- This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

- It doesn't matter if you're in a metro area or in a town of 400 people, if it's fall in South Dakota, you'll find people watching the local football team on Friday nights.

But when it comes to football, especially at the high school level, there's so much more to the games than the stats, the winning and the score.

Hi, I'm Craig Maddock, and tonight we're gonna take a journey to some of these communities and share a few stories that display South Dakota's spin on the sport.

From overcoming adversity, to a historic scoreboard and visiting one of the more passionate towns.

Welcome to Tales of the Grid Iron.

- We're going to go down behind the field goal post for the best part of practice.

- Let's run.

(upbeat pop music) - Support comes from Anthem Oats in Frederick.

The Sumptions have been stewards of the soil since 1882.

From the Family Farm right to your pantry.

www.anthemoats.com - Donors to the Explore South Dakota Fund Support the production of local documentaries and other programs of local interest presented by SDPB.

Friends of SPDB appreciates their support of this program.

- Most coaches will tell you that any path to the dome starts with the very first practice.

This year, South Dakota Public Broadcasting stopped by Marion for the first practice of a newly developed co-op in the state, the Freeman.

Freeman Academy, Marion Phoenix.

(pop music) - [Dustin] Such a unique sport.

I mean, obviously it takes teamwork to be successful and then I mean you see it in the stand.

I mean, most places you go, there's full stadiums.

I mean people want to come out, they wanna watch football, regardless if your team is good or not.

I mean that's irrelevant.

They wanna support the kids.

Football is special.

I mean, it's just one of those unique sports where everybody really likes the game.

Well, we got dropped with our co-op with Canistota last December and then, you know, Marion's always been looking for the last, I don't know, five years probably.

And there with Emery and we weren't sure they were gonna leave that co-op.

And then, you know, about March, I'm guessing it finally came together where we were gonna co-op together and got it all passed.

- Okay, we're gonna get a break.

Grab water, then we're gonna go over there I believe.

We're gonna go down behind field goal post.

For the best part of practice.

- Let's run.

- [Matt] So, unfortunately another kid who was gonna go out for football towards acl, so originally I came up here for him cause I was really good friends with him before my eighth grade year or so.

And sports just weren't working out in Sioux Falls.

Just wasn't really nothing down there, just came down here.

Thought I'd try it out, just worked really good.

I mean, I guess nobody really looks at us, so I guess it's within the community.

We're only looked at within the community, so a lot of people just see pride in it.

Everyone around the town, everyone comes in, put in towns like these.

So I mean, coming into a new co-op, new coaches knew everything.

It's just everyone gets a chance.

It's all fair.

So I mean that's really nice.

- Okay, so you pack the whole body.

That's when we started getting our hands out there and call hold.

okay.

Pack half the body.

Here we go.

- [Maddox] Just, again, to know everybody kind of build for the future.

They have a good future here.

And I think that we can make a pretty good run this year.

He wants to get better.

Everybody has a chip on the shoulder.

Nobody really expects us to do anything.

But we just wanna come out here, play football and win games and we know we'll do that.

Never give up.

Always go 110% and if they make mistakes, just pat them on the back, tell it's okay, you'll get the next run.

It's practice.

There's no point in getting down on the play.

- That's it.

- [Evan] Yeah, so football in Freeman is kind of the thing where you know, you gotta go out.

It's fun.

You got all your friends are playing so you, you gotta play too.

I mean, and coaches are a great group of guys that are, you know, I've been around some of these guys for years now.

Like there's some of my baseball coaches, one of them's a teacher.

It's just a, you know, great group of guys that are.

- But you're here, you're loaded.

Keep your hips down, okay.

Drive.

Keep your hips square.

- Here to support you.

And really if you have any other issues that aren't football related, they'll be there for you.

It's like a, it's family type atmosphere.

I've known some of these guys for years now.

They're close.

But it's just a thing where, you know, it's a new new style of coaching, new offense, new defense.

And I like being these guys will always bring you up.

Even if you make a bad play, you know what happens.

You got the next play and you know, it's just, it's, it's fun.

- [Sports Commentator] Second down at nine, only a one yard game on that scramble will by Ortman again out of the shotgun.

They'll try the option play, he'll get inside the five still on his feet and he finds the end zone touch down.

Canistona Freeman.

- Last year was my first year of varsity coaching.

I was an assistant with the Canso Freeman co-op things that I learned last year that I want to implement.

And there's things that, you know, I want to do more hands on stuff myself, especially with the younger kids, just building a program.

- Then you're gonna go and be right here.

You have to make him open his hip.

