Aug. 20—FREEMAN, S.D. — As the 2026 season kicks off for the Freeman football program, there are plenty of new elements at play.
A new classification and slate of opponents. A host of new players stepping forward into prominent roles. Even a new (or perhaps old) nickname, as Freeman is a standalone program once again after a decade of co-ops and will compete under the Flyers banner for the first time since 2014.
One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the program’s championship ambitions.
Coming off a Class 9AA state championship and 12-0 season as the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix a year ago, the Flyers hope to pick up right where they closed the book on 2025.
“I honestly think this team has a chance to be better than last year’s team. We have that kind of talent coming back,” said head coach Dustin Tschetter. “There are a lot of things to like about this team. Hopefully, we keep improving each and every day, and we’ll see what happens.”
In the lead-up to a new campaign, plenty of attention has been given to the amount of production Freeman lost to graduation. Three seniors from last year’s roster were Class 9AA all-state performers, including quarterback Riley Tschetter, the 2025 Mitchell Republic football player of the year.
Even with the departures, Freeman was still picked as the preseason No. 1 in Class 9A by the South Dakota Prep Media poll, collecting 14 of 20 available first-place votes.
“We expect big things this year, just like we did last year and the year before that. Our goals aren’t going to change, regardless of who graduated,” Dustin Tschetter said. “Now, we haven’t been preseason No. 1, don’t get me wrong, but we’re not going to look at that too much. The only thing that matters is being the last team standing at the end of the year, and that’s our ultimate goal.”
Reinforcing that top ranking, Tschetter is quick to point out the talent that returns, which includes four offensive and five defensive starters from the DakotaDome, plus several role players the coach feels are prepared to fill in the gaps. Freeman’s top returners include all-state selections in senior lineman Hunter Nankivel and junior defensive back/wide receiver Easton Tschetter. Senior Alaric Knittel was also an honorable mention all-state pick along the defensive line.
“We’ve got some big shoes to fill because we lost some really talented football players last year, but we’ve still got a lot of talented guys back who played around them,” Dustin Tschetter said.
Now in Class 9A after a statewide round of new classes, Freeman’s schedule had a fair amount of turnover, too. There’s a large Cornbelt Conference presence on the slate this year, highlighted by a Week 3 trip to Howard, which was tabbed as the No. 2-ranked team in Class 9A by the preseason poll. Freeman hosts former co-op partner Canistota for Homecoming and will play nearby Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan, which is back in 9-man football after a stint in 11-man.
Freeman opens the season Friday at Alcester-Hudson, the first of three consecutive road games to start the year before kicking off its home schedule against Avon on Sept. 11. Notably, Freeman was assigned the final week of the regular season as its bye, meaning the Flyers have to play games in eight consecutive weeks.
“We’re going to get some different challenges just by seeing some teams we haven’t seen before, but it’s going to be exciting to see a bunch of new teams,” Tschetter said. “Top to bottom, (Class) 9A is pretty good. I think just about everyone has got a chance to beat anyone else on most nights.”
For all the offseason change, Tschetter said there’s still been a prevailing sense of continuity in the program. That’s a message he plans to reinforce with his squad before they take the field for the first time this season. The Flyers are also in a far stronger position than they were a decade ago, when fielding a Freeman football team was a struggle due to low participation.
“At the end of the day, we’re still Freeman football. We’ve been in co-ops the last 10 years, whether it’s the Pride or the Phoenix, but I don’t feel like it’s anything different because we’re still supported in this town,” Tschetter said. “On Friday nights, there’s no Marion or Canistota or even Freeman Academy anymore, but it’s still Freeman football.”