Eleven Unbeaten Teams Left in South Dakota Nine-Man Football

Five Class 9A teams, four in 9B and two in 9AA head into the final weekend of September with perfect records.

September's high school football schedule in South Dakota closes this weekend, and just 11 unbeaten teams remain across the state's three nine-man classes. Class 9A still has five perfect teams, Class 9B has four and Class 9AA only two.

Top-ranked Parkston anchors the 9A group behind a defense allowing 12 points per game, tied for second in the class. The Trojans' best result was a 30-6 road win at Platte-Geddes, which has since climbed back to No. 2 in the South Dakota Prep Media poll. A visit from Bon Homme, ranked No. 2 for several weeks before a surprising loss, looms on Oct. 2.

In 9AA, Waubay/Summit has gone from a combined 6-11 record over the past two seasons to leading the class in scoring offense (47.5 points per game) and defense (8.0 allowed). A soft schedule, with an opponent win percentage of .286, has the Mustangs fourth in seed points behind one-loss Platte-Geddes and Hamlin. They travel to Britton-Hecla this week.

Castlewood's perfect mark has been driven by senior quarterback and linebacker Kamden Keszler, who has 498 passing yards, 472 rushing yards, 18 offensive touchdowns and 41 tackles, among other production. The Warriors opened with wins over Hamlin and Howard and have outscored their last three opponents 165-8.

Freeman's offense leads all nine-man teams at 53.2 points per game, and its only remaining tests include 3-2 De Smet plus a short trip to Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan. The Flyers' Sept. 25 game with Canistota was canceled because Canistota lacks enough healthy players, leaving Freeman with seven regular-season games.

Philip allows a class-low 8.3 points per game and visits Wall this week for a Homecoming matchup; Wall has won 12 of the past 13 meetings between the teams. Sully Buttes rounds out the list with a knack for close wins, holding the smallest average scoring margin among the unbeatens at plus-11.0.