- This is a production of - SDPB - For a lot of South Dakotans.

Friday nights in the fall are reserved for football.

It doesn't matter the size of stadium or how small a school might be, it's a time where our towns come together to support our kids in the state.

Tonight we're going to take a peek into some of our towns, schools and teams and share a few of their stories with you.

Thank you for joining us tonight and welcome to our 2024 edition of Tales From the Gridiron.

- Tales from the Gridiron is made possible with your membership Thank you, with help from independent insurance agents of South Dakota, local agents who are invested in the communities where they serve and where they live.

Local independent insurance agents can be found at sd.insure - Donors to The Explore South Dakota Fund support the production of local documentaries and other programs of local interest presented by SDPB.

Friends of SDPB appreciates their support of this program.

- August is where it all begins.

That's when the shoulder pads are brought out, the chin straps are snapped on and the real preparation begins.

But for Pierre, they don't begin their practice slate in the way that most teams do.

Let's take a visit to the state capitol and get a glimpse into what some of the first few days look like for the Governor's squad.

- I wear it as my last name is Stalley, and then Pierre governor, football player.

I love it.

It's, it's amazing and not a lot of people get to, you know, engage in this and, you know, get to know what it feels like to be like such a good, be a part of such a good team, such a good program, and just everything really.

It's great.

- The Pierre Governors have won seven straight state titles and their Quest for number eight started the same way it has every year at the county fair.

But it doesn't look like this.

It looks more like this.

- It, it is really the opposite of a county fair.

I mean, county fair.

You kind of just go to relax and you do not relax at that county fair.

- You have to push a bag with your head, like 25 yards and then like you into like group and four.

So then you rotate all the other people are doing pushups or sit ups or something like that.

One's pretty, pretty odd.

- Well, most teams do conditioning the first couple days of practice Pierre does something a little different.

Pack up the bags and head to the Oahe downstream.

- We'd done something similar actually to where I grew up in Michigan.

Our high school, it has very similar where you just kind of really try and unplug, get away from your phones, get away from distractions and, and really just focus on becoming a team.

We really don't truly do a lot of football work.

We don't even use footballs really for the most part.

The first three days we don't use pads or helmets or anything.

You know, it's, it's a lot physically on the kids, but, you know, really our goal is to hopefully come into that first three days as a bunch of individuals and to come out at least three days as a team and for everyone to know they can do hard things and their teammates can do hard things.

Well, the county - Fair name, well that still remains a mystery, but the conditioning that doesn't stop at the county fair in fact continues on down at the downstream with some help from some special guests get outta the - water.

Yeah, no, they, we couldn't pull this off without them, you know, borrowing their tent.

You know, that's where our underclass level will be tonight is in a, in the big tent that they're putting up right now.

You know, we wouldn't be able to do this without them.

- There's some similarities for sure.

I think the National Guard and Football, they're both shows you can do difficult things under stressful situations that it, it kind of brings the best outta everybody.

- Five, let's go.

Drill Sergeant Hoffman is a good guy.

I mean, if you really get to know him, he likes to yell.

But I mean, if you working hard, it's no reason that you can't do it.

- I was talking to one of the guys, Degan, who was a National Guard, he, he reminded me that drill Sergeant Hoffman was gonna be here and that I kinda, you know, choked up a little bit and got a little nervous and we kind proved last year we didn't have drill sergeant so, or drill Sergeant Hoffman.

So we kind of got let off easy last year.

This year we got reminded what drill sergeant's all about.

- Well, football brought this group together.

It's the days of the downstream that bring them together as a team.

- You know, I just think this is such a special time because you get to know the kids in a light, but you don't always see 'em, you know, you don't see 'em in school or in practice the same way that you do out here.

You know, you get to kind of unwind and, and just have fun with the kids too.

You know, we'll play some bean bags.

We've got yard games all around and it's just, it's a different light for everybody to, to really focus on, hey, this is, this is the group we have this year.

This is our team.

This is who we are and, and this is who we have to work with.

So how do we best fit the pieces together and, and work together towards a common goal?

This is, - I think it's a special thing.

It develops our culture and it allows leaders to develop the younger guys and to build into their minds on this as we go that football is about, and I think it's kind of separator and it kind of builds that help us around everybody and it's what we need to start to see.

- Co-ops have become a normal thing in South Dakota with all sports.

Some towns are so close together that the transition is seamless, but for others the distance is much further.

Buffalo and Bison are separated by 55 miles, which makes their commitment and their co-op a bit more extreme than others.

And for one player on the Harding County Bison team, his commute extends even further than his teammates.

- Harding County Bison senior running back, Rylee Vale has always loved the game of football.

- It means everything.

It's been a huge part of my life forever since I can remember.

