Community enjoying team's success

CANISTOTA — There’s been a lot to talk about in Canistota lately.

Most notably, football.

With its 52-8 rout over Warner in the Class 9A state championship game Thursday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, the Hawks notched their 36th victory in a row and claimed their third straight state title.

For the Hawks, the school and community members of Canistota, this is a special time for their high school football team.

It’s such an astounding feat that only one other nine-man team, Freeman High School, has recorded more consecutive wins. In the late ’90s, Freeman reeled off 46 wins in a row to go along with four titles.

“We have a saying here and it’s, ‘We don’t ask for much, just perfection,’ ” said Canistota football coach Lenny Schroeder, who just finished his ninth season at the helm. “For us, that has nothing to do with score, nothing to do with the streak, it just has to do with doing the best you can on each play.

“Our expectations aren’t going to change. We are going to be perfect one play at a time.”

During its amazing run of victories, the Hawks have only scored less than 40 points four times. Coincidently, those games have also been their closest.

The Hawks’ current win streak ranks 11th in the nation among active high school streaks, according to Maxpreps.com, a site that keeps track of prep athletics across the nation.

Canistota, which has the longest streak in South Dakota, is immediately behind Washington State perennial powerhouse Bellevue, which has 37 straight wins. De La Salle — of Concord, Calif. — holds the current record with 151 consecutive wins over the course of nine years.

Although Canistota has a ways to go before thinking of catching up to De La Salle, it seems several people in the town are pleased with the team’s recent successes.

“I have been coaching for 30 years in the Cornbelt Conference, and I know the tradition of the conference,” Canistota athletic director and head boys’ basketball coach Pat Jolley said. “If you can go There’s been a lot to talk about in Canistota lately.

Most notably, football.

With its 52-8 rout over Warner in the Class 9A state championship game Thursday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, the Hawks notched their 36th victory in a row and claimed their third straight state title.

For the Hawks, the school and community members of Canistota, this is a special time for their high school football team.

It’s such an astounding feat that only one other nine-man team, Freeman High School, has recorded more consecutive wins. In the late ’90s, Freeman reeled off 46 wins in a row to go along with four titles.

“We have a saying here and it’s, ‘We don’t ask for much, just perfection,’ ” said Canistota football coach Lenny Schroeder, who just finished his ninth season at the helm. “For us, that has nothing to do with score, nothing to do with the streak, it just has to do with doing the best you can on each play.

“Our expectations aren’t going to change. We are going to be perfect one play at a time.”

During its amazing run of victories, the Hawks have only scored less than 40 points four times. Coincidently, those games have also been their closest.

The Hawks’ current win streak ranks 11th in the nation among active high school streaks, according to Maxpreps.com, a site that keeps track of prep athletics across the nation.

Canistota, which has the longest streak in South Dakota, is immediately behind Washington State perennial powerhouse Bellevue, which has 37 straight wins. De La Salle — of Concord, Calif. — holds the current record with 151 consecutive wins over the course of nine years.

Although Canistota has a ways to go before thinking of catching up to De La Salle, it seems several people in the town are pleased with the team’s recent successes.

“I have been coaching for 30 years in the Cornbelt Conference, and I know the tradition of the conference,” Canistota athletic director and head boys’ basketball coach Pat Jolley said. “If you can go undefeated three years, then you have accomplished something to be very proud of.”

While the streak is very important to the football program, it is almost equally as important to the community of about 700 people.

Despite Canistota’s small-town population, the football team has a large amount of support.

“Canistota is not a real big community and there aren’t a lot of other activities and things to do on Friday nights except watch football,” Jolley said.

Support for the football team is nothing new. Before the team gained statewide recognition for its performance, its fans would still pack their stadium and cheer for the Hawks.

“There are some die-hard football fans and there are kids in grade school who love coming to the games,” said Dan Tieszen, father of fullback/linebacker Eric Tieszen. “All fans, young and old, have all been here from the beginning.”

In small towns like Canistota, high school sports are huge and can become a rallying point for town pride, Schroeder said.

“The support from our community has been great,” he added.

Tags: sports, updates, canistota, football