- I've coached a long time with the Canastota kids so you know, I've have a soft spot for them and I wish 'em all the best cause I mean I've coached them for so long that I really hope they do well.

But I've also coached baseball and we are a co-op with Marion.

So I know these Marion kids pretty well and they've been very good for me too.

And I mean it's obviously a new co-op and it's a bright future I think is what we have.

And I'm excited to have these kids for the first time in football.

Cause I coached for a few of 'em in baseball and I think it'll be good.

I think give us time and we'll develop something here, but it's gonna take time.

- At every football field in South Dakota, there's some sort of a scoreboard, some may be huge, others a bit smaller.

But how often do you think about the scoreboard itself, where it came from, how long it's been there, or where an old one may go when it's removed from a field?

There's one retired scoreboard about 15 to 20 miles north of Sioux Falls.

That many pass by daily, just off the interstate.

And it has a strong connection to one family that goes well beyond a few light bulbs.

- If you've ever driven south on I 29 and wondered what the score of the game was, Dave Lebrun has had you covered.

- Okay, this is the fuse box where the power comes in, turn the switch on power to the scoreboard.

- Dave's the man behind the red scoreboard along the interstate just outside of Del Rapids.

And for two decades he's been lighting it up for each passerby with one stipulation.

- The only thing is I, they have to win, otherwise they don't get the score.

- The scoreboard that now stands on Dave's farm was donated to Del Rapids St. Mary in 1987.

When the school decided to upgrade in 2002, they asked Dave to help take down the old one and when the development director told Dave he could have it if he wanted, well that's when the light bulb turned on.

- He told me, he said, You can have it if you take it out.

And I said, well good.

I think I'll put it up out in my farm.

- Dave decided to keep the old scoreboard as a way to motivate and connect with his sons over their love for football.

A sport that wasn't necessarily his first choice.

- I was more of a basketball guy.

- But it worked.

Today the Lebruns are a family of football, the history of which can be spread across the kitchen table.

- Brian, my oldest was 99 and he graduated in 99.

He was a defensive end and and lineman.

- All three of Dave's sons would go on to play football in high school and college.

- Next was Josh graduated in 2001, he was running back and he was honorable mention for the top 50 in the state.

- His youngest son Scott, played for the University of Sioux Falls where his team won a national championship and he was an All-American honorable mention.

- This is the helmet from 2009 national championship team or NAI for USF.

And Scott was a member of the team.

- Through it all, high school or college, Dave would post the scores of the games that his kids won.

- Get little dirty.

We haven't used it lately.

Inside of here is, is the controller and this for the, the first two buttons are the home team score and the visitors.

Then the period or on this side is the timer and on the clock that we used to have on top of it.

And so it was quite simple to run and it was quite trouble free as long as it was out of the, out of the weather.

- And after 20 years of keeping score, this board has tallied as many memories as it has points.

- Brother at the time was playing football up at Northern and so he rigged up a light that would say NSU at the below the home side and, and he would light that one up when he put up the NSU scores.

Whenever they would win.

- When the boys were playing, it really was nice to put up the score and they'd come home and see, see that, that I was really following their games.

- Today the family is still involved in the St. Mary's football program.

Scott is one of the assistant coaches.

Dave is the PA announcer.

- Cardinals start first and 10 from about the 15 yard line.

- As for the scoreboard, well it's days seem to be numbered.

- Yes, it don't work.

- And despite Dave's attempts to keep it going.

- It was a toolbox.

Now it's made outta metal cause I had a wooden one and the mice would get in there.

- It doesn't stand as proud as it once did.

- It's seen better days, anyway.

- Years of South Dakota weather has taken its toll.

- There was a clock on top and a windstorm came through and, and blew it off.

And then another windstorm, the duration came in.

And ever since then, all the, the lights have not been working and I don't, it's awfully old and I don't, I don't know how you get it repaired, but so it it's been been here for a long time.

It was here longer than it was at the school.

- His son Scott hopes it can be repaired.

- He's got some grandkids that are coming up and before we know it, they'll be playing high school ball and I'm sure he'd love to be able to put those scores up too.

So that's something we should really look into.

- So as time runs out on this little red landmark along the interstate, the last illuminated digit reminds us all that.

Sometimes the score really doesn't tell the whole story.

- The Howard Tigers are one of the more consistent nine man football teams in the state these days.

And their fans help support them every step of the way.

Community pride is special in South Dakota, especially with high school football.

Howard continually goes above and beyond to display this support every game day and they're proud of it.

Let's take a look at what game day, what it means in Tiger's country.

- Friday nights in the fall, it's when hits become highlights.

- Friday nights are special.