I've always been watching football with dad.

Me, in my spare time.

I, it's what I do.

I watch football, watch football highlights.

If I'm playing games, I'm playing football games.

It's just all football.

- Four years ago, Rylee's love for the game was tested as Bison.

Didn't have enough players to field the team, but an opportunity opened up.

- Well, we were all at a school board meeting 'cause everyone let the kids decide.

So we were all at the school board meeting and it was, I mean, they brought up Hardin County first and the discussion kind of end.

I mean, we were all there for Hardin County.

We all know the powerhouse Hardin County is the coaches that they've had.

We would just, we'd love the, we'd love the chance to come over here and decide to do something with it.

And that's what we did.

- Yeah, that's amazing.

It's, it's, I've enjoyed the addition of Bison because before this happened four years ago, I didn't know too many in their town.

I mean, I knew the kids that were around my age who were back living there now, but to see the parents of the players and the athletes and how much they loved the game of football and our, our two towns and our cultures coming together on game nights and stuff like that.

If you would've told me back when I was playing in 2002 that someday, you know, I'd be coaching in Hardin County and Bison would be a team to, you know, co-op together, I, I would've said, you're crazy.

There was no possible way back in 2002.

I would've believed that.

But where we're at now, I'm really happy it happened for both our programs.

- No, a lot of travel has to happen for the Bison athletes, but Rylee lives 20 miles east of town, so his journey takes him around 150 miles round trip.

- Well, I wake up about 06:30 or so, get outta the house about 07:20 ish and then go to school, head over to Hardin County around three o'clock, leave Hardin County, get home anywhere between 7:30 to 8:30.

Depends on the day when you talk about it, it does, it does seem like a lot.

But when you're doing it and you're loving what you do and you love the group of guys you're being around every day.

I mean, the last thing you wanna do is go home.

You wanna stay there and you want to keep going back and forth.

You want the ride to be a little bit longer so you can talk a little more, have a little more conversation.

So it seems like a lot, but when you're in the moment, it, I mean, you don't want it to end when you're in the moment - With the extra time on his hands.

Neal uses it for football.

- We actually, you know, on the learning our route tree and you know, system, our system and stuff like that, they, we told 'em to use their time, whether it be on schoolwork or if they're done with their schoolwork.

Then football comes next.

Use that time, get on huddle, watch, watch game film or learn our route jury.

'cause some of us still were struggling with that, but it's extra time where they could quiz each other and stuff like that on that ride and take advantage of all that time.

- I quiz him quite often, you know, we'll go over route combinations, you know, what routes are what and all that kind of stuff and just, you know, just giving him pointers on some things he can do different on the field.

So - In fact, coach Dylan Beckman has been with Rylee for a long time.

- He's our coach that comes over from Bison.

Good guy.

Had a lot of good memories with him.

He is a good coach.

He's been, he's actually, he coached the same group of kids.

He's coached my class since we've been sixth graders.

- Yeah, I, we have a pretty good relationship, you know, you know, he is almost kinda like a friend more than a just my athlete, you know, him and I, and you know, we've always got along really well and be able to coach Hims been really cool - With all the miles driven and all the yards run for Neal says you do it all over again.

- You know, you're growing up, you're elementary kid playing football alongside the football field and then on the football field watching Bison play.

I mean, you hear the rivalry between bison, Hardin County, but I mean, Hardin County is Hardin County.

I mean, you know, everyone knows who Hardin County is and it's just, it's a blessing to be able to come over here and play with.

I mean, I get to play with these players over here.

I get to play with these guys from Hardin County.

I get to be coached by these great coaches over here.

I get to play Friday nights in front of this great community.

So it's all worth it then - The All Nations football conference has continued to show growth since its inception in 2019.

Its purpose was to get more football participation in some of the native schools in the state.

One of the new arrivals to the All Nations football conference this year was White River.

We had a chance to visit them this season to experience a Tiger's Game day and talk to some of their most passionate fans.

When it comes to White River.

Most fans will think of basketball, but this season football is bringing in some excitement as well.

The school made the decision to move to the All Nations football conference this year, which has helped rejuvenate interest in the sport.

- Can't get beat deep in the passing game.

Keep going, nothing deep, everything in front of us.

Yeah.

And then we are containing that quarterback in the pocket to the best we can.

Right?

Late July, we were worried about our numbers going down, just because I think we haven't had a ton of success in season the last couple of years.

And I think we we're gonna have another tough schedule this year.

And I think that was kind of keeping some kids from wanting to play.

And so we decided, you know, I think if we join All Nations was kind of a thought we could get those numbers up and that's worked.

We're up to 21 guys now.

I think what it allows us to do, you know, the, the schedule's a lot easier now, and that gives us an opportunity to win games.

And that is gonna feed into the younger kids in middle school elementary to have them see, hey, we can win football games around here.

And it's not, it's not something, you know, where all we can do around here is play basketball.

- It's definitely different.

The competition's the same, but the motivation you have going into the game is still there.

The adrenaline you get is still very high and it's still fun to play and I love doing it.

And - Football's still football, football's where it's at.

I love football.

Football will be everything to me.

Quarterback position tonight, number - 15, just to have a season is great.

I love playing the sport.

It's what I like to do.

So - Football coaches might not like hearing this, but in my opinion, it's not as hard as a sport to play as basketball is.

The physical aspect of it is really tough.

But as far as skill wise, a good basketball player can translate to a good football player pretty easily.

And we've proven that.

We have a lot of good basketball players here.

- Tiger's players can always count on the support from the White River faithful.

Let's go - Tigers.

Let's go, let's go the community.

We all support each other.

As you guys can see around here, business is close.

On the nights that we play, - We, we don't go because we've got children or grandchildren playing.

We, we go because we're Tiger fans.

So, - You know, I I was born and and raised in White River, so I've been here, you know, since the mid eighties and, and you know, it's been a tradition.

We come out and everyone gets around the field and it's always a good time.

- Well, for me it's, it's the camaraderie, just being around the same people who are here to see the same thing you are and hopefully see a Tiger victory.

- My opinion of football is, it is a family.

I mean, the more successful you are, the more family you feel.

So they're here for each other.

- Community does a great job at supporting these guys, you know, especially, you know, they love the kids here.

You know, this school is the heartbeat of the community.

And so they're, you know, our our home games are always packed.

Football, basketball, volleyball.

They, they really enjoy watching these guys and the kids.

The kids notice that, you know, they, they definitely know like, hey, when it's game night, we're the, we're the biggest show in town and the community's gonna be out there to support us.

- It's crazy.

You break out of the huddle, - 1, 2, 3, tiger.

- You really can't put it into words.

It's one of the best things ever.

- Yeah, I like to, or we don't have a big field, so the cars are very close.

You can see people sitting on the back of their tailgates.

I love that.

I love the community.

You can spot people, people cheering, you can hear everyone.

It's really just a great feeling to have your community behind you when going into a football game.

- The All Nations football conference has provided a spark for football once again in White River.

- I think when the younger kids see, hey, every high school kid, every high school boy is playing football, I think when they see that, it kind of becomes an expectation.

And I think that's something we've kind of been losing over the last couple of years where we just haven't been able to get all of our high school boys to come out.

And I think that this league gives us a chance to do that and really start to be more competitive where we should be.

In my opinion, - The town of Warner is no stranger to success in athletics.

Their volleyball program is consistently one of the best in the state.

And their basketball teams have multiple state titles as well.

But for football, they made history in 2023 by winning their first ever state title.

And like most successful programs, success starts at the very top.

And in Warner coaching on the Gridiron has become a bit of a family business when it comes to schools who are consistently strong in athletics.

Warner very much fits the mold, and while their volleyball program gets a ton of outside attention, the Monarchs football team has consistently performed well throughout the years.

- There's expectations year in and year out.

You know, the this, this community, I would say is a little spoiled with the amount of sports championships that come to this town.

You know, you always like as, as a, as a competitor to, to be under the lights.

And, you know, that happens quite often around here, 24 blue, - 24 blue.

Coming into the 2023 Season, Warner had three state championship game appearances, but each time they came out on the losing end, that was set to change in a record setting way.

- We went into last season with some high expectations.

Did we think that we are gonna be state champs?

You know, it's a goal you always have, but you know how often you accomplish that one.

It's kind of the shooting for the stars type thing.

But, you know, we got things rolling and from week to week that our, our philosophy was the next big game is just our next one.

There was a lot of emotion in that game.

I, I didn't feel comfortable in that game until it was about a minute to go.

And it was just, it was tremendous how our kids would always respond after a big play by Brook.

And it, it was just an, an outstanding, unbelievable feeling.

- I was the offensive coordinator and you know, I joke around, you know, I've never called so many plays.

I I about halftime, I was thinking, holy my gosh, I've, you know, expelled about all that I've, you know, prepared for.

And it was only halftime and it was unbelievable game, you know, track meet.

I, I, you know, think that, you know, the fans' necks probably hurt from going back and forth looking.

I mean, it was, it was crazy.

It was something special just to experience that obviously with my father along his side.

And once the buzzer hit, it was, you know, I was trying to fight off some, some tears.

You know, we've been there, you know, three, three times before that, that getting that one last year to be able to experience the, the other side of it with my father and, you know, in his last, last hurrah was something special.

