GRAND FORKS — For the first time since joining South Dakota State football as a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January, Danny Freund was back at the Alerus Center.
He watched the Jackrabbits roll to a 38-7 win Saturday over UND from the coaches’ box, a familiar spot for Freund, who coached at UND for 13 years.
Freund isn’t calling plays for the Jacks this season, but his new head coach likes what he’s seeing from his new addition.
Jackrabbits offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ryan Olson is in charge of playcalling, but “Danny’s done a really good job of working with Olson up top and has really spearheaded, but it’s been Ryan Olson this season,” Jackrabbits coach Jimmy Rogers said.
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Still, as the quarterbacks coach, Freund — a former UND quarterback — spends much of his time working with Mark Gronowski, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner, an honor given to the best FCS offensive player.
Gronowski went 11-for-19 passing for 193 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win.
The three scores, of 25, 39 and 47 yards, were all hauled in by sophomore Griffin Wilde.
“Just the consistency,” Rogers said. “We’re getting better at passing the ball. It’s one of those things that didn’t show up in the North Dakota State game — being able to take downfield shots and Mark having his feet underneath him and delivering the ball with accuracy. He was poised when he got pressured.
“UND blitzes as much as any team that we’ll face in the country, so to be able to see the pressures, be able to work at that, and our O-linemen execute the communication that it takes to pick up some of those things, I thought that was really positive.”
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Wilde ended with five catches for 140 yards – more than UND’s receiving corps combined.
The Jackrabbits heard all about Alerus Center magic and the Hawks’ success at home, but SDSU didn’t let that impact the game.
They might be back-to-back FCS national champions, but Rogers emphasizes the same messaging to his team, no matter the opponent the Jackrabbits are facing.
“This is a completely different team and a bunch of different personnel,” he said. “We’re focused on one game at a time, maybe more than anything else.
“It’s about being present in the moment and not letting things slip on your end. You only get 12 games guaranteed, and it’s really important to try to maximize it in every way, whether that be your intensity or your focus and the preparation. That can’t change based off who you’re playing because you only get so many of them. We work year-round for – what is 60 minutes, 12 times? It goes by really quick, although it feels at times like a lifetime. Try to get the guys to cherish the moment and enjoy being around each other and developing a culture that they want to stick and compete for one another.”
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Freund brought experience to South Dakota State, but his mentality has stuck out to Rogers. It fits into what the Jackrabbits are trying to create, Rogers said.
“He’s just a great coach,” Rogers said. “Having Danny and his family in our program is maybe the biggest impact. Just who they are and what they’ve done as far as the spirit they bring, and they make everybody more positive being around them.”
Abby Sharpe has covered area preps and University of North Dakota athletics for the Herald since July 2023. She graduated from Arizona State University with a sports journalism degree. She loves ’90s sitcoms, historical fiction and Quentin Tarantino movies. Readers can reach Abby at asharpe@gfherald.com.
BROOKINGS, S.D. — — Jadyn Donovan finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds to help No. 16 Duke hold off South Dakota State 75-71 on Sunday.
Donovan hit 11 of 17 shots from the floor and added four assists and four steals for the Blue Devils (4-1). It was the second double-double this season for the sophomore.
Ashlon Jackson totaled 17 points and four assists for Duke. Vanessa de Jesus scored 13 off the bench.
Brooklyn Meyer scored 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting to lead the Jackrabbits (3-1). Paige Meyer had 12 points and seven assists. Haleigh Timmer scored 11 on 5-for-7 shooting. Kallie Theisen grabbed 12 rebounds but did not score.
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Jackson had nine points to guide the Blue Devils to a 23-18 advantage after one quarter.
Donovan scored off a rebound to give Duke a 10-point lead with 90 seconds left before halftime. But Brooklyn Meyer had the only basket from there and South Dakota State trailed 38-30.
The Jackrabbits grabbed the lead at 47-45 after Timmer’s layup and two free throws by Meyer. Donovan answered with a dunk off a rebound and finished off a three-point play, and Reigan Richardson and Toby Fournier sank shots in the final 44 seconds to send the Blue Devils to the fourth quarter with a 54-50 lead.
Mesa Byom hit a 3-pointer with 7:38 left to play to pull South Dakota State even at 59. Donovan answered with another rebound basket and a jumper, and the Blue Devils stayed in front from there.
The Jackrabbits stayed within striking distance by hitting 8 of 16 shots from beyond the arc while Duke sank just 3 of 11.
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The Blue Devils return home to play Belmont on Thursday.
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BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Jaden Jackson scored 19 points as South Dakota State beat Southern Miss 101-76 on Wednesday night.
Jackson had 10 rebounds for the Jackrabbits (4-1). Oscar Cluff scored 16 points while shooting 7 of 7 from the field and added nine rebounds. Kalen Garry shot 3 for 8 (1 for 5 from 3-point range) and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points.
