Vol. 21, No. 4; Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020

Sep 24, 2020 | Parker's Midweek Update | 2 comments

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American Family Insurance
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ELECTION UPDATE

Election countdown:
5 days: First presidential candidates debate, Cleveland (Sept. 29).
13 days: Vice presidential candidates debate, Salt Lake City (Oct. 7).
21 days: Second presidential candidates debate, Miami (Oct. 15).
25 days: Voter registration deadline for general election (Oct. 19).
28 days: Third presidential candidates debate, Nashville (Oct. 22).
41 days: Election Day (Nov. 3).
82 days: Each state’s electors meet at state capitals to cast votes for President (Dec. 14).
118 days: Inauguration Day (Jan. 20).

Interest in the election: As of Monday of last week, the absentee ballot requests in South Dakota numbered 110,515. Ballots were mailed out by county auditors beginning last Friday, which was the first day of voting.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Face masks are the most important powerful public health tool we have. We have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense.”

— Dr. Robert Redfield, Center for Disease Control director

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
THURSDAY
— Volleyball: at Aberdeen Central, 7 p.m. POSTPONED
FRIDAY
— Cross country: at Rapid City Central invitational, 1 p.m.
— Football: home vs. Spearfish, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
— Girls tennis: home for Pierre invitational, 8 a.m.
— Boys golf: at ESD Conference meet, Mitchell, 10 a.m.
— Cheer/dance: at Rapid City Stevens invitational, 11 a.m.
— Girls soccer: at Brookings, noon.
— Boys soccer: at Brookings, 2 p.m.
— Volleyball: at Harrisburg, 4 p.m.
SUNDAY
— Softball: at Pipestone, 12:30 p.m.; vs. Lennox (at Pipestone), 3:30 p.m.
MONDAY
— Girls soccer: at Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6 p.m.
— Boys soccer: at Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6 p.m.
TUESDAY
— Girls tennis: at ESD Conference meet, Harrisburg, 8 a.m.
— Girls soccer: home vs. Yankton, 4 p.m.
— Cheer/dance: at Sioux Falls O’Gorman invitational, 5 p.m.
— Boys soccer: home vs. Yankton, 6 p.m.

Athletes of the Week: The Pierre Athletic Coaches Association (PACA) last week named Zach Letellier of the football team and Ayvrie Kaiser of the volleyball team as its honored athletes from the previous week’s games.

Fine Arts Student of the Week: Kate Mullett of the art club was named Fine Arts/Performer of the Week.

SOCCER PLAYOFF PICTURE

Class AA boys: With a record of 3-4-1, Pierre stands 11th this week. In this class 16 of the 18 teams qualify for the playoffs.

Class AA girls: In this class where 16 of the 18 teams qualify for the postseason, Pierre with a 1-6-1 record is 13th this week.

FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PICTURE

Class 11AA: In this class where all eight teams qualify for the playoffs, Pierre stands third. Brookings is first, Yankton second, Mitchell fourth, Huron fifth, followed by Sturgis, Douglas and Spearfish.

Class 11A: In this class where 16 of the 24 teams qualify for the playoffs, Stanley County is in 10th place this week.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
THURSDAY
— Volleyball: at Potter County (in Gettysburg). POSTPONED
FRIDAY
— Football: at Wagner. POSTPONED
MONDAY
— Cross country: at Miller invitational. POSTPONED

Football: It doesn’t matter if you have the lead during the game, just so you have it when the game ends. The Buffaloes never had the lead over Miller/Highmore-Harrold until midway through the fourth quarter, but they held on to beat the Rustlers, 22-20, to improve to a 3-2 record. Things got too interesting at the end when Miller recovered a fumble with 1:54 left, but after two incomplete passes, Nathan Cook intercepted Miller’s third-down play and returned the ball deep into Miller territory from where the Buffs took a knee to win. Earlier in the game Cook picked up a muffed punt snap and returned it for a score. With SCHS down 20-14 in the fourth, Lathan Prince passed to Cook for a 27-yard TD that gave SC its first lead.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
THURSDAY
— Volleyball: home vs. Sunshine Bible Academy, 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
— Football: home vs. Hitchcock-Tulare, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
— Volleyball: at Colome, noon.
MONDAY
— Cross country: at Miller invitational.
TUESDAY
— Volleyball: home vs. Potter County, 6:30 p.m.

Volleyball: The Chargers swept Lyman, 3-0, on set scores of 25-19, 25-13, 25-20 with Jill Hofer leading in kills. On Tuesday SBHS lost to North Central, 3-0, on scores of 19-25, 20-25, 22-25. Trichelle White had 11 kills and Jill Hofer five. The team had 11 service errors which helped the opposition. SBHS stands at 2-4.

THE WEEK’S BEST FACEBOOK POST

“My life feels like a test I didn’t study for.”

COUNTDOWN

1 day: Custer State Park buffalo roundup (Sept. 25).
2 days: Blue & White Day at Dakota Wesleyan (Sept. 26).
5 days: First presidential candidates debate (Sept. 29).
5 days: Baseball playoffs begin (Sept. 29).
8 days: Pierre Players’ “Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van” (Oct. 2-4, 8-10).
8 days: Sully Buttes High homecoming day (Oct. 2).
9 days: The Preakness, NBC (Oct. 3).
11 days: State boys golf tournament, AA Sioux Falls, A Hot Springs (Oct. 5-6).
13 days: Vice presidential candidates debate (Oct. 7).
14 days: State girls tennis tournament, AA Rapid City (Oct. 8-9).
21 days: Second presidential candidates debate (Oct. 15).
23 days: State soccer championship games, Huron (Oct. 17).
25 days: Voter registration deadline for general election (Oct. 19).
26 days: World Series begins (Oct. 20).
28 days: Third presidential candidates debate (Oct. 22).
30 days: State cross country meet, Rapid City (Oct. 24).
30 days: State cheer/dance meet, Rapid City (Oct. 24).

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

Presentation football (Michael Lyons): The Saints gave up three pick-sixes in the first half and fell behind quickly, 21-0, en route to a 42-0 loss to Dakota State in NSAA action. PC’s next game is Saturday vs. Waldorf in Forest City, Iowa.

Dakota Wesleyan football (Cobey Carr, Isaac Cliff): Neither of our local freshmen played as DWU lost big to Northwestern, 50-16. DWU has its homecoming game vs. Dordt at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Northwestern (Iowa) football (Morris Hofer): The Red Raiders powered past Dakota Wesleyan, 50-16, and are now 1-1. The NWC quarterback had four touchdowns (73, 70, 91 and 14 yards) and threw for 272 yards all in the first half. He didn’t play in the second half. Morris had two assisted tackles, one of them for yardage loss. Idle this week, the Raiders play at Dordt Oct. 3.

Dakota Wesleyan volleyball (Elena Svingen): The Tigers defeated Morningside, 3-1, but Elena didn’t play in that match. Now 5-1, DWU, after playing Dordt last night, hosts Briar Cliff Friday, Presentation Tuesday and Northwestern next Wednesday.

Dakota State volleyball (Nicole Sarringar): The Trojans lost to Morningside, 3-2, on set scores of 25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 19-25, 9-5. They lost to St. Mary in Omaha 3-2 on scores of 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 19-16. Nicole did not play in either match. Early this week, with two players on the DSU team having tested positive for COVID-19, the next eight matches have been postponed with the team in quarantine. All matches through Oct. 7 are currently called off.

Bemidji State fishing (Coulton Lentz, Braeden Peery): The duo of Sully Buttes alumni placed sixth in the team standings with 186 points and 27.65 total weight of fish in the latest match on Turtle Lake. Coming up on the schedule are meets at Turtle River Lake Sept. 30, Cass Lake Oct. 4 and Big Lake Oct. 7.

North Dakota State football (Grey Zabel): The Bison are a week away from their one-game season against Central Arkansas on Oct. 3. That match-up is one of nine games on Central Arkansas’ schedule.

Black Hills State football (Josh Breske, Josh Rowe, Gage Gehring): The Yellowjackets are two weeks away from the first game of their five-game season against Mines in Rapid City Oct. 10.

South Dakota Mines football (Matt Heilman): The Hardrockers open their five-game season at home vs. Black Hills State Oct. 10. They will have a public scrimmage this Saturday afternoon as part of “M” Day.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.”

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Thanks to Brad Cruse for contributing this week’s puzzle.

Directions: Draw a box of 16 squares in a 4×4 format. Number the boxes in your top row 1, 2, 3 and 4 from left to right. Number the boxes in your left-hand row 1, 5, 6 and 7 from top to bottom.