- Kerwin made the decision to step down.

His successor would be his son Derek.

- Hey, settle up right here.

- You know, I, I sat down with our administration here and said, you know, I'm thinking about stepping down, but I think the pieces we have here are, are ready to take the reins.

And I, I certainly wouldn't have stepped down if I didn't know that these kids weren't gonna be in good hands.

And, and they certainly are.

He's very creative, you know, from week to week.

We've never had a playbook with him because every week we're changing stuff so much that the playbook would be this thick, - Tough shoes to, to fill, you know what I mean?

But it was, it was special.

I mean, it still is special, you know, for, for me to take over for my father and, you know, kind of keep what, keep going what we've built.

- Touchdown.

You can definitely see the similarities between 'em.

You know, coach Kerwin had this legacy of winning, you know, and Dee was, Dee was a coach, he was offense coordinator.

So he saw a lot of what his dad did.

And I think the similarities are just there, just like learning off what his dad did.

You know, obviously coach has his own twist to some things, but, you know, a lot of similarities there and just coaching style.

So we all come to practice, we gotta know our jobs, you know, and we know the end goal of the season and we want to get there.

And it's just, it's come to see everyone compete together and just like try to make each other better.

And that's just always fun to watch and see.

- With Derrick's legacy as the head football coach, still in its beginning stages, the message, tradition, and goals remain the same.

- Marks at 3, 1, 2, 3, 5.

- You know, my message this year was, you know, we broke ground last year.

You know, why not?

Why not do it again?

You know?

And you know, it's, it's obviously we had some holes to fill and, you know, this, this group is, we're we're hungry to, to prove people that this is a program that is built for success year in, year out.

And that's what we're shooting for.

And you know, we're trying to, trying to do it again.

- No, you don't just build a program overnight.

You know, we, we don't like to rebuild.

We like to reload and, and having a new program and in a JV program is huge to your program.

And we've been fortunate with our numbers to have that situation and that's what we try to do every year.

- Next generation right here - We are standing here today at Watertown Arrow Stadium, one of the most historic football and baseball stadiums in the state.

For more than eight decades, this has been a place where the arrows have played.

And during their final home game this season, a special ceremony was held to bid farewell to the current venue as the football team will move to a new home in 2025.

SDPB was there for Watertown's final regular season game where everyone made it a point to come out and say goodbye - To those of us that coached here, played here, lived here.

It's just become the symbol of Arrow pride and Arrow football.

Period.

That's, that's that's what it is.

I mean, and growing up we really felt that this was probably the nicest place to play, you know, in the whole state.

Now it's aged for sure, but it's probably, it's just a, it's just a really cool place.

It was a WPA project that was built in 19, it started in 1940 in December, and then finished in 1941 in December.

The arrows actually started playing here in September of 41 before the stadium was complete, the eastern side was done, but they hadn't finished the western end where the baseball field is now.

So yeah, it's been here 83 - Years during Watertown's final home football game of the regular season.

Everyone came out to say goodbye to a place that they called home for so long.

- You know, the, the response by the former coaches and players was pretty phenomenal.

I don't know, maybe there were a hundred guys out there, I didn't really try to count, but it's just this sense of brotherhood among players and coaches.

And it was a final time to maybe come down into this locker room.

'cause I know a lot of 'em came down and looked around and they took pictures with buddies and even parents.

And, you know, I'd been down here so many times, I didn't really feel like I needed to come down again to see where my name was.

But that was part of it.

And, and they just, there's just, like I said, there's this camaraderie.

So many of us coaches still know each other, talk to each other, and so many of us coaches still have friends who are former players.

I, I was talking with my son a little bit, he played through his sophomore year.

He said, dad, one of the things I remember most was that smell just hit you right in the face.

And sure enough, when I walked in the night, there it was again.

So that end, you know, I'm glad that over the years coaches have let the kids come down and, and put their name and number on here.

When I was in high school, we didn't do that.

So a lot of us came back and found a spot.

But, you know, I, I forget names because I taught so many years and I coached so many years.

But when I come in here and I see 'em, the memories flood back and, and it's, it's hard, it's hard to think that someday this not, might not be here anymore.

And I'm so grateful that, like I said earlier, that the coaches let them do this because there is so much history here and I don't know if you see this other places, maybe you do.

- It's no secret that what truly makes high school football special in South Dakota is the people who are involved in it.

It doesn't matter if it's the fans who come to every game, the player who scored the game-winning touchdown, or the field that has a special aura about it.

Everything about the game adds to the stories that we as South Dakotans remember, and it keeps bringing us back year after year.

We'd like to thank you for joining us tonight for Tales from the Gridiron.

I'm Nate Wek and goodnight.