I mean, I'm a senior and I know it's gonna be something I miss a lot, but I mean they're crazy.

I, there's just nothing like 'em.

- Where cheers echo into the night sky.

- Let's go Tigers.

- When the lights shine the brightest.

- Friday nights are just, I think they're the highlight of my week.

Just everything I look forward to that whole week until it's that day.

And you know, right before that game nerves are rattling.

It's just an awesome feeling.

- Moments become immortal.

- As your 9A champions.

55-18 is your final score.

Howard claims the championship.

- But before kickoff, a lot of work needs to happen.

Game day for head coach Pat Rummel starts in a way you may not expect giving the field a fresh cut.

When I first got here, we had some of our janitors did the work on it and they were really good cause they'd been here for a while.

So I didn't have to do any of that stuff.

Then they retired and then nobody else kind of took it over.

So I, I think one, one or two of them might have tried and they, it wasn't a very, it wasn't a job that I, I liked how, you know, how it was done.

So I just figured from then on, you know, if I wanted it done, how I wanted it done, I had to do it myself.

- Pat Roma, his field is his baby.

He takes care of that night and day, makes sure it's ready to go.

- Your football field is sort of a, an imprint of what your community's like.

And I think if you have a, a sloppy field and, and one that's not taken care of, it kind of symbolizes maybe a little bit about your community.

So that's just always been my theory.

And so obviously we try to keep top-notch things out here and I, I like to make it so when people see our field, it kind of symbolizes Howard as, as the the school we are and the community we have here with the grass looking good, the stands are ready for fans.

We've been filling them for years, - Oh, probably between the people in Canova 50 years, you know, I've gone to football games when they, we were still in Canova and then when they moved up here, I started coming to these games and supporting the kids.

Good rocking guys.

- Born and raised in Howard.

Been going to football as long as I can remember.

I I never missed game, any sporting events.

And, and we just loved the community, loved the pride by the tigers and it's just wonderful to be a part of it all.

- The time I told him I had to get out to the football, that's when I broke my hip and I had surgery on a Thursday and I said I was gonna be out the next day to watch the playoff game here.

Oh no, no.

Well, I told 'em I was just gonna leave, but they let me out and I just watched it at home that night and we got beat.

- It really just shows like how much the football team and means to our community and it's just really fun to get everyone together and show how much it means to us.

- The Tiger fans now fill the stands continuing the rich tradition that is Howard Tiger Football.

- At the beginning of the year, every year it's right on our offensive playbook that we get handed out and it says tradition doesn't graduate.

That's a big thing for us.

We know we always have big shoes to fill coming up, but we're, it's our, it's a new year.

It's not last year.

It's not next year.

We're just looking to be successful.

- Just how tiger football, we're gonna see a lot of alumni back on the field and they want to come back and they, they wanna cheer on these kids that they've either played with or that they've known since they were little.

Me working at the elementary, obviously I see the kids that play football at recess, the, the kindergartners trying to play with the fifth graders, trying to be that Howard football that, that they know.

- Yep.

I was glass of 96.

We played on the football team and we went from nine men to 11 man for quite a long run there.

And, and it was quite a learning experience, but we had a had a lot of fun with it and it just a thrill to be out on the field and a thrill to be in a stands watching my son now.

- Orange and black.

Orange and black.

- My brothers played two years ago and four years ago or whatever.

And now I'm a cheerleader and kind of following the whole Howard tradition and here we are today.

- It's meant a lot.

It's just, I grew up around football.

It's always just kind of been part of me, runs deep in my family.

It's, it's really an fun sport for me to play.

And it's exciting.

- Number 30 Griffin Club.

The easiest part of my week is Friday night.

When the game's time, when the kickoff happens, I, that's obviously the most fun for me.

- Our next stop will highlight a much different story.

Kimball White Lake senior Bo Kirsch has loved sports most of his life, but this year a new challenge arose that has restricted that passion.

As you'll notice, Bo's personality and perspective on life is something that we can all take a lesson from.

- Come on, Wildcats!

- Bo can be described with a lot of words, but first thing that comes to my mind is just salt of the earth type of kid is really the type of kid that you would want your son to grow up to be.

And that's how I pictured Bo and, and he, he doesn't want attention, he would just assume somebody else was getting attention.

But, but he's grateful for, for everything he has and very appreciative that, that he's still with us and, and and strong in his faith and he is just that type of kid.

- Bo Kirsch is a senior this year at Kimball White Lake.

And while sports have been a huge part of his life, shortly after birth, there were questions if that would be the case.

- Well I was born with a heart condition, I had three surgeries within two years to repair my heart cause my right artery just didn't form.

