A live look at high school football

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -- The South Dakota high school football season kicks off this week, while our live coverage of the sport returns next week and all season long.

That's nearly a dozen games leading up to the state championships in November.

A new season of high school football is nearly upon us.

"People just really care about high school football in the state of South Dakota," KELOLAND Digital Content Manager Grant Sweeter said.

Grant Sweeter is part of the team at KELOLAND that will broadcast eleven games this season. He's been on the call since 2019, and things have come a long way since game one in Britton, South Dakota.

"I put the lav mic on and a camera, and that's all I had: a lav mic, the camera, the backpack to send the signal back. I remember calling that game; I was really nervous," Sweeter said.

Sweeter eventually got help in the form of people and equipment.

"We wanted to do a state baseball tournament, and they said, 'well' Well, if we're going to do that, we need the scoreboard, we need graphics, we need replay. And so we went out, and we got the technology to do that. And now this year, we've even gone out and updated that technology," Sweeter said.

But it remains a tight-knit crew to this day.

"We make it look like there's probably a handful of us out there. There's only three of us out there. So we have somebody calling the game and running our YOLO. And our YOLO is our little tablet that it looks like a thick iPad, but it runs the entire game and basically a director's booth in the size of an iPad," Sweeter said.

"Whoever's doing the color commentary on a night, they're usually running a camera as well. So they're trying to give color commentary and run a camera. And then if I'm doing play-by-play, I'm also directing. So I'm switching between camera shots," KELOLAND Weekend Morning News Anchor Jordan DeSmet said.

Jordan DeSmet discovered his passion for broadcasting games while at Northwestern College, where he also played football for the Red Raiders.

"Being a former football player myself, I understand the hard work and dedication that goes into football. So I love being a part of being able to bring that to other people," DeSmet said.

It's also a nice change of pace for DeSmet, who's a news anchor and reporter at KELOLAND Media Group.

"It's really interesting because I could cover something that's not even close to sports, maybe the day before, and then I'm covering sports on Friday night. But I love it, and I wouldn't want it any other way," DeSmet said.

"The team has done an amazing job of providing great coverage. And I'm so proud of all of them," KELOLAND Media Group Vice President & General Manager Mari Ossenfort said.

KELOLAND General Manager Mari Ossenfort says local sports are what bring a community together.

"We love being a part of it. We love providing that service. If people can't make it to the game, we want to bring it into their living room. And so it's part of us expanding our commitment to our community," Ossenfort said.

The expansion also includes a new audience as KELOXTRA and its lineup of high school football games are now available in West River.

"The opportunities just didn't quite ever align. But right now, expanding KELOXTRA to the west side of the state has become a priority of ours. And we're excited about bringing more local to the west side of KELOLAND," Ossenfort said.

"Super excited to have coverage out West River and super thankful for KELOLAND to do that for our community, because our community's constantly just, you know, hey, where's our coverage at," Wall head coach Lex Heathershaw said.

And KELOXTRA isn't where the games end.

"With KELOLAND+ being an app you can get on multiple different platforms on your TV, you can watch that anywhere in the world," Sweeter said.

But what's a platform without the content to back it up?

"We start with a state championship rematch, a back-to-back state championship rematch down in Lennox between Sioux Falls Christian and Lennox. And then we just get into a good run of games after that," Sweeter said.

"It's just the drama of football. You know you never really know. So just excited to see how it all turns out," DeSmet said.

The live coverage doesn't end with football season. KELOLAND will broadcast high school basketball games this winter and baseball next spring. Catch all the action all year long on KELOXTRA, KELOLAND+, and KELOLAND.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.