St. Thomas More gave it their best shot. Milbank was just too tough. Not much else to say.

-Ryan

By Seth A. McConnell

I’ve come to enjoy shooting sports as of late. It may have something to do with it being playoff time again and everyone has brought up their level of play.
I shot the St. Thomas More vs. Dakota Valley semi-final game on Saturday afternoon.
Afternoon football is a rarity around these parts so it was something I was looking forward too.
In no particular order some images from the game.

This should have been the lede photo for Sunday’s paper but when I was going through my take I deemed it not sharp enough. It may have had something to do with spending all day on the sideline followed by the Rush game that night.

Dakota Valley was fourth and goal from the two yard line late in the 4th quarter. It was their only real scoring opportunity of the day…

The St. Thomas More defense stood strong keeping Dakota Valley out of the end zone to preserve the shutout and earn a trip to the finals in Vermilion.

I would love to show you a jub shot but again it was pretty evident the Cavs were going to win so there was no real moment of victory.
This is More’s 5th trip to the dome in 6 years and by all accounts their best opportunity to bring home some championship hardware in football to Western South Dakota. A feat that hasn’t happened in quite a while. Good luck Cavs, make west river proud.

-S

By Seth A. McConnell

So close… I was so close to making one of the best sports photos I’ve ever made…
It’s the peak moment of the action, the ball is slipping right through the fingers of the defense, the framing is perfect and… its out of bloody focus. Not just a little bit, oh no its the kind of blurry you only see after a night of heavy drinking.

So close… it was there. I had it, I had the shot of the QB evading a diving line backer just as he was lofting the ball to the receiver that proceeded this moment. I snapped around and framed up the two as the ball came drifting down hoping my camera would focus under the dim lights of O’Harra Stadium… I was apparently moving faster than my camera because it picked up nothing but the hazy effect you experience after imbibing an adult beverage or 12.
Oh well! You win some, you lose some. Tonight was not my time to make this image and I just have to accept it as that. I really wish they would play their games earlier in the evening not only when the light is better but when everyone can see the action on the field. I believe it would increase the level of play as well. You can’t catch what you can’t see. I don’t understand why they choose to start everything so late but what do I know, I’m just a photographer.

This is the action that proceeded the a fore mentioned image. The next couple of frames following this were a little better as far as action was concerned but the dim lights on the field made focusing very difficult and they were soft.

-S

By Seth A. McConnell
Last Tuesday was the first round of high school football playoffs in the state of South Dakota.
I spent the evening in Belle Fourche covering the Belle vs. Hot Springs game.
Belle controlled the game from the start taking a 21-0 first quarter lead and went on to take the W 48-13 on six hot springs turnovers.
Despite the blowout I stuck around until the end hoping to make a few images of either jubilation or dejection and maybe if everything worked out both.
The game wasn’t near the nail bitter it was when these two teams locked up earlier in the season with Belle taking the tilt by three points. With the win in hand there wasn’t much for jubilation from the Broncs so I waited to see what emotion I could get from the Bison.
Making images of a team after a playoff loss is touchy and I could tell when I got close they were not happy to see me but I have a job to do and so I stuck it out. I mainly used my long glass to give myself some distance and be able to make more candid images. I think it worked out well and it allowed me to keep a respectable distance.
Some of these images are sideline outtakes as well.

-S

When your winning huge, its fun to take the field.

When you’ve lost your last high school game it can be hard to leave.

By Seth A. McConnell
It was straight out of a post apocalyptic movie last night as dozens of zombies terrorized downtown Rapid, banging on the windows of businesses, scaring the occupants inside who had no clue what was going on, and even attacking two people on the street (note: they were affiliated with the walk). It of course was the first annual Zombie Walk, an organized walk were willing participants dress as zombies and lurch and groan down the streets in a designated route. This phenomenon has been going on in larger cities for years but last night marked the first of what will hopefully more walks in the Black Hills. The best part of a Zombie Walk or Run is it doesn’t have to be on Halloween.

-S

By Seth A. McConnell

The puck has officially dropped on the second season of Rush hockey and at the moment we are without slideshows as we tweak the new website so I thought I would share some outtakes and favorite images of the 2 week old season. There are roughly 21 images here which is a lot but again no slideshows means long blogs.

-S

King helps a Sundog onto the bench. I wish I would have caught this whole sequence as Kinger first checked the kid into the bench and when he didn’t go all the way over he helped him by grabbing his feet and sending him the rest of the way over.

It’s too bad we lost Brown in goal but Batman was impressive in his first start, very entertaining to watch. I hope to make an image in his next start at home diving and making a save.

But Migs of course is a stud between the pipes and with the added defense the Rush have this year hopefully he won’t have as many shots on goal as he faced last year.

Last year I said I wanted a fight from the rafters. It never materialized but I got my chance the third game into the season this year. I got so excited I shot through my buffer on my Mark III, which left me barely able to make more than one or two images at a time and that is why King’s fist is not in the kids face. Good first fight for King, totally destroying this kid. It was impressive and left no doubt in my mind why King was voted best fighter last year.

I can’t remember if this scooted by Batman or not. I do believe it was during that horrible second period against the Sundogs when they scored three goals in just over a minute or so.

This is how you win in overtime. King feeds it to Wray who finds the twine for the winner 1:15 into overtime. Capping off a two goal comeback with 2:38 left in the third. Exciting game.

One thing I wanted last year was the stick bending on the ice on a slapshot. Mission accomplished.

Nice belly bump on the glass following a scrum behind the net. Probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen at a game.

Wray exiting the ice after scoring two goals in roughly two minutes to cap a three goal overtime win against the Sundogs.