VERMILLION — Easton Neuendorf, a future college basketball player and one-time soccer player, put his name in the state football record books on Thursday.

The Hamlin High School senior booted a 45-yard field goal, setting a new record for longest field goal in a Class 9AA state championship game and the all-time longest kick in nine-man championship game history. He broke the previous Class 9AA record of 40 yards set by Wall’s Burk Blasius in 2022.

The 45-yard boot was as time expired in the first half, pushing Hamlin’s lead to 25-8 at intermission. It also set off a celebration among the sea of powder blues in the stands. 

“That’s a big momentum swing,” Neuendorf said. “It’s just a big thing to go into halftime up three scores.”

The 45-yarder was just another highlight in a game full of them for Hamlin, which rolled up 330 total yards of offense. 

“It was a great shot of confidence,” Hamlin coach Jeff Sheehan said. “Because they had two touchdowns to score. They had to score three touchdowns to take the lead. It was a huge kick for us.”

Neuendorf’s previous career long was a 33-yarder earlier this season. Neuendorf, who also plays defensive back and wide receiver, was hampered this season by a quad injury. 

But there was no hesitation from Jeff Sheehan to have Neuendorf kick the 45-yarder under the bright lights at the DakotaDome. 

“It wasn’t even a conversation,” Sheehan said. “I said we are kicking it and he said ‘Yeah we are.’ I have that kind of confidence in him.”

Sheehan also had confidence that Neuendorf, who didn’t play football until his junior year, would be an impact player for the Chargers. 

“I tried to get him out as a freshman. I tried to get him out as a sophomore,” Sheehan said. “He just said ‘No, no, no. Can’t do it.’ I finally had a talk with his parents, and I said ‘You get Easton out for football, he will be an all-state DB sometime.’ He showed his ability to do a lot of things.”

What prompted Neuendorf to play football? 

“Just seeing all my friends playing on Friday night,” Neuendorf said. “It looked fun and then a little bit of convincing from friends and I was like ‘Alright lets do it.’ ” 

Neuendorf, who grew up in Aberdeen and Mitchell, played soccer from the age of three until his eighth-grade year. The soccer background naturally allowed him to be an effective kicker and it landed him into the state football record books on Friday. 

“At the beginning of the year I couldn’t really kick because I got a leg injury,” Neuendorf said. “Not being able to kick much for much of the year and throughout the playoffs we were working on it and I felt like my team needed it. So I am going to.” 

It was also Neuendorf’s final career football game. The all-state basketball player will play college basketball next season at Briar Cliff University. 

Neuendorf and the Chargers also won the Class A state basketball championship in March. 

"It's a great year to be a Charger,” Neuendorf said. “We came in at the beginning of the year and we set our goal that we are going to get to the Dome and we are going to win it."