s celebration, and lingered on the SJAC field long afterwards, visiting with players, fans and coaches.
“We’re all tremendously proud of the guys on this team,” Jones said, speaking for SDSU football alums. “I asked (senior guard Mason McCormick) how it felt after they won, and he said yeah, it feels great. But what’s so great is seeing all the former players who came down, and seeing how happy they were for us.
“I mean, there’s no jealousy at all. This has been building for a long time, they’ve been getting closer and closer. We know we had a hand in it as former players but we’re so happy for them. They finally kicked down that door, and to do it against that team from up north, and not just beat them but dominate them – there’s nothing better.”
That dominating win was, not surprisingly, led by the usual suspects. Quarterback Mark Gronwoski was the MVP, with three touchdown passes and a 51-yard touchdown run. Isaiah Davis and Amar Johnson both ran for more than 100 yards. The Janke twins made big plays. The defensive and offensive lines dominated the line of scrimmage.
But there are so many unsung heroes on championship teams.
There’s linebacker Saiveon Williamson, who started the year as a reserve, moved into the starting lineup late in the season due to injury and turned into a highly productive player, only to be moved back to the bench when his teammates got healthy. He had 20 tackles in the Jacks’ first two playoff games and just one in their last two. He is, as Stiegelmeier might say, the picture of a team-first guy.
There’s tight end Zach Heins, who broke his foot – broke it! – the night before the game, but still came out and played extensively in the title game. Heins was in crutches Tuesday, with zero regrets.
“When you hear your foot is broken you’re shocked, you’re not thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll play tomorrow,” Heins said. “But the doc said there was a way. I talked to my parents and we knew if there was any chance I’d do it. Heins was prescribed painkillers that were timed to get him through the game (he skipped pregame warmups to allow them to kick in) and made several key blocks as they ran over the Bison defense.
“It makes it all worth it,” the former Washington Warrior said. “It’s what you dream of as a kid and what we work for all year. It’s a story I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids someday.”
There's Zach Lujan, the rookie offensive coordinator.
Just six years removed from his senior year as a Jackrabbit quarterback, Lujan stepped into the big shoes left by Jason Eck, the popular and successful assistant who left to be the head coach at Idaho. Few jobs carry more pressure than offensive playcaller, but Lujan coaxed another brilliant season out of quarterback Mark Gronowski and pushed all the right buttons in the playoffs. The Jacks averaged 42 points in the postseason, and Lujan called a nearly flawless game in the championship against the Bison, no call bigger than the delayed tight end-dump to Mike Morgan for a game-changing 44-yard touchdown.
There was center Gus Miller. Remember in the home opener, how he couldn't get the snaps down against Cal-Davis? Remember how it was never an issue again the rest of the season?
And among many more, there’s receiver Landon Wolf, who transferred from Oklahoma State in 2021 to play his final year of college football, only to tear his ACL in the first quarter of the first game of the season. Thinking his career was over then, Wolf was granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA, but battled injuries again this season. He only caught seven passes, but he’s a national champion.
“There’s no better way to close the chapter of your career,” Wolf said. “I’ve seen a lot of people who lost their last game. Being able to win the last game of your career like this, I have the perspective to understand how rare and special that is. I knew every playoff game could’ve been my last so I tried to soak it all in.”
Wolf, despite having played all of one quarter as a Jackrabbit, was voted a team captain before the season. He remained a popular player with his teammates even when hurt, and signed autographs for fans after Tuesday’s celebration. When Wolf decided to leave a Big 12 team he could’ve gone anywhere. His choice to come to Brookings paid off.
“I was talking to people tonight – people who I met their kids, people I babysat for, who had me to dinner at their house,” Wolf said. “Everyone here feels so embraced by this community. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that just means so much to our success. This is a very special place.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota State football celebrates national championship with fans