Clues:
ACROSS
(1) Fast man from Jamaica.
(5) Can pick you up.
(6) Lariat.
(7) Champions can cut these down.
DOWN
(1) What wildfires do.
(2) Long woodwind instrument.
(3) The action of leaping yesterday.
(4) Spanish three.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Sept. 24:
Mikayla Mikkelsen, Emmett Becker, Mary Lynne Swanstrom, Lindsey (Tilberg) Jennewein, Jessi (Huber) Herrscher, Alicia (Ripley) Schoenhard, Bridger Tobin, Ryan Olson, Kolten Haag, Blake Paxton, Kolten Withers, Tabita Smith, Nicole Smith, Kirion Vogel.
— 4th anniversary, Jalen/Tiera (Feller) Lamb.
— 4th anniversary, Miles/Shelby (Stadel) Schock.
— 9th anniversary, Justin/Kelly (Kindle) Hipple.
— 37th anniversary, Jeff/Staci Holden.
— 14th anniversary Adam/Shawna (Miller) Lizotte.

Friday, Sept. 25:
Sara Rankin, Charlene Lower, Renee Rodgers, Brett Prue, Matt Geraets, Isaac Hall, Corwyn Mosiman, Kay Huxford, Penny Ripperger.
— 38th anniversary, Alan/Paula Hrdlicka.
— 16th anniversary, David/Carla Madden.
— 44th anniversary, Dale/Eileen Bertsch.
— 10th anniversary Mark/Haley (Larson) Lunders.
— 11th anniversary, Jason/Jessica (Williams) West.
— 16th anniversary, Brandt/Rebecca Becker.

Saturday, Sept. 26:
Josh Williams, Kim Hipple, Stephanie Snow, Michele Hoss, Helen Sutera, Trudy Feigum, Calyn (Cronin) Hauck, Martin Calkins, Mikayla Hight, John Storsteen.
— 11th anniversary, Michael/Kallee (Hewlett) Rydland.
— 17th anniversary, Joshua/Cheri (Olinger) Raymond.
— 55th anniversary, Tim/Janie Cass.
— 5th anniversary, Clay/Angie (Beintsma) Pearson.
— 11th anniversary, Nathan/Sara (Dvorak) Becker.

Sunday, Sept. 27:
Robert Sowers, Mark Mitchell, Quanna Hasger, Barb Nielsen, Ken Melius, Hazel Thier, Ken Erlenbusch, Mollee (Hewlett) Madden, Ryan Ogan, Kevin Hipple, Remington Uecker, Kevin Colestock, Kendra (Lamb) Macke, Cheryl Seefeldt, Gill Hedman, John Williams, Nicole Stasch.
— 12th anniversary, Tyson/Crystal (Boehmer) Lindekugel.
— 23rd anniversary Brian/Jami Oakland.

Monday, Sept. 28:
Tom Byrum, Matt Mullaney, Dr. Pat Hermanson, Mark Nielsen, Kim Otterness, Amy (Swenson) Einspahr, Erin (Titze) Herr, Sophie Hackett, Cody Hostler.
— Anniversary, Allen/Jennifer (Maberry) Langfeldt.
— 8th anniversary, Matthew/Darby (Warne) Boyd.
— 7th anniversary, Matthew/Ashley (Heikes) Riggs.
— 18th anniversary, Ron/Mary (Burtts) Wire.

Tuesday, Sept. 29:
Brittani Scott, Ben Clair, Tim Schaefer, Charlie Magedanz, Jon Kinsman, Elizabeth Vogt, Jeri Wilcox, Ellen Kub, George Sperry.
— 8th anniversary, Brian/Jessica Knadle.
— 2nd anniversary, Tyler/Rachel (Hartmann) Arbach.
— 8th anniversary, Justin/Erin (Moehring) Boggs.

Wednesday, Sept. 30:
Ezra Rosenau, Rod Fisher, Allison Lindbloom, Kelley Trebesch, Joey Tetzlaff, Todd Bertsch, MIke Huxford, Leigh Ann Dunn, Chelsey Diez, Dusty Johnson, Tonya Brady-Jones, Jeff Holden, Jim Mehlhaff, Joan Adam.
— 3rd anniversary, Adam/Salina (Ballesteros) Sharkey.
— 3rd anniversary, Austen/Abbie (Ramsey) McCloud.
— 9th anniversary, Jay/Lindsey (Suedkamp) Griffith.
— 4th anniversary, Jason/Ashley (Iverson) Feyereisen.
— 15th anniversary, Shawn/Lori (Stulken) Blom.
— 3rd anniversary, Sean/Shayna (Gross) Mehlhaff.

Thursday, Oct. 1:
Mikal Kern, George Sazama, Josh Hartmann, Sarah Farnsworth, Karlie Slape, Michael Lindbloom, Kelsey Collier-Wise, Randi (McQuistion) Norman, Michael Rydland, Dawn Harris, Janell (Sarvis) Juhnke, Karae (Englehart) Parsons, Joelle (Sarvis) Ellenbecker.
— 21st anniversary, Brad/Joelle (Sarvis) Ellenbecker.
— 9th anniversary, Dustin/Jamie (McQuistion) Haefner.
— 9th anniversary, Derek/Jennifer (Jensen) Newcomb.

(Birthdays/anniversaries for Oct. 1-Nov. 5 are listed at the bottom of this Update.)

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons tied Houston, 2-2, to stand at 5-4-3 in fourth place but only three points out of first place. After a game vs. Columbus last night, the Loons play Real Salt Lake Monday.

HOCKEY UPDATE

Stanley Cup finals TV schedule (Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Dallas Stars):
— Game 4: Friday, 7 p.m., NBC.
— Game 5 if necessary: Saturday, 7 p.m., NBC.
— Game 6 if necessary: Monday, 7 p.m., NBC.
— Game 7 if necessary: Wednesday, 7 p.m., NBC.

Aberdeen Wings: The North American Hockey League is in its preseason. The Wings had plenty of offense in two exhibition wins last weekend, 9-1 over Bismarck and 7-1 over Minot. Aberdeen plays at those two cities in two more preseason games this weekend, then stays home to face Austin Oct. 2-3 in exhibitions. The NAHL regular season starts Oct. 9.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Lynx: As a precaution due to COVID-19 tests among the Seattle Storm, the first game of the WNBA semifinal series between the Lynx and Seattle was postponed Sunday. Minnesota had survived its single-elimination second-round game over Phoenix, 80-79.

BASEBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Twins:
Friday: Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m., FSN.
Saturday: Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m., FSN.
Sunday: Cincinnati, 2:10 p.m., FSN.
Tuesday: Game #1 of first-round playoff series.
Wednesday: Game #2 of first-round playoff series.

Colorado Rockies:
Thursday: at San Francisco, 1:45 p.m., MLB Network.
Friday: at Arizona, 4:40 p.m., MLB Network.
Saturday: at Arizona, 6:10 p.m.
Sunday: at Arizona, 1:10 p.m.
(End of season)

Sioux Falls Canaries: In the championship series of the American Association the Canaries, down 3 games to 0, won Game 4 to prolong the series, but they lost in Game 5 of the best-of-7 series, 4-1, losing the series 4 games to 1.

FOOTBALL UPDATE

NFL games on local TV this weekend (subject to change by the networks):
— Thursday: Miami at Jacksonville, 7:20 p.m., NFL Network.
— Sunday: Chicago at Atlanta, noon, Fox.
— Sunday: Tennessee at Minnesota, noon, CBS.
— Sunday: Tampa Bay at Denver, 3:25 p.m., Fox.
— Sunday: Green Bay at New Orleans, 7:20 p.m., NBC.
— Monday: Kansas City at Baltimore, 7:15 p.m., ESPN.

Midco Sports Network games this weekend:
— Friday: Bismarck High at Bismarck Legacy, 6:30 p.m.
— Friday: Tea Area at Madison, 7 p.m. (MSN2).
— Saturday: Minot at Bismarck Century, 1:30 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings are 0-2 after a 28-11 loss at Indianapolis. Minnesota is home Sunday at noon vs. Tennessee on CBS.

Denver Broncos: The Broncos despite key injuries gave Pittsburgh a good game but lost 26-21. Now 0-2, Denver is home vs. Tampa Bay at 3:25 p.m. Sunday on Fox.

Big 10 football schedules for regional schools:
MINNESOTA
Oct. 24: Michigan
Oct. 31: at Maryland
IOWA
Oct. 24: at Purdue
Oct. 31: at Northwestern
NEBRASKA
Oct. 24: at Ohio State
Oct. 31: Wisconsin

Remaining local football schedules:
PIERRE
— Sept. 25: home vs. Spearfish
— Oct. 2: home vs. Huron
— Oct. 9: at Brookings
— Oct. 16: home vs. Mitchell
— Oct. 22 (Thursday): home vs. Douglas
STANLEY COUNTY
— Oct. 2: home vs. Mount Vernon/Plankinton
— Oct. 9: home vs. Hot Springs
— Oct. 16: at Groton Area
SULLY BUTTES
— Sept. 25: home vs. Hitchcock-Tulare
— Oct. 2: home vs. North Border
— Oct. 9: at Faulkton Area
— Oct. 16: at Ipswich/Edmunds Central (at Ipswich)
PLAYOFF DATES
— Oct. 22 (Thursday): First round in Class 11B and all 9-man classes
— Oct. 29 (Thursday): All quarterfinals
— Nov. 6 (Friday): All semifinals
— Nov. 12-14: All championship games at Vermillion

Class 11AA standings and this week’s games:
Brookings 4-0, Yankton 4-0, Mitchell 3-1, Pierre 2-1, Huron 2-2, Douglas 1-3, Sturgis 1-3, Spearfish 0-4.

