Happy Hour with John Gaskins

You want more explosions? You got 'em in blowout wins to open the season, whether you're a Jackrabbit or Coyote fan.
 
South Dakota State's offense put on a fireworks show of 628 total yards — 393 rushing, 235 passing — with touchdowns of 78, 73, 52, 27, 27, and 20 yards, plus a 65-yard punt return to the end zone in a 70-7 bombardment of Stetson, the lowest-rated FCS team last season.
 
South Dakota lit up 2025 FCS playoff team Central Connecticut State with 594 total yards — 327 passing, 267 rushing — in a 56-20 assault that included scoring plays of 68, 61, 45, 49, 38, 24, and 23 yards.
 
Both Rushmore State squads scored 42 points by halftime. Both quarterbacks displayed their big arms and commands of their offense. Both defenses tortured their opponents for three hours.
 
But, what does it all really mean, considering the Jacks were favored to win by seven touchdowns and the Coytes were expected to win by three scores?
 
Inquiring football minds want to know, and Happy Hour brought in two of the more fertile football minds in South Dakota to answer that question and many more on Monday.
 
SDSU head coach Dan Jackson spent over a half-hour with the host expounding on his observations, including the depth at running back, development of quarterback Chase Mason, how the entire team got faster, and how all of it, if any, translates into this Saturday's steep leap in competition from Stetson to Northwestern.
 
South Dakota Sports Hall of Famer Kurtiss Riggs — a veteran TV analyst for Jacks telecasts and local high school football — brings his SDSU breakdowns, but also sheds light on:
 
* USD quarterback Austin Modrzewski's "hello, world" debut, tying Wes Boschoner's school record with six touchdown passes, plus a 68-yard burst for his first collegiate rushing touchdown— all part of 387 all-purpose yards day.
 
* North Dakota State's 33-7 smothering of Jacksonville State in the Bison's FBS debut, which included a crowd almost as large as SDSU's in Brookings
 
* Why USD's uniforms and NDSU's stadium production matter much more than you may think
 
* Augustana's 63-58 track meet win at Missouri Western
 
* USF's upset loss to Black Hills State at home
 
* Why the Lincoln Patriots' odds of reaching a fourth consecutive state championship game look long after a season-opening 42-35 upset loss to O'Gorman
 
* What to expect out of Alabama after Riggs, who, as always, spent some time talking to his best friend and USF national championship teammate Kalen DeBoen throughout the spring and summer

South Dakota Sports Hall of Famer Kurtiss Riggs — a veteran TV analyst for Jacks telecasts and local high school football — brings his SDSU breakdowns, but also sheds light on:
 
* USD quarterback Austin Modrzewski's "hello, world" debut, tying Wes Boschoner's school record with six touchdown passes, plus a 68-yard burst for his first collegiate rushing touchdown— all part of 387 all-purpose yards day.
 
* North Dakota State's 33-7 smothering of Jacksonville State in the Bison's FBS debut, which included a crowd almost as large as SDSU's in Brookings
 
* Why USD's uniforms and NDSU's stadium production matter much more than you may think
 
* Augustana's 63-58 track meet win at Missouri Western
 
* USF's upset loss to Black Hills State at home
 
* Why the Lincoln Patriots' odds of reaching a fourth consecutive state championship game look long after a season-opening 42-35 upset loss to O'Gorman
 
* What to expect out of Alabama after Riggs, who, as always, spent some time talking to his best friend and USF national championship teammate Kalen DeBoen throughout the spring and summer

SDSU head coach Dan Jackson spent over a half-hour with the host expounding on his observations of Saturday's blowout win over Stetson, including the depth at running back, development of quarterback Chase Mason, how the entire team got faster, and how all of it, if any, translates into this Saturday's steep leap in competition from Stetson to Northwestern. How does he prepare for a new offense, guided by Chip Kelly, and a defense that was salty last year and added some transfer depth up front?

Every Friday, "South Dakota Sports Lounge" displays some of the most captivating and entertaining conversations from daily sports talk shows in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and Fargo. Plus, Midwest Sports+ reporter Zach Borg provides a compelling feature story to send Dakotas sports fans into the weekend with a smile.
 
Here are this week's segments:

 
Happy Hour with John Gaskins (Sioux Falls): Second-year SDSU coach Dan Jackson describes the speech legendary former coach John Stiegelmeier gave his squad, the elevated abilities of already uber-talented quarterback Chase Mason, how the Jacks plan to be far more explosive on offense, and why some top veterans were held out of some August practices ahead of Saturday's season opener against Stetson.
 
Hot Mic with Dom Izzo (Fargo): Minnesota State-Moorhead coach Steve Laqua beams about the shining NFL preseason performances from former Dragon quarterback Jack Strand in Atlanta, then previews the 2026 season.
 
The Nate Brown Show (Rapid City): The Voice of the USD Coyotes, John Thayer, projects the top storylines of the only program that has reached the FCS quarterfinals for three consecutive years, including the new leadership of Matt Vitzthum as head coach and redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Modrzewski, who Vitzthum recently selected to take the starting reigns in Saturday's opener against '25 playoff team Central Connecticut State.
 
Zach Borg Feature (MS+): A "Camp Confidential" series profile on the Pierre Governors, who this season seek their ninth Class 11AA state title in 10 years. You can catch all the "Camp Confidential" profiles here and enjoy live and on-demand broadcasts of Sioux Falls Metro Conference games with your Midwest Sports+ subscription, starting this weekend with:
 
Friday's doubleheader at Howard Wood Field, which will also be televised live on KSFL-TV, channel 36 (over-the-air) and Midco channel 616:
 
5 p.m. - Rapid City Central at Sioux Falls Washington
 
7:30 p.m. - No. 5 O'Gorman at No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln
 
Zach Borg will call the play-by-play of those games, with former Augustana offensive coordinator James Schrenk returning as an MS+ analyst.
 
On Saturday, MS+ will televise what is anticipated to be the best matchup of the week in South Dakota's 11AAA football — The Tiger Bowl in Harrisburg.
 
No. 3 Sioux Falls Jefferson will visit No. 4 Harrisburg in rematch of a epic come-from-behind Cavaliers win last season on MS+. You can watch back that instant classic and all of our game replays from 2025 with your MS+ subscription!
 
Veteran local play-by-play announcer John Gaskins will call the game, also with Schrenk providing analysis.
 
Soon after these broadcasts conclude, your subscription makes them available "on demand" to watch anytime on midwestsportsplus.com or the MS+ app.
 
Let the games begin!

Let the games begin!
 
Finally, the Jackrabbits, Coyotes, Vikings, Cougars and all the Sioux Falls area 11-man high school teams are kicking off their seasons.
 
This means the second season of Happy Hour's "Thirsty Thursday Football Forecast" kicks off. The Happy Hour host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer dive into the matchups and "what to watch" for the games involving our local college and prep squads.
 
While No. 3 SDSU (-47.5 vs. Stetson) and No. 12 USD (-23.5 vs. Central Connecticut State) are heavy favorites to roll at home in their openers, there's plenty of intrigue regarding what both the Jacks and Yotes will look like after fans and media have spent the eight nine months talking and writing about them.
 
Which players are we most excited to see? How will the quarterbacks perform, and how will offensive game plans be designed? Who might be some breakout players who have yet to take a snap or make a big play in a college football game? Which defensive weak spots may be vulnerable?
 
Thursday is kickoff for two Div. II teams in Sioux Falls. NSIC coaches rated Augustana No. 3 out of 15 teams in their preseason poll, while USF is slotted at No. 4.
 
Is either team under "upset alert" in their openers?
 
Plus, there are three Top 5 matchups involving Sioux Falls metro area teams to preview:
 
* Class 11AAA — No. 3 SF Jefferson at #4 Harrisburg
* Class 11AAA — No. 5 O'Gorman at No. 1 SF Lincoln
* Class 11A — No. 1 SF Christian at No. 2 Lennox
 

Matt Zimmer's wife joins to discuss a serious public school cause
 
Imagine being a kid at school and being denied lunch.
 
Sadly, this may happen soon for some K-12 students in the Sioux Falls School District due to the district's $22,300 school lunch debt. Every student has an "account" for school food. In some cases, those accounts accrue negative amounts, and the dreaded "insufficient funds" notice appears, forcing school officials to deny food or provide an insufficient "snack" instead of a meal.
 
As someone who experienced the anxiety and shame of needing assistance to eat lunch during the school day as a child, Jenn Kenyon Zimmer — wife of Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer and mother of a 10-year-old in the SFSD — and other parents have stepped up to ensure no child goes hungry during a school day.
 
She wrote a recent Sioux Falls Live column about her mission, along with the nonprofit fundraising group Hungry Hearts SF.
 
In her conversation with the Happy Hour host, Kenyon Zimmer displays the emotion associated with her past trauma on this topic and explains why donating to SFSD Child Nutrition is worthwhile.