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The Golden Eagles (2-2) were led by Neftali Alvarez, who posted 13 points. Christian Watson added 12 points and two steals for Southern Miss. Denijay Harris also had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
SIOUX FALLS — As the curtain rises on the 2024 South Dakota high school volleyball state tournaments, all three class champions from 2023 return to defend their titles.
Harrisburg puts a lengthy win streak on the line while looking for three championships in a row in Class AA; Sioux Falls Christian attempts to extend its Class A reign of dominance; and Chester hopes to become the first Class B repeat champion other than stalwarts Warner and Northwestern since 2002.
Here’s what to keep an eye on Thursday through Saturday at the Premier Center:
Chargers aim for eight straight as No. 8
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For a decade and a half, Sioux Falls Christian has been the team to beat in Class A volleyball, winning 12 of the past 14 state titles and seven in a row entering this weekend.
But while most of those championships came from a favorable seed position, if the Chargers are to collect an unprecedented eighth consecutive title, they’ll have to do it as the No. 8 seed in the bracket. First up for Sioux Falls Christian is No. 1 seed Miller, which has just one loss on the season (to Class B No. 2 Warner), in the opening match of the tournament. Should the Chargers knock off the Rustlers, a meeting with rival and No. 4 seed Dakota Valley or No. 5 Mount Vernon/Plankinton would await in the semifinals.
This season, SFC is 25-12, with those 12 losses the most in any single season during their 15-year run of dominance. The Chargers lost just 14 total over the previous four seasons. But the record can be quite misleading. Seven of those 12 losses this season came to out-of-state foes, and an eighth came to Class AA No. 1 Harrisburg.
Class A 3-seed Dell Rapids split a pair of matches with the Chargers this season, and 4-seed Dakota Valley knocked them off twice, but no one else in the tournament field has seen SFC this season.
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Harrisburg’s Josalyn Samuels sets the ball in a high school volleyball match between the Harrisburg Tigers and the Mitchell Kernels on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Mitchell.
Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic
Harrisburg goes for back-to-back unbeaten seasons
To find the last time Harrisburg was on the losing end of a volleyball match, one must go back to Oct. 4, 2022.
Since then, the Tigers have stacked up 75 consecutive match wins and now stand three wins away from back-to-back perfect seasons. En route to a 28-0 record so far this season, Harrisburg has only dropped five total sets, sweeping 23 opponents, and has yet to be taken the distance in a best-of-five sets match. Of those five set losses, only one came against a Class AA foe, as Sioux Falls Washington, the No. 3 tournament seed, nabbed on Sept. 24.
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Of the other contenders, look to the winner No. 4 O’Gorman and No. 5 Watertown, which should be a hard-fought match and will likely have the winner carrying a “nothing to lose” feeling against the Tigers in the semifinals. O’Gorman has only lost once in the last six weeks, that being a 3-0 loss to Harrisburg on Oct. 29.
In the bottom of the bracket, Jefferson and Washington are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds and seem likely to face each other. A sleeper to watch is No. 6 Sioux Falls Roosevelt, which is 19-9, and went five sets with the Warriors twice already this season, both won by Washington. Both lower seeds in that bracket have been trending strong, with eight-straight wins for No. 7 Brandon Valley and seven in a row for Roosevelt.
Chester’s Lily Van Hal sets the ball to a teammate in a Class B SoDak 16 volleyball match on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Canistota.
Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic
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Chester looks to defend title against deep field of contenders
Since 2003, no two consecutive seasons have passed without either Warner (eight titles in that span) or Northwestern (nine titles) winning a Class B championship, but Chester is looking to change that.
The Flyers took down Warner in a five-set thriller during last season’s championship match and enter this year’s tournament as the No. 1 seed. At 29-2, Chester’s lone losses this season came at the Pentagon Invitational tournament to a pair of Iowa programs. For the third year in a row, Chester enters the state tournament without a loss to another Class B team and the last such outcome was a 2022 state championship loss to Warner.
But even as the favorite, a championship repeat doesn’t figure to be a cakewalk. Six of the eight Class B teams in the field are back from 2023. No. 2 Warner surely wants to avenge its loss in last year’s title matchup, and No. 3 Hitchcock-Tulare also hails from the powerhouse Region 1B. Lower seeds Burke, Gayville-Volin, Colman-Egan and Castlewood are all among the experienced state tournament programs looking to make a run.
But the Flyers are loaded, have a lot of big-match experience at the state tournament and a veteran coach in Jean O’Hara. For all of the skill and ability, Chester still has only two seniors on the roster and the Flyers appear to be in position to go back-to-back.
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Dierks covers prep and collegiate athletics across the Mitchell Republic’s coverage region area. His focus areas include: Mitchell High School football and boys basketball; area high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and track and field; and South Dakota State football. He is also at the forefront of the Mitchell Republic’s podcasting efforts. Dierks is a Mitchell native who graduated from South Dakota State University with his bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2020. He joined the Mitchell Republic sports staff in August 2021. He can be reached at ldierks@mitchellrepublic.com and found on Twitter at @LDierksy.
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