Checking on our hometown natives coaching elsewhere:
— Waverly-South Shore (J.J. Iverson): Lost to Hitchcock-Tulare 36-12; now 1-3; this week Dakota Hills.
— Wyndmere-Lidgerwood, N.D. (Mikal Kern): Beat Larimore 42-8; now 3-2; this week at Enderlin-Maple Valley.
— Harvey/Wells County, N.D. (Scott Raue): Lost to Langdon 48-16; now 2-3; this week at Grafton.
— Hot Springs (Ben Kramer): Lost to Belle Fourche 42-12; now 1-3; this week Bennett County.
— Brandon Valley (Jason Bisbee): Beat Rapid City Central 63-27; now 3-1; this week at Watertown.

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): At the PURE Insurance tournament at Pebble Beach, Calif., Tom tied for 31st with a 2-under-par weekend of 74-70-70=214, earning $15,180. The next Champions Tour stop will be the SAS Championships at Cary, N.C., Oct. 9-11.

PONDER THIS (AND THEN, OF COURSE, IGNORE IT)

“I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care for other people.”

— Dr. Anthony Fauci

FOOTBALL CONTEST #6

Jason Noyes in Sioux Falls had a 9-1 mark, missing only Georgia Tech’s loss, and earned 10 points in our contest last week. At 8-2 for 9 points each were Jon Boer, Levi Neuharth, Debra Bollinger, David Ludwig, Chuck Libby, Nathan Vetter, Greg Dean, Randy Pool and Brent Thorpe. At 7-3 for 8 points each were Eric Lusk, Eric James and Kyle Richards.

(ATTENTION, FOOTBALL CONTESTANTS: There won’t be a Midweek Update for the next five Thursdays, so you can find the list of contest games on my Facebook page (Parker Knox) starting each Sunday night. Or, if you would like me to e-mail to you the list of contest games, send me your e-mail address to parkerhome16@hotmail.com.)

Contest #6 (send your 13 winners to parkerhome16@hotmail.com by Saturday morning): We will count the first 10 games that are actually played but are picking 13 just in case there are more postponements:
(1) Mississippi State at LSU
(2) Texas at Texas Tech
(3) Florida at Mississippi
(4) Army at Cincinnati
(5) Iowa State at TCU
(6) NFL: Tampa Bay at Denver
(7) NFL: Las Vegas at New England
(8) NFL: Los Angeles Rams at Buffalo
(9) NFL: Dallas at Seattle
(10) NFL: Green Bay at New Orleans
(11) NFL: Tennessee at Minnesota
(12) Georgia at Arkansas
(13) West Virginia at Oklahoma State

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

  • Last week I wondered aloud how the SDHSAA was going to handle All-State Chorus with 1,000 singers in a cramped space amid the pandemic. Now I see on its website that the association has already rescheduled All-State Chorus and Orchestra for this school year from its usual late October calendar slot to next spring on April 19-20.
  • If you read my column last week, you know I was wondering how my Stevens punter grandson Dylan would fare against the No. 1 team in Class 11AAA. Well, Roosevelt smoked the Raiders, 42-0, but were shut out in the second half with the clock running. Dylan had to punt eight times and did quite well. The oncoming Rough Rider rush did not flatten him once, they did get their hands on the ball once to deflect it, and one snap from his own center went way over Dylan’s head, and he had to chase it down and land on it at the 10-yard line. From there Roosevelt scored in one play of course.
  • My thanks to Laura Schoen Carbonneau, Deann Hilmoe, Brad Cruse, Nola LaRosh, Greg Dean, Sheila Ring, Dorinda Daniel and Carol Uecker for responding to my trivia question, which was to name 15 South Dakota towns which are also people’s first names. Collectively those eight readers came up with the names of 45 different towns, including a couple I had overlooked when I made my list, such as Allen, Aurora, Miranda, Hayes, Kyle, Madison and Menno. Dorinda added Roslyn and Junius and for good measure added (Lake) Preston. There are still 16 on my list that they did not mention. How about Alexandria, Bryant, Emery, Erwin, Freeman, Gary, Hudson, Lily, Miller, Newell, Tripp, Vienna, Virgil, Wallace, Winfred and Reva? We’ll have another trivia question in subsequent issues.
  • At USD the theater department opens its 2020-21 season with a live-streamed production of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” It will be seen live online Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Go to usd.edu/theatre/live for information on how to stream this play for free.
  • At SDSU the Pride of the Dakotas marching band, with no football games at which to perform this fall, is performing nevertheless. Saturday night they will have the whole stadium to themselves. The Pride’s concert at 8 p.m. CDT Saturday can be accessed at this link:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3MIZ3QKZ94&feature=youtu.be
    If that doesn’t work, go to the Facebook page entitled “The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band” and look for information how to access a livestream of the band’s performance.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

South Dakota coronavirus ups and downs:

  1. The women’s prison in Pierre had more than 100 inmates with positive virus tests last Wednesday.
  2. In addition to other sports events, high school football games postponed or canceled last Friday included Pierre at Tea Area, Menno/Marion at Baltic, Burke at Colome (moved to Monday), Aberdeen Roncalli at Sisseton, Potter County at Timber Lake, Great Plains Lutheran at Dakota Hills, Alcester-Hudson at Gayville-Volin, and Winner at Valentine. Some of these games will be rescheduled if possible.
  3. Riggs High School was closed last Friday after a surge in positive virus tests and a large number of students under quarantine. There were five cases Wednesday, 15 by Thursday, and 150 other students had been asked to quarantine for 14 days.
  4. The CDC said it could take six to nine months after a vaccine is approved to get enough people vaccinated to control the pandemic.
  5. This would have been homecoming week at Riggs High School. Those activities will be rescheduled for later in the football season.
  6. At an emergency meeting of the Pierre school board Friday noon, it was decided that Riggs (but not the middle schools or elementary schools) would begin a hybrid system this past Monday. Students in the A-K grouping go two days a week, students in the L-Z group go two days a week, and everybody does e-learning on Mondays. The board and administration hope this will help reduce close contact numbers. As of Friday between 200 and 300 close contacts to 18 currently active infections were reported, and five were considered recovered. As of Monday the school said it had 14 cases, including 11 students and three staff.
  7. South Dakota reached the infamous 200 death total this week. Reported new cases were 395 Thursday, 389 Friday, 252 Sunday, 173 Monday, 320 Tuesday and 445 Wednesday.
  8. Stanley County schools closed Monday so staff could prepare for online learning only for the rest of this week and extending until Oct. 1 when it is hoped in-person school will resume. Activities were also suspended with the hope they can resume next Friday, Oct. 2.
  9. As of Saturday Yankton County had seen double-digit daily infection increases in three of the previous four days and eight times in the previous month.
  10. To do its part in helping to contain the virus spread among high school students, Zesto in Pierre closed for this week. The ice cream shop will announce on its Facebook page when it will reopen.
  11. Meanwhile, Governor Noem and Sanford Health were proceeding with their plans to host a Chris Young concert for 5,000 people in Sioux Falls as a major event during the governor’s pheasant hunt, which Noem moved from Pierre to Sioux Falls. That came crashing down Tuesday afternoon when the Premier Center announced the concert has been canceled. No reason for the cancellation was immediately given by the governor, but a Sanford official said the health and well-being of the public remain its priority.
  12. Watertown High School on Monday suspended all activities for the rest of this week. The school is conducting only online learning this week.
  13. Roncalli High School in Aberdeen, due to so many virus cases there, had to cancel this week’s football game vs. St. Thomas More.
  14. The Chamberlain schools switched to all e-learning for this week and postponed all activities.

Matt and Sara (Schneider) Odden and their two children, who live in Rapid City, completed all 109 miles of the Mickelson Trail this summer. They finished their final 16-mile leg from Dumont to Deadwood most recently to make the endeavor complete. Their longest one-day ride was the 28-mile stretch from Custer to Minnekahta. Their son Noah rode his own bicycle. Their daughter Audrey rode on an attached tag-along bike.

Michael Tveidt of Fischer Rounds & Associates’ Sioux Falls branch is one of 37 young professionals who are part of this year’s class of the Leadership Sioux Falls program.

