WINNER, SD (Dakota News Now) – The preseason rankings for all of South Dakota’s classifications were released today and to no one’s surprise, the Winner Warriors are the top-ranked team in 11B.
What may be somewhat shocking is that one of the state’s perennial favorites was not at the top at the end of the last two seasons.
In 2022, Elk Point-Jefferson ended Winner’s 28-game winning streak with a victory in the 11B state championship game, and last year the Warriors failed to even make it to the Dakota Dome for the first time since 2018 when EP-J defeated them again in the semifinals.
Those were the only losses the Warriors have suffered in the last two seasons, and Winner is in great shape as ever, led by perhaps the best player in the state, senior tight end and defensive lineman Shawn Hammerbeck, who is transferring to Nebraska.
On Friday, they play their first home game against defending champion and fifth-ranked Hot Springs. Hammerbeck says the Warriors are out for blood in 2024.
“When we show up, they (the other teams the Warriors will face) know we’re here to do something and we want to beat them up,” Hammerbeck said. “Last year’s loss is in the back of our minds every day. Every day we show up at practice and if anyone complains, we just say, ‘Remember last year?’ And they’re motivated and they get to work.”
In order to forget the aftertaste of last year’s bitter disappointment, we must, at least for the time being, manage without Hammerbeck’s services.
Dakota News Now Sports has received word from Winner in the last few hours that Hammerbeck has suffered a ruptured appendix and will miss some games.
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