So my heart hasn't always worked correctly and the doctors said that I wasn't supposed to play sports ever, but I've played sports up until I was 18 now and this happened and I had a heart attack this summer and they were, all, the doctors were completely surprised by it.

It was not something they expected to happen.

At the time it happened.

I was just sitting down watching TV.

It felt like somebody was just putting a little bit of pressure right over my heart.

And then a few minutes later I felt jaw pain on the left side of my jaw.

And then I really, really bad headache.

The doctors weren't really too worried until they tested me.

And then they said my troponin levels were super high and that indicates heart attack and that really freaked me out.

So I was freaking out and, but my mom really kept, kept her cool and she kept me calm and that really helped having her there.

- After a stretch in the hospital and many tests, Bo was eventually cleared to return home, however the hardest news had already hit him.

He wasn't going to be allowed to play sports during his senior year of high school.

- I really wanna be out there.

I've been kind of just getting a little bit of playing time here and there.

And then this year I was really gonna have a lot of playing time and I was real excited for that.

But that didn't happen.

- With as disappointing and scary as the heart attack was for Bo and his family.

They were surrounded by strong support.

- My family and Scott's family and the community and even the people at the hospital and stuff.

It was just amazing that people would, would, would step in and have encouraging words or do or say things.

It just, you know, and you just knew that it was, it was, you'd weren't alone, you know.

- And after three open heart surgeries in the same place, we kind of got to know the doctors and the nurses real well.

So.

- The team also had a few surprises in store for Bo even though he couldn't physically be on the field playing, he would still very much be part of the squad.

- The first thing I do before every game we have five seniors and you're, you're only supposed to walk four out onto the field for a coin flip.

But I ask all the refs if we can have an exception to have an honoree captain for Bo.

So he walks out with his other four seniors every game, and along with that, we only had headsets that actually needed to be replaced and we had three sets and it was time to replace them anyway.

But my thinking the whole time was let, let's get a couple extra sets so that we can get Bo involved along with another coach.

He didn't really know that he was gonna get a headset.

I, before the first game, I gave him a headset and he was just tickled that he could be involved, listen to know what's going on, maybe add a little advice here and there's, hey, just be part of the team.

- There we go.

We gotta play good work, good work.

- With the headset.

I can hear everything.

The coach just say, I get so excited when they call a play call that I like and I'm just like, I'm watching for exactly where they're gonna go and exactly what's gonna happen.

And you can just kind of see how the coach thinks.

Like he says, you know, I'm gonna loose him up with this or I'm gonna attack this side.

And it, it really puts it into perspective how strategic it is and not just, you know, put your head down and run through the whole like the players think it is.

- All right, we need some pressure on him.

Yeah, I know, I heard.

I just want you to eat him up.

We need pressure on him.

And you're the man to do it on.

- You gotta get higher.

- During the first home game, the team sold t-shirts as a fundraiser that read for Bo on them.

After all, Bo is an easy guy to like his teammates, especially the four other seniors feel especially close to him.

- Well he's always supporting us, picking us up, telling us things that we're doing wrong or need to do better at.

- I guess it still feels like he's part of the team.

He's always at practice and he is always cheering us along on the sideline and it kind of makes you realize how fortunate you are to still be able to play, kind of puts a new perspective on being able to still be out there.

- I think when it happened it really made you realize what sports are and how sports on the field is and everything, but off the field and we're together and Bo's a really great guy and everybody's his best friend and really makes you thankful for things in life.

- He does just as much off the field as well.

He's got the headset on, you know, he's helping us out on the sideline.

He's always running down when we make big plays and, and like Jackson said, he's everybody's best friend.

- Growing up.

Catholic Faith is still a large part of his life.

Before each game, Bo leads the wild cats in a prayer.

- To deliver us from evil, in His name power and the glory for forever.

- Bo I, I truly think of him as a son and, and his family knows that.

And, and that's how Special Bo is, is to me personally.

And, and sometimes it's hard to, for me to remember that I am his coach and, and and stuff like that cause he, I do feel so close and so connected with him and, and, and in just a privilege to know him and his family.

- The high school football championships have been a part of South Dakota since 1981, except for one year in Brookings.

All of the championships have been placed right here at the Dakota Dome in Vermilion.

Next time you're out at a game, try to imagine that first practice.

Take an extra glance at the scoreboard, think about the community support for your team, or be like, Bo every day we experience challenges in life, but it's how we approach that and what we do next.

That truly defines us.

Thank you for joining us tonight for Tales of the Grid Iron.

I'm Craig Mattick.

Goodnight.