By Rich Winter

605 Sports

On the Monday before the first football games of the season Todd County senior offensive lineman Bryce Redfish wasn’t feeling well during practice. 

Mid practice the stomach pains worsened and by the time he got home he couldn’t walk. His mom, Julie Redfish loaded her 6-foot-4 300-pound son into the car and after a quick visit to the emergency room it was determined that Redfish had appendicitis. 

“I had surgery the next morning and the doctors told me because I practiced with it that it sped up the process,” Redfish said. “As soon as I woke up they told me my appendix was minutes away from rupturing.” 

The Falcons rolled to a 4-0 start without Redfish. The senior was cleared to play against Omaha Nation on Sep. 23 but the Chiefs forfeited and Redfish had to spend another week on the sideline. 

“I spent my whole summer trying to prepare for football,” he said. “I was very excited to play with my team for my senior year so it came as a shock. It was a struggle because football is everything to me. I had a whole wave of emotions and I felt angry, I felt like I was letting my team down and I felt sadness for how much I love this game.”

The ground heavy Falcons rolled through their first four games averaging 211 yards rushing per game. Since Redfish returned to the lineup the Falcons are cranking out 315 rushing yards per game including 299 in their All-Nations semifinal win over Winnebago. 

“He’s helped us a lot,” Todd County football coach Bob Kornely said. “