The notorious railroad viaduct over South Pierre Street claimed three more “victims” within a 24-hour span last week. As usual the bridge sustained no damage, which can not be said for the vehicles which tried to drive under it.

Pierre Players recommends that persons planning to attend its fall show secure their ticket reservations now by calling 224-7826. Since the theater organization is allowing only one-third of the Grand Opera House to be filled for its shows, tickets may not be available to walk-up patrons. “Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van” runs on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon next week (Oct. 2-4) as well as the nights of Oct. 8-9-10.

The homecoming court for Sully Buttes High School’s 51st Olympian Days includes emperor candidates Rafe Wientjes, Garrett Petersen, Zach Farries and Landon Severson; empress candidates Karissa Osterkamp, Gracie Dimmit, Gracie Olivier and Jill Hofer, and escort Cedric Perkins. The coronation will be at 7:30 p.m. next Monday, Sept. 28, with the homecoming week concluding with a football game Oct. 2 vs. North Border.

Toby Bryant’s oldest daughter, Tessa, hit two home runs and pitched a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Harrisburg High School as the team won the championship of the ESD Conference softball tournament. Another daughter, Autumn, pitched games 1 and 2 to help her Harrisburg JV team reach the ESD tournament finals.

Zeanna Halverson, 83, Kennebec, died Sept. 18 at Sanford Care Center in Chamberlain. Her services are being held at 1 p.m. today (Thursday) at American Lutheran Church in Kennebec. Zeanna Beale graduated from Presho High School in 1956 and married Lyle Halverson that summer. They farmed and ranched south of Kennebec. After her husband’s death in 1997, she moved into town. For more than 20 years she wintered at Mission, Texas. Mrs. Halverson is survived by five children, Doug Halverson and his wife Kate of Kennebec, Dana Gloe and her husband Monty of Pierre, Sharon Hanson and her husband Lance of Groton, Shelley DeMarais and her husband Bob of Sioux Falls and Stan Halverson and his wife Heidi of Kennebec; a sister, June Halverson of Kennebec; 17 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

Linda Lafrentz was recognized at the Hughes County courthouse on the 30th anniversary of her going to work for the county. Auditor Jane Naylor described Linda as “our motor vehicles expert.”

Josh Hove’s wife Meagan revealed on Facebook that she was diagnosed with breast cancer some time ago and has had six rounds of chemotherapy. She underwent surgery Tuesday. The Hoves and their children live in Osceola, Wis.

Bradley Dean was one of the six candidates for homecoming king at Dakota Wesleyan this week as the school celebrates Blue & White Days. Terance Burrell-Schroeder of Creighton, Neb., was crowned king Monday, and Julie Sanderson of Sioux Falls is the homecoming queen.

Josephine Venner will turn 90 on Oct. 11. Due to COVID-19 there will be no party, so to honor her, the family is asking you to send a card to her. Address: Josephine Venner, 28127 – 200th St., Pierre SD 57501.

Lynn (Glover) Paulsen, who graduated from high school in Pierre, died Sept. 21 at Spirit Mountain Hospice in Powell, Wyo. The daughter of Lowell and Bonnie Glover attended Black Hills State College and earned a degree there. She married John Rempfer, who died in 1981. She married Larry Paulsen in 1984, and in 1985 they made their permanent home in Powell. Lynn is survived by her mother, Bonnie Glover; her brother, Jim Glover and his wife Linda; her sons, Brad and Randy and their wives; her stepdaughter, Lauri Paulsen, and five grandsons. Funeral services for 20 family members will be held Friday at 9 a.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery.

Nick Burke and his fiancee, Jantina Donaldson, of Sioux Falls had to postpone their scheduled wedding in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will reschedule the wedding for some future date.

Kelcy Nash has been named general manager of the Pierre Trappers baseball club of the Expedition League. She replaces Jackson Bruce, who resigned to take a new job. Nash’s most recent position was that of activities director, P.E./health teacher, and middle school computers teacher at the Stanley County schools.

WORDS OF WISDOM

If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself. Something to repair tears in the community. Something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than yourself. That’s what I think a meaningful life is—living not for oneself but for one’s community.

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWER

B O L T
U B E R
R O P E
N E T S

DAY BY DAY

THURSDAY, SEPT. 17
My fourth-grade grandson, sent home by the school nurse on Monday, received good news on two fronts today. First of all, his coronavirus test result was a negative one. Secondly word came that he and all the other elementary students in Rapid City will be able to go back to school in-person Mondays through Thursdays starting Sept. 21. Fridays will still be a virtual learning day. The students started the year on a two-day in-person, two-day at-home schedule, so Parker is pleased he will be able to see for the first time all the fellow students in Miss Graham’s fourth-grade classroom instead of only the ones in the A-K alphabet grouping.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 18
I don’t know the lingo. Do you call them body slams or chest bumps? But to this football viewer there seems to be a surge in the number of such “celebrations” this high school season. Is it because they are not supposed to shake hands? Tell me this. After making a score or a reception or a major tackle, just how many chest-bump jumps does a player need to make. Three seems a bit much to me. Just do your job. I am waiting for the first guy to come down from one of those celebrations and sprain his ankle on his landing.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 19
As if 2020 weren’t bad enough, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court lost her cancer battle last night, casting a pall over at least some aspects of the presidential campaign. I wouldn’t be so callous as to suggest the Republicans actually celebrated her death, but it didn’t take Senator McConnell long to declare to the world he would see that a vote on the Trump nominee’s appointment to the Court would take place in the Senate. I was tickled today to see that McConnell and our two local U.S. senators were taking a beating on social media as they were reminded of the precise words they uttered four years ago when they thought it appropriate for President Obama’s Court nominee to not even be granted a hearing.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 20
Those who are boycotting NFL football telecasts this fall missed some great games today (unless they broke their own vows and watched TV in the privacy of their homes). It’s not often that two nationally televised games go down to the very last play twice in the same day. The Cowboys kicked a 58-yard field goal on the last play of their game vs. Atlanta after the Falcons couldn’t figure out how to drop on a football in an onsides kick situation. The Seahawks stopped the Patriots’ Cam Newton a yard short of the goal line on their game’s last play to save a win. Remember this, you boycotters: No Super Bowl parties this year because you’re not watching, right?

MONDAY, SEPT. 21
We were told county auditors would be mailing ballots for the general election last Friday for those of us who had already applied for them. Sure enough! In Saturday’s mail here came my ballot. It took me all of five minutes to fill it out, sign it in the appropriate place and get it ready for mailing. In lieu of that, however, I delivered it in person to the county courthouse today, and now a dropbox there already contains my votes. And speaking of the election, a friend in Pierre suggested that people intending to vote do so now in light of the ever-increasing surge in COVID-19 cases there. Don’t wait till late October or even Election Day to vote. You may be sick or quarantined or hospitalized or dead by that time. The right-wingers will call this scare tactics, but think about it.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 22
It was interesting to hear from a friend who formerly lived in Pierre and who now lives in Oregon that she and her husband have received cards from local Republican legislative candidates, outlining their biographical information. That is especially noteworthy since this couple has not lived in Pierre for two years and are—and have been—registered Democrats. The campaign cards were addressed to them in Oregon so it wasn’t a case of their being sent to a Pierre address and then forwarded. There must have been a lot of extra campaign material to spread around, which is perfectly fine. It’s good for the Postal Service.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23
The other morning I woke up at 3 a.m. and as usual was unable to go back to sleep. I lay there for hours and as usual worried about things. These days I find myself exhausted from being unable to sleep all night but instead falling asleep in the afternoon in the lawn chair under the shade tree with the dogs alongside. My stomach, it seems, is always in a stage of uneasiness. More often than not, I have a headache. No, they are not symptoms of COVID-19, but they are symptoms of these times. I am always angry at the people in this state who refuse to do anything to help us all get past the pandemic. They want their businesses flourishing; they want their date nights with Hubby; they want their kids in school every day; they want to exercise their “rights” to not be told what to do; they want their football games with full stadiums; they want their concerts; they want, they want, they want, and they stupidly think normalcy will return one of these days because a politician continues to say it will. I am likewise always angry at the majority who spew forth praise for our so-called leaders who do not deserve it, and the fact that the result of the election will likely subject us to four more years of the destruction of the American democracy, not to mention the planet, infuriates me. I read somewhere this week the following: “As you get older, you really just want to be surrounded by good people—people who are good for you, good to you and good for your soul.” The place to find the latter is not Facebook, especially right now. Therefore, I am declaring for myself a Facebook-free October. I intend to continue to post a thought for the day as I do early each morning, and we will continue our weekly football contests posted on my Facebook page. But other than that, I hope to be able to ignore Facebook and the vitriol and ignorance that are found there. It will take an emergency for me to post anything there regularly. Some of you will miss me. Many of you will not, and that’s fine with me. Because Facebook is the source where I go daily to obtain news information and people items for this Midweek Update, the Update will be going on a hiatus throughout October. If all goes well, the next issue of the Midweek Update will show up on Thursday, Nov. 5. In the meantime, do your duty and vote.

