Spring football is in full swing

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Taryn Christion broke school a record last season. The spring football game is at 10 a.m. April 22 in the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

By ANDREW HOLTAN Sports Editor

The South Dakota State football team kicked off their spring practices March 17 as they prepare for their spring game April 22.

The Jacks are coming off a season where they went 9-4 and won a game in the FCS Playoffs for a third time before falling to North Dakota State 36-10 in the second round.

They also had players shatter records, including junior wide receiver Jake Wieneke, junior tight end Dallas Goedert and sophomore quarterback Taryn Christion.

Wieneke set career records for receiving yards with 4,192 yards and touchdown receptions with 43 touchdowns. Goedert broke the single season record for receptions with 92 catches. Christion set single season records for completions with 229 and yards passing with 3,714 yards. Christion also tied the single-season touchdown pass record with 30 touchdowns.

SDSU is returning all three of these players for next year, so the offense looks promising. The defense is sort of a question mark after losing seniors in Nick Mears, Jesse Bobbit and Cole Langer. 

The Jacks return their leading tackler in Christian Roozeboom, who won Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year. They also return Kellen Soulek who led the team in sacks.

The Jacks are coming off arguably their best season ever, tying their record for most wins in a season and were the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. That was the first time they had ever been seeded. Expectations will certainly be high for the 2017 season.

The Jacks will continue spring practices. The spring game will be at 10 a.m. April 22 at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings.