After following their 2024 state runner-up season with their first non-winning season since 2018, the Sioux Valley Cossacks still have lofty standards on the football field in 2026.
They finished 5-5 last season, losing in the state quarterfinals. However, they were in head coach Jordan Fast’s first season, won a state playoff game and came closer than almost any other team to beating eventual state champion St. Thomas More.
Fast is now in his second year leading the program after nine years as a defensive coordinator. His Cossacks graduated several linemen along with Mitch Guthmiller, who ran for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns last season and is now playing linebacker for South Dakota State.
Guthmiller was also Sioux Valley’s leading receiver and leading tackler. Sioux Valley still returns quarterback Wyatt Hardt, who may also move from an offensive star at the prep level to a linebacker at the collegiate level. For now, he’ll pair with running back Logan Mohn, who’s also getting attention from NCAA Division II schools according to Fast.
Last year, Hardt threw for 851 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for 905 yards and 11 touchdowns on six yards per carry. Mohn rushed for 270 yards and two scores on 6.6 yards per carry.
Wyatt Nelson is the lone returning offensive lineman, but Fast anticipates him being one of the best linemen in the 11B classification. He’s optimistic about the blockers who will be joining him, saying they’re skilled and have had junior varsity success but were biding their time behind last year’s large senior class.
With about 40 players, the Cossacks will have one of the largest rosters in 11B. In theory, they should have both depth and durability. Fast has placed an emphasis on the weight room. Sioux Valley has a 600-pound club, with membership achieved by benching and squatting a combined 600 pounds. This year’s team has a program record 11 players who have met that standard. That weight room work ethic matches Sioux Valley’s identity.
“We’re going to meet our scheme to meet our players,” Fast said. “We’ve learned things over the past that we like. We’re going to be a running football team. That’s no secret. The best teams in 11B run the football.”
Fast plans to be multiple on defense. He’s not sure what exactly those combinations will look like. While Sioux Valley will recycle schemes they’d succeeded with in the past, there will be some changes.
After an Aug. 21 home opener against Aberdeen Roncalli, the Cossacks host Clark/Willow on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. Fast highlighted road games against Elk Point-Jefferson (Oct. 2) and Deuel (Sept. 4) as part of what he thinks may be the hardest schedule in 11B.
Clark/Willow was 9-2 last season, splitting a pair of games against Sioux Valley and reaching the state semifinals. Deuel also finished 9-2 and lost in the state semifinals last season (after defeating Sioux Valley in a 46-40 shootout). Elk-Point-Jefferson started 11-0 (including two wins over Sioux Valley) in 2025 before a Class 11B state title game loss to St. Thomas More.
Sioux Valley has made the state playoffs every year for the decade that Fast has been there, and he doesn’t anticipate that changing in 2026. He thinks the Cossacks could be a top five team in Class 11B this season.
“Last year, we maybe didn’t have as many wins as we wanted,” Fast said. “But we lost multiple games to final four teams. We even had a win over a final four team (Clark/Willow).
“So our goal is — maybe it’s not set with a certain saying or something like that — but it’s always just reach your potential, do the best we can, and give yourself a situation to be proud of all your effort that you put in, and maybe hopefully be playing in November (the state semifinals) when it’s all said and done.”
— Contact Gavin Struve at gstruve@cmpapers.com
