South Dakota is full of football dynasties – Tripp, Freeman, Sioux Falls Washington, and Hamlin, just to name a few, but none really come close to what West Central did from 1993 to 2007.
For a decade and a half in Class 11A, the Trojans of West Central won eleven state football championships. This stretch included a streak of three-in-a-row (96-98), and six-in-a-row (2000-2005).
One of the components that remained consistent throughout this era of West Central football was head coach Jim Uttecht, who over his time in Hartford, never had a losing season. Even though he had some strong teams through the 80’s and at the turn of the decade, Uttecht didn’t win his first state title until ’93.
“In the early 90’s it was [West Central] and Vermillion who would come down to the two best teams in the state,” explained Uttecht. “In 90, 91, and 92 you had the Jason Leber (Vermillion) years, and he was as good an athlete as I have gone against.”
Vermillion would win three straight state titles in the early 90’s, but in ’93, the West Central dynasty was born.
“[1993] was really, I had such a great bunch of kids that were able to play awesome. The system was being adjusted all the time,” Uttecht stated. “We had one of the better records, but we had to travel to Madison to get to state, and we beat a very good Madison team. Then we got [to the dome] and won in triple overtime [against Winner], which was unbelievable.”
After the stretch of three straight in the mid-90’s, the Trojans began a new streak of state championships in the 2000’s, one that would last for six years. While there always seems to be pressure for a defending state champion, Uttecht tried to keep things simple for his team.
“I don’t know if the kids were self-pressuring, we just took one at a time. I felt pressured because I always felt that I needed to do the best I could for the group of kids,” explained Uttecht. “We always preached the same thing, ‘you guys really haven’t done anything. The seniors from last year are the ones that have that title. You guys need to step up and live in your own time.’”
Uttecht coached West Central until 2004. At that time, he turned the heading coaching reins over to his longtime defensive coordinator Kent Mueller.
“Other than my marriage and my family, and I experienced great success in high school as well, it was a phenomenal time. I would say we had our share of just super athletes. Don’t get me wrong, we had kids that went on and played at a high level at college and probably more than a lot of schools our size. I always look back at West Central and I think that was just high school kids doing something they love to do,” Mueller described. “Even though we were blessed with some great athletes, we had a lot of kids that just stepped up and were absolutely the best they could be.”
Mueller and Uttecht, although both are retired now, still remain close. One place they still spend time with each other at is during Trojan football games.
“When we can, we do stand together. A lot of times I will sit in the stands, although that is a stretch for me. I’m not necessarily comfortable doing that, but if I see Jim, I definitely will go stand by him and we’ll reminisce and we’ll talk,” said Mueller. “We had our opportunities and we had our time, and now we’ve passed that torch on. I like going back to West Central and I love watching our kids, because I still have connections with a lot of the kids. I like to see them achieve and be successful.”
One of the big names from the stretch in the 2000’s for West Central was Chad Morrison, who ran for over 1,800 yards throughout his junior and senior seasons.
When Morrison arrived on the varsity squad, the culture of Trojans football was already put in motion.
“You didn’t really think about losing necessarily, you were just doing what you had to do to win. You just focused on that more or less than the ‘would have, could have, should have,’ and just focus on what it’s going to take to win this week and let that snowball from there,” stated Morrison.
One aspect that West Central was known for during their run of championships was their double wing style of offense.
“As a running back, if you don’t get the ball, you better act like you got the ball,” Morrison explained. “If you don’t have the ball and you’re not faking it, you better be able to block. It’s great when you get the opportunity to get the ball in their hand because you’ve got guys going in different spots, but you can’t be one dimensional as well, you got to be able to block and you’ve got to be able to carry out a fake.”
Today, Morrison is a high school athletic trainer – for West Central. Being that he’s still surrounded by the community that he grew up loving, he often is reminded of the days where he was playing ball. The trophy case at the high school is one constant reminder of the success.
“You know that [the trophies are] there and it’s pretty cool to be a part of that history,” said Morrison. “It’s nice to know that you were able to be a part of something pretty special.”
To this day, nobody has matched what West Central did during the 90’s and 2000’s. Their legacy of dominance is something that will live on in South Dakota forever.
Jim Uttecht, Kent Mueller, and Chad Morrison recently joined the ‘In Play with Craig Mattick’ podcast to talk about the Trojans football dynasty. You can listen to the full episode via Apple, Google Play, and Spotify, and you can subscribe to the In Play podcast, and any other SDPB podcast, by clicking here.