PARKER’S COLUMN

(Editor’s note: Twenty years ago the following column appeared in the Sept. 29, 2000, Capital Journal, a week after Riggs High School’s homecoming game against Mitchell. It had been a most memorable football game, and it deserved a long column. This one is long, but if you were in Pierre 20 years ago and likely to be at the game, read on. You may find your name below.)

Homecoming 2000: The miracle on Ree Street

Use any cliche you prefer. “It ain’t ever over till it’s over.” “The night is always darkest just before dawn.”

Homecoming 2000 had been just great up to that point. Oh, it was a little dark, chilly and breezy for the parade on Thursday, but the public support was fantastic again, the Govmobiles seemed more numerous and better decorated than ever, and every segment of the community was represented in the parade. The coronation ceremony, conducted on as beautifully green a setting as one could ever hope to see, had better music and cheers than ever. The football team’s three speakers may have been a bit bashful on stage behind the microphone in front of the theater crowd, but they survived, and when Eric and Katie lit “PHS” ablaze, it climaxed a successful first day.

The forecast for game day on Friday was “100 percent chance of rain.” You know Pierre is a desert in the middle of an oasis when even a 100 percent chance of rain translates into maybe 17 total sprinkles citywide. The powderpuff game was a temporary casualty of threatening weather so as to save the Hollister field for what mattered most.

The cold wind had whipped through Hyde Stadium at the supper hour, enticing most Whopper feed patrons to take their burgers and run for their cars. Yes, it was going to be a cold night for the game.

“I was on my way to the game,” said Deb Englehart, “but when I got there, I turned around and went home. It was cold and wet, and I convinced myself I could listen to the whole game on the radio. Well, couldn’t I?”

Mitchell’s football team did its best to turn the pregame homecoming fire into little more than a flicker. It didn’t take them long, and they made it look painfully easy.

“I was so frustrated at our team and myself because we weren’t pulling together as a group to get the job done,” observed co-captain Pat Adams. “We were getting beat when we shouldn’t have been. The game was a big downer in the first half.”

Mitchell’s offensive unit, playing what KORN announcer Tom Maxwell called its best performance of the year “by far,” steamrolled to three touchdowns. They missed extra points all three times, but no one in his right mind could have thought, the way things were going, that that would ever matter later on. A blowout in the vicinity of 50-0 or so was not out of the question.

A starter on the offensive line, Aaron Bumann, called the first half “the pits.”

“We couldn’t do anything right, and then on the last play of the first half, I let my guy go and Andy (Hanson) got sacked to end the half, and I was devastated,” Aaron added.

Also playing in the marching band at halftime, Aaron’s mental state was improved by a good friend who understood what Aaron was going through. “Forget about it and make up for it in the second half,” the friend suggested.

“The whole team ended up doing just that,” said Aaron.

But the end of the halftime marching show had taken part of the crowd away. Not the entire crowd by any means, but the bleacher aisles were crowded as the coldest among the chilled spectators headed for home, considering a lackluster performance and an 18-0 deficit too much for the Governors to overcome.

“We were a little discouraged that the crowd didn’t believe in us,” said lineman Paul Denton, “but we didn’t really care about them. We just never stopped believing and never gave up, and the good Lord prevailed.”

Aaron Bumann’s friend’s advice to leave the first half behind proved prophetic. “We came out and took the ball 75 yards down the field. I started blocking much better. The kid that was on me weighed 40 pounds more than I, but in the second half Paul and I could push him on a double team as if he weighed 140 pounds,” Aaron said.

“We played like a different team,” Pat Adams concurred. “We had more enthusiasm. We had better plays being made both offensively and defensively. It was starting to become an enjoyable game to play in.”

But different team or not, the Governors still needed three touchdowns just to get even, provided the Kernels’ offensive juggernaut could be held in check.

No chance, man. A cold homecoming night was getting even colder for fans and players alike. A hint of verbal cockiness on the part of the Kernels was occasionally spreading across the line of scrimmage, and it was tough to take.

The Pierre defense did rise up and force Mitchell to punt away its first possession of the second half. If there still were a chance, which, of course, there wasn’t, now was the time for the Govs to get to moving. Hanson took his team from his own 25 downfield into Mitchell territory, completing three passes amid a mixture of passes and runs.

But here came fourth down, and another Governor possession was one play away from blowing away in the wind. Hanson—stronger, smarter, cooler than a year ago when he was a struggling sophomore quarterback with no varsity experience—hooked up with Austin Schneider for enough yardage for a first down. The drive stayed alive, and eventually it reached the 1-yard line from where Hanson called his own number and took the ball across the goal.

The longstanding zero on the “Home” side of the scoreboard finally became a 6.

“When we put that first scoring drive together, it felt good to be on the board,” said Pat Adams, “but we still had a long way to go.”

The deficit now was 18-6, but the gap still seemed bigger than that.

“At least they didn’t shut us out” crossed several minds.

On the ensuing possession Mitchell was forced into a third-and-17 situation, but Jeff Culhane sprang loose on the left side and went 43 yards for a touchdown. He could just as well have stabbed the Governors and twisted the knife for good measure.

“After we had scored in the third quarter, just to have Mitchell come back and drive the ball down and score again was hard to take,” said senior running back Mat Ripperger.

The Kernels added a two-point pass on their extra-point try, and this time, for all the momentary excitement over the Govs’ first score, the game was certainly beyond saving. The scoreboard said 26-6, and the clock said 8:50 in the fourth quarter.

At my house with the game on the radio back in the backroom, the Olympics was on the TV screen in the living room. Riggs alumnus Mike Swenson stopped in with the news Mitchell had just scored again.

“Oh, no,” we said, pretty much in unison, dismissing the game as a lost cause. So did another few dozen fans who headed for the exits at Hollister to beat that proverbial rush.

In one section of the stands where the staunchest fans remained, Tim Bjorneberg muttered to anybody who would listen, “There’s time left. There’s time left,” trying perhaps to make himself believe it.

But time was a precious commodity, and the Govs didn’t have nearly enough of it with which to work.

Yet the offensive unit had again become Andy Hanson’s machine to do with as he could. The Governors reached midfield, but time was a-wasting. More than three minutes had transpired, and now only five minutes were left.

Steve Bumann, football father, leaned over to Jim Palmer, receiver Drew Palmer’s dad, and said, “We still have a slim chance if we score right away.

“He just laughed at me,” Steve Bumann said.

Geoff Simon had his son Thomas and one of Thomas’ buddies more or less under his control in another section of the stands. The boys, restless by this point in the game, were becoming a bit boisterous.

“Knock it off, Thomas,” suggested his father. “The Govs are going to score on the next play.”

Hadn’t anybody ever told Geoff about not threatening his kids with promises he couldn’t keep?

“There’s still time. There’s still time,” Tim Bjorneberg was still saying, and his wife Barb wasn’t believing a word of it.

But Geoff Simon suddenly gained a whole lot of respect in the eyes of son Thomas because, out there on the field, from 49 yards away, Hanson and receiver D.J. Prue teamed up on a touchdown pass.

“Andy made a great pass!” Aaron Bumann exclaimed. “We were still down by two touchdowns, but about then I started to believe.”

For the two-point conversion attempt, the ball went to Ripperger, and he scored. It was 26-14, and 4:22 remained in the game.

“Well, at least the final score won’t look so lopsided now,” football mom Jean Deffenbaugh said to herself.

Back to Deb Englehart, who had gone home before the game ever started. She left home at about that point to pick up her daughter at the game. “I drove my son’s car to the game and couldn’t get the dumb CD player turned off so I could turn on the radio. It shouldn’t have been that hard, but I couldn’t do it.”

She parked illegally next to the power transformer box alongside the railroad tracks at the entrance to the Boys & Girls Club. You know the one. It used to read “Trust Rislov” in another era. Now it reads “Trust Hanson.”

“I couldn’t see the scoreboard from there, but I didn’t think I needed to,” Deb said.

The fans remaining on the cold metal bleachers on the south side and those who perennially stand for football beneath the windbreak of the Foss and Anderson buildings had begun to stir. It was also nervous time in the Mitchell section.

Garland Erbele said aloud, “Onsides kick. Recover. Touchdown. Onsides kick. Recover. Touchdown. We win.”

How close he would come to being right!

In front of him Linda Ott and her group of diehards, such as Red and Mary Meyer, Sharon and Andy Anderson, Joan Fisk, Randy Wright and Cheryl Meulemans were also thinking onsides kick though Cheryl had to be told what it was she was cheering for.

Of course the Govs tried an onsides kick. The ball bounced right to Mitchell’s Reed Jones, who already had more than a hundred yards rushing. Perhaps his hands were cold? The ball inexplicably hit him in the chest and bounded away, and the Govs were on the ball at the 48-yard line.

An amazed Jean Deffenbaugh turned to her friend alongside and said, “There’s enough time left to pull this out!” Her friend thought she was crazy.

The Pierre emotions, so low an hour earlier, now soared so high. A minute later they sagged again when an interception ended the possession and, for all practical purposes, cooked the Govs’ goose.

“At that point,” said Steve Bumann, “I gave upon them as I didn’t believe we had a chance.”

It had been fun while it lasted. The never-say-die Govs had given it a shot, but the first half hole out of which they would have had to climb had apparently been too deep.

Given their chance to play in a homecoming game and get some experience in a game now given up for lost, the second-string Governors defense didn’t get the message that hope was gone and they were in there to play out the clock.

All the Kernels had to do was go for a first down, or two of them at the most, and the game would be history. So would homecoming with a disappointing end to what had been a fun and exciting week.

This defensive unit, however, rose up and stopped Mitchell on the spot, deep in its own territory. What was going on! The Kernels had to punt again and give us the ball in good field position?

“Andy had come down with bad cramps,” recalled Aaron Bumann, “and all I could do was pray that God would give him and the rest of us the strength to finish the game. He did, and we did.”

The green offense started at the Kernels’ 35, moving through a defense against which it had been able to do nothing in the first half. From the 35 to the Kernels’ 15 in almost no time, and then Hanson took it home from there, scampering toward the flag in the left corner of the end zone. It was 26-20, and Phil Johnson’s leg was true as usual for one more point—a very crucial point, too—to get the Govs to within five. The clock said 1:53.

At my house my ears perked up in the living room. I thought I had heard Tom Maxwell on the radio say “26 to 21.” Jason Stahl and I looked at each other.

“Did he say ’26 to 21′?”

We raced into the bedroom where the radio was.

Back in the stands even Thomas Simon and his buddy were paying attention to the game again.

Half of Garland Erbele’s prophecy had come true. “Onsides kick. Recover. Touchdown.” That part was in the books. Now for the rest. “Onsides kick again. Recover again. Touchdown again, and we win.”

Come on, now, this was getting ridiculous!

Of course the Govs tried the onsides kick again. By this time Cheryl Meulemans knew full well what an onsides kick is.
“When, at the very end of the fourth quarter we came together and played some of the best ball that we have all year,” said Pat Adams, “it felt great. We all, not as individuals but everyone as a team, stepped up and played like we were unbeatable. And in the last minutes of that game, we were unbeatable.”

So here came Onsides Kick No. 2. Mitchell knew it was coming, of course, and this time the Kernels recovered at their own 45.

“I was again ready to give up,” said Steve Bumann.

“This team never gives up,” football dad Steve Kost would say later. “This year they are more experienced, but the never-give-up attitude is still there. It was even there in the two games they lost this year. In both games they were always on the verge of turning the momentum. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

And on this homecoming night the Govs had come so close to turning it totally around. But now with only 90 seconds left and no timeouts remaining, the Govs would have little to do except hope for a miracle or two or three because Mitchell needed only to run out the clock and hold on to the ball—and then escape from a mighty close call.

Linda Ott and Cheryl Meulemans and the rest of their hardy group were up yelling, “Defense! Defense!” and, would you believe, the Governors pushed the Kernels back on first down and stopped them on second down, too.

So it was third-and-11, and still a first down would finally put the game out of reach. The clock might also put the game out of reach if the Kernels would just continue to run the ball on the ground.

But the coaching decision came in that Mitchell would throw a screen pass. A completion would mean a first down and end the suspense, once and for all.

But here came a ferocious adrenalin-fired Governor pass rush, and Culhane was forced to hurry. What Geoff Simon called a “wounded duck” was tipped into the air, and Austin Schneider, who had caught that crucial fourth-down pass on the drive two touchdowns earlier, snared out of the air the interception of his life so far and ran it back to the Mitchell 36-yard line.

“I don’t believe it!” said Mitchell announcer Maxwell, who was doing the game on our own KCCR. Believe it, baby!

Thirty-four yards away with no timeouts remaining! It was going to have to be Hanson to the air and to the sidelines where his receivers, if they caught the ball, could get out of bounds.

“We all were going nuts,” said Michael Bumann, “but we knew that we were still behind and had a job to do.”

A sideline pass to D.J. Prue and yet another gained the Govs another first down, and a few precious seconds were saved while the chains were reset.

What was left of the crowd was screaming, and Deb Englehart, still double-parked back by the transformer box, still unable to locate the game on the car radio, could likewise still not see the scoreboard. But she could see Governor players on the sidelines encouraging the crowd to stand and cheer. Why, she wondered, if the game were already lost, which it surely was by this time.

Her head spinning, forgetting what she had on, she got out of her car, left it parked where it was, and walked far enough up Ree Street to see the scoreboard.

Back on the field, Andy Hanson with the clock now under the 1-minute mark, threw toward the sidelines, and Schneider was there for the catch. Close to another first down. Very close. So close they had to measure, and the clock had to be stopped again!

It would be either fourth-and-inches or first down. The clock said 38 seconds remained.

The measurement showed, by an inch or two, Schneider had reached first-down territory.

“Just one more score. Just one more score. Just one more score,” said Bernie Ripperger, Mat’s mom, as Barb Bjorneberg continued to pound on her arm.

To give himself, his offense and the coaching staff time to regroup, Hanson spiked the ball, sacrificing one crucial down, but it had to be done to stop the clock.

The Governors were nine yards away from a miracle.

Mitchell perhaps expected another Hanson pass toward the sidelines where a receiver could again reach the chalk if he caught the ball. Chad Gusso and staff sent in a draw up the middle.

“They had a three-man rush,” said Michael Bumann, “leaving eight men in the defensive backfield, and they were biting on the pass so badly that this was the perfect call. We got our job done up front, and all the defensive backs bit on the pass. We blocked some linebackers, and Ripperger got it in.”

Touchdown through a gaping hole! Touchdown! The Governors had come back from the dead and had the lead, 27-26.

Celebrating his score in the end zone, Ripperger looked at the nearest referee and saw him looking right back. Rip straightened up his act. This was no time for a too-much-celebrating penalty, so he handed the ball to the referee, who was grinning anyway. And Rip grinned right back.

“My God,” said Jason Stahl in the bedroom at my house. “I think we scored too soon”

“You know what?” said I, the eternal pessimist. “I think we scored too soon.”

Now on foot, Deb Englehart reached the fence along the east end of Hollister Field and shrieked when she saw what the scoreboard said.

“There were several people along the fence who turned around to look to see just what the racket behind them was,” she said. “What a sight I must have been. I looked down and realized that I had no shoes on but rather my big fuzzy slippers. I didn’t have jeans on either but rather baggy sleep PJs and a sweat shirt that would have fit King Kong. But I didn’t care.”

Remember the last-second Stevens field goal that killed homecoming three years ago? Mitchell could not do the same thing this time if Pierre could make a two-point conversion. Then, a Kernel field goal, at the very worst, could only tie the score.

There was no way this miracle comeback was not going to happen now. Hanson passed to Prue in the end zone for two more points. A 29-26 lead with a half-minute left!

Mitchell returned the kickoff to their 40. Now was the time for the Govs’ defense to make one more statement. They made more than one.

Culhane was sacked on first- and second-down pass attempts, and Mitchell had to use its remaining timeouts. A long pass down the sideline on third down was too long for his receivers. So the miracle was down to one more play.

Just one more play, thought mothers and fathers and fans in the stands, some of whom covered their eyes.

“Don’t let it happen to them now, after all this,” I said to myself at home.

Mitchell perhaps thought the Govs would be looking way downfield, so Culhane tried a pass over the middle, but the receiver dropped the ball.

The Govs had the ball, the lead, 10 seconds to kill, and a homecoming victory to remember forever.

The offense returned to the gridiron. Hanson took a knee, and that was that.

“It was the most amazing feeling in the world,” Michael Bumann said.

“Pity the poor fan who left this game early because it was too cold,” said Geoff Simon. He was talking about me but not only me.

“Bernie took my arm beatings in stride,” said Barb Bjorneberg. “It was so exciting, and we were glad we were there. It is amazing how you don’t feel the cold after a win like that!”

“The team never gave up, and neither did those hardy, cold fans,” said Linda Ott. “See you next week, Parker, to the bitter end of the game!”

She didn’t have to say that.

“This come-from-behind victory should further bolster the confidence of the Govs,” observed Steve Kost. “They were given a break with limited time, and they executed. They are really cool under pressure.”

“It was really something to see the team dig down deep inside of themselves and give it their all,” Jean Deffenbaugh commented.

“The game just came together like pieces of a puzzle at the end,” said Pat Adams. “It was one of the best feelings that I personally have ever experienced and might ever experience. It was great to play with our team for that great game.”

“I never really believed it when I told Jim Palmer that we still had a chance,” admitted Steve Bumann. “To me this is one of the positive things that sports teaches. Never give up and give it your all to the very end, and good things can happen.”

Another football father, Larry Coyle, said the Govs have shown they have a right to say, “We will always play to the end. Will you stay to the end?” He said the win at Huron, the win at Yankton of all places, and now the homecoming miracle are rewards for the boys’ hard work through a couple of tough years. “What more could we ask of these guys?”

“Trust Hanson,” the transformer box says. “And trust the rest of the Governor team, too,” added Deb Englehart.

“When the game was over,” Aaron Bumann said in retrospect, “and all of the high school kids stormed the field, I don’t think that any of us could have felt better. In short, this was the most exciting and memorable moment of my life, and I thank God for every minute of it.”

“They gave us the opportunity, and we took it,’ said Mat Ripperger. “Now we all have a story to tell our grandkids some day.”

And every last one of us will swear to our dying days that we all were in the stands for every last minute of it.

UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Friday, Oct. 2:
Briana (Tobin) Bales, Jayce Beastrom, Brent Hepker, Nancy Baker, Brea Lyn Steele, Jenna (Wickersham) Morin.
— 16th anniversary, Jon/Lacie (Boyle) Herman.
— 16th anniversary, Brian/Brooke (Drewes) Dozark.
— 9th anniversary, Donny/Abby Kuper.
— 10th anniversary, Tyler/Angel Nemec.
We fondly remember Eric Robinson on his birthday.

Saturday, Oct. 3:
Chris Rumrill, Christian Hess, Tyson Paxton, Jill Gilmore, John Rounds, Jolene Schall, John Barnett, Annika (Russell) Manke, Stephanie (Collison) Thier, Paulette Disburg, Mackenzie Bollinger, Ellery Humphery, Eero Lehmkuhl.
— 33rd anniversary, Mike/Kristi Jordan.
— 5th anniversary, Ronn/Kendra (Ott) Beyer.
— 5th anniversary, Thomas/Brianne Trimble.
— 11th anniversary, Nic/Lacey (Boehmer) Hogan.
— 5th anniversary, Kyle/Carly (Myers) Schrempp.

Sunday, Oct. 4:
Steph (Dvorak) Delvo, Kate (Robertson) Bartel, Kelly Zinter, Gini Grannes, Jean Rounds, Stacia Nissen, Ross Sperry, Henry White, Andrina Larson, Mandy Vogel.
— 11th anniversary, Nate/Rachel Kuchta.
— 6th anniversary, Matt/Carrie Bunkowske.
— 6th anniversary, Bryce/Alyssa Sutton.

Monday, Oct. 5:
Hailley Fouts, Griffin Johnson, Dolton Lasley, Sarah Raecke, Erika (Rounds) Stoeser, Angie Iverson, Andre Melius, Lindsey Rogers, Sophia Hove, Jill (Penticoff) Dean, Drew Sweetman, Cody Henson Hullinger, Seth Waitman, Eric Hipple, Sandy (Case) Klatt, Jeanne Dahlin, Kelsey (Dunwoody) Kampfe.
— 7th anniversary, Dan/Kelli (Stuwe) Maberry.
— 30th anniversary, Russ/Connie (Walton) Hohn.

Tuesday, Oct. 6:
Heather (Smith) Englehart, Jamie (Stokke) LeMire, Tom Merrill, Matthew Lukkes, Mike Smith, Brayden Wittler, Brynn Stoeser, Kristie (List) Magnino, Susan Weaver, Erika (Snow) Andreas, Kris Bradley.
— 2nd anniversary, Rodd/Megan (Vockrodt) Bauck.
— 13th anniversary, Eric/Jessi (Huber) Herrscher.
— 8th anniversary, Jesse/Jessicfa Weintraub.
— 3rd anniversary, Brian/Allie Long.
— 3rd anniverary, Robert/Ann (Smith) Teachout.

Wednesday, Oct. 7:
Brandon Deffenbaugh, Helen Zander, Jordyn Wilson, Jake Johnson, Katelyn Harris, Samuel Edman, Sarah Uhrich, Tony Parker, Christopher Johnson, Aftin (Riehle) Eich, Mikaela Knutson, Dora (Adams) Goddard, Adam Fuller, Deb Hyde, Niki (Fergen) Rodawig, Monae Johnson.
— Anniversary, Terry/Jane Tousley.

Thursday, Oct. 8:
Stephen Bollinger, John Yackley, Cruz Hollingsworth, Ruby Delvo, Michael Zarecky, Gary Redden, Janice Beemer, Brenden Wheelhouse.
— 37th anniversary, Erik/Kathy Stasch.
— 4th anniversary, Josh/Kimberly Tetzlaff.
— 4th anniversary, Tate/Kristin Gabriel.
— 4th anniversary, John/Ashley Moisan.
— 9th anniversary, Chris/Tara (Dieken) Mangan.
— 9th anniversary, James/Courtney Lee.

Friday, Oct. 9:
Shirley Barber, Jessica Asmussen, Kristen (Stephens) Page, Lari Ott, Linda Ott, Torin McTighe, Quincy Christie, Melissa Stewart, Tayler Owens, Alyssa Stahl, Teresa Serie, Zach Parsons.
— 49th anniversary, Everett/Darla Lawver.
— 10th anniversary, Adam/Cassidy (Rogers) Kulesa.
— 21st anniversary, Jake/Tania Vogel.
— 4th anniversary, Brian/Jenna Shekleton.

Saturday, Oct. 10:
Kristen (Tate) Carter, Jovi Jaeger, Bill Dunn, Sharon (Hinsey) Menzel, Rebecca Hofeldt, Jared Erickson, August Smart, Heather Mangan, Ashley (Sargent) Crosby, Jesse Hiatt, Kaylee Becker, Tracy (Stoeser) Frost, Kade Whitebird, Avry Whitebird, Matthew Ahlers, Tom Rounds, Avery Schroer, Austin Buchholtz, Amy Thorson, Susan Johnson, Kanton Decker.
— 11th anniversary, Scott/Dawn (Kilian) Bradley.
— 10th anniversary, A.Jay/Lindsay (Stoeser) Heiss.
— 11th anniversary, Adam/Megan (Linn) Bertsch.
— 21st anniversary, Scott/Julia Jones.
— 11th anniversary, James/Abby (Barber) Burgum.
— 50th anniversary, Wayne/Carol Carney.
— 5th anniversary, Tyrel/Tara (Undeberg) Mitchell.
— 5th anniversary, Zachery/Valerie Erickson.

Sunday, Oct. 11:
Ian Farnsworth, Austin Rounds, Cheryl Frost, Grace Hoffman, Nicole Gednalske, Jared McEntaffer, Devon Russell, Patsy Kringel, Chad Lindbloom, Josephine Venner (#90).
— 8th anniversary, Justin/Natalie Scott.
— 6th anniversary, Brad/Susan Urbach.

Monday, Oct. 12:
Howard Mark Weischedel, Levi Froke, Megan (Ulmen) Fravel, Dena Farlee, Kerri Morris, Chelsea Steffen, Jordan Hoover, Coulton Lentz, Amanda (Huck) Stoeser, Tina (Peterson) Ottenbacher, Sam Leidholt, Laura Schoen Carbonneau, Erin Brown, Aaron Hanson.
— 18th anniversary, Josh/Alice Ley.
— 18th anniversary, Cory/Jessica (Evenstad) Haeder.

Tuesday, Oct. 13:
Amy (Sutton) Muller, Brett Oakland, Brian Oakland, Peggy (Shoup) Barber, Connie Holm, Braxtyn Mitchell, Brady Neiles, Jean Denton, Heather Kleinsasser, Jim Wedin.
— 36th anniversary, Paul/Dawn Marso.
— 13th anniversary, Aaron/Carin (Glover) Kietzmann.
— Anniversary, Daniel/Crystal (Byrum) Frost.
— 8th anniversary, Jordan/Maari (Sweetman) LaBrie.

Wednesday, Oct. 14:
Rene (Dilley) Stolsmark, Becky (Jungman) Diischer, Amanda Hammer, Laurel Sharp, Adam Riley, Mandy Thomas, Rachel Wegman, Glenda (Eckman) Antonovich, Jessica (Mehlhaff) Jonhes, Patricia Monson, Wyatt Smith, Kelan Harris, Clayton LaBrie, Tyler Sutton, Samantha Stahlecker, Jason Zeigler, Deanna Anderson, Bonnie Brady.
— 3rd anniversary, Parker/Maddy (Keeler) McKittrick.
— 3rd anniversary, Chris/Alana (Arnold) Schmidt.
— 2nd anniversary, Jesse/April Beesley.

Thursday, Oct. 15:
Josh Rogers, Kay Thomas, Hope Armstrong, Anthony Rounds, Ross Anderson, Eric Schmidt, Jenny (Mller) Goehring, Maleah Becker, Sophia Coolidge, Eleanor Eichstadt.
— 4th anniversary, Michael/Jessica Fuchs.
— 9th anniversary, Paul/Danielle (Ryan) Schroeder.

Friday, Oct. 16:
Josh Vogt, Paul Sowers, Andersen Jastorff-Gillies, Charlie Moore, Mike Adams, Andrew Durbin, Paula Barber, Drew Mickelson, Gail Eichstadt, Monica Ortbahn, Piper Goodman, Brandi Burton, Lincoln James, Evan Lee, Margaret Ellefson, Serena (Douglas) Thomas.

Saturday, Oct. 17:
Benjamin Weingart, Jennifer Steece, George Rapp, Alex Lauseng, Josh Nebelsick, Gunnar Gates, Oliver Nebelsick, Marlow Parsons.

Sunday, Oct. 18:
Tasha Unkenholz, Misty Scott, Ryan Fromm, Tammy Withers, Mark Swenson, Aubrey (Hunt) Stofferahn, Troy Heien, Mackenzie Burger, Michael Putnam, John Burchill III, Sue Schaefer, Maxwell Pool, Sharon (Harkless) Metzinger.
— 45th anniversary, Gary/Kathy Sarvis.
— 6th anniversary, Wayne/Vanessa (Kinkler) Yackley.

Monday, Oct. 19:
Franklin Hansen, Jolynn Riis, Archer Edelen, Hilary (Woodburn) Hunt, Carrie (Gerber) Norman, Brian Timp, Mary Jean Lomheim, Lydia Nuttall, Connor Berg, Carol Heintz.
— 8th anniversary, Greg/Kayla (Petersen) Barringer.
We fondly remember Jack Unkenholz, who passed away 11 years ago today.

Tuesday, Oct. 20:
Carter Ahlers, Bill Lytle, Gerry Cass, Shelley Erickson, Brittany (Bailey) Jarecke, Jon Dravland, Betty Morford, Lois Welch, Carisa (Rathbun) Marshall, Rohini Knudson, Emerson Antholz, Lisa Heffernan, Deb (Kern) Workman.
— 8th anniversary, Josh/Stacie (Ries) Swanstrom.

Wednesday, Oct. 21:
Nick Hodgin, Jonathan Bell, Jenna (Neuhauser) Tschetter, Chris Bondy, Shirley Schnabel, Marcia (Davis) Kozel, Corey Carr, Susan Culberson, Stephen Williamson.
— 3rd anniversary, Cody/Brook (Jennings) Hutchison.

Thursday, Oct. 22:
Chris Mullett, Corie Oliva, Tessa Beyer, Paisley Bramblee, Joni (Haugan) Sengos, Dan Snyder, Pat Anderson, Garrett Gordon, Carey Smalley, Joy (Peck) Colson, Lincoln Englehart, Alexa Berg, Gwen Smith.
— 15th anniversary, Bobby/Katrina Duncan.
— 9th anniversary, Justin/Somer (LaRosh) Garrigan.

Friday, Oct. 23:
Seth Hoffman, Theresa (Frick) Jones, Cassandra Jones, Michelle Van Camp, Celia Costello, Eileen Kramer, Susie Fuller.
— 43rd anniversary, Ted/Sheryl Hall.
— 5th anniversary, Travis/Vera (Van Winkle) Tiipton.

Saturday, Oct. 24:
Jacob Beastrom, Mike Rounds, Carletta Zebroski, Austin Lentsch, Beau Salmonson, Minnie Budmayr, Craig McTighe.
— 17th anniverary, Lonnie/Danielle Ballweg.
— 22nd anniversary, Dan/Brooke (Severson) Lusk.

Sunday, Oct. 25:
Jami Neumiller, Brent Sogaard, Todd Madden, Trevor Fisher, Josh Graves, Diane Kafka, Maxine Blasdell, Stephanie Strang, Emily Weber, Tom Ripley, Pat Powers, David Reiss, Sandra (Kern) Mollman, Sullivan Vogel, Kelly Meagher-Pitlick.
— 17th anniversary, Lance/Stacy Hosman.

Monday, Oct. 26:
Josh Gilkerson, Shannigan Heckenlaible, Miles Schock, Madyson Hammell, Tifanie Thompson.
— 17th anniversary, Matt/Stephanie (Hull) Joens.

Tuesday, Oct. 27:
Haylie Ripperger, Janet Ricketts, Bev Smedley, Bev Zebroski, Rose Mary Currier, Carter Schiefelbein, Keith Hrdlicka, River Iverson, Chris Rasmussen.
— 19th anniversary, Rick/Lisa Knudson.

Wednesday, Oct. 28:
Kristi Hestdalen, Kyle Cichos, Logan Stoeser, Samantha Beck, Megan Rapp Deal, Kendra (Ott) Beyer, Jane Pitlick, Jodi Gabriel, Katherine Breske, Thelma Allison, Madison Siebrasse, Trevor Larson, Kathryn Lindbloomn, Luralynn Davenport.
— 31st anniversary, Jeff/Wanda (Ping) Adel.
— 3rd anniversary, Brady/Alyssa (Hudecek) Groff.

Thursday, Oct. 29:
Jenna Hall, Tim Cass, Tara Prue, Tyler Prue, Darcie (Olson) Kringen, Abe Storms, Amanda Harsin, Greg Dean, Brian Paulson, Mike Hofmeister.
— Anniversary, Jon/Michelle Boer.
— 15th anniversary, Clint/Geli (Morin) Alumbaugh.
— 37th anniversary, Mike/Sharon Larsen.

Friday, Oct. 30:
Karna (Knapp) Pfeiffer, Branch Wolf, Michael Roberts, Jessica (Duba) Castelli, Dusty Hunsley, Carrie (Gonsor) Sanderson, Trey Owens, Satchel Workman, Jim Bilbrey, Taryn (Wolf) Blaseg, Milo Nill, Andrew St. Claire, Nicole Hill, Cassidy (Rogers) Kulesa.

Saturday, Oct. 31:
Joey Stahl, Cori Bechtold-Haag, Gus Bixler, Mya Ann Boe, Brian Van Camp, Christee Stuafer, Brady Washecheck.

Sunday, Nov. 1:
Tate Uecker, Mark Kozel, Marc McGregor, Juanita McKeever, Kelcy Curtis, Melanie (Ramse) Turp.
— 6th anniversary, Mike/Rachel Fisher.
— 17th anniversary, Nathan/Nicole Welsh.
— 17th anniversary, Justin/Mindhy (Stearns) Sivage.
— 12th anniversary, Jason/Amy Ondell.

Monday, Nov. 2:
Kevin Richter, Mat Dutt, Brandon Lowery, Eddie Welch, Rochelle (Rutschke) Kenzy, Dee Clegg, Lois Ries, Deb Schuetzle, Taylor Hyde, Jasmin (Fosheim) Turner, Cindy (Minder) DeFries, Jeremy Pullman, Dax Larson, Glenda (Gill) Eisenbeisz, Tiffany (Sonnenschein) Anderson.

Tuesday, Nov. 3:
Dale Bertsch, Chris Rounds, Randy Englund, Kevin Woster, Liz Hunt, Gus Runyan, Caden Thompson, Samantha Nielson, Cortlyn Ahlers, Dakota Coppess, Emily Finley, Ed Baer, Darin Ries, Karla (Grueb) Kendrick.
— 8th anniversary, Joe/Rachel Lomheim.

Wednesday, Nov. 4:
Kara Gloe, Desirae Van Roekel, Nancy Gordon, McKenna Hall, Kristoffer Iwan, Jamie Porter, Ryan Wedin, Steven Blake.
— 42nd anniversary, Kerry/Pam Wenbourne.
— 25th anniversary, Mark/Tanna Zabel.
We fondly remember Jerry Kern on his birthday.

Thursday, Nov. 5:
Korey Nystrom, Marcelleen Davis, Don Giesinger, Collin Unkenholz, Nathan Auch, Tyler Steele, Kathy Falcon, Derek Hunsley, Molly (Weisgram) Maxwell.
— 4th anniversary, Jason/Jessica Rumpca.
— 65th anniversasry, Virgil/Carol Mikkelsen.
— 4th anniversary, Keenan/Carly (Feiler) Retterath.

2 Comments

  1. Peggy Hofmeister

    I can’t believe I just read the entire article about the miracle on Ree Street Football game, but I did! What a great game! What a great story!! Have a great October, Parker.

    Reply
  2. Bruce Venner

    Great to have the midweek update back in production!

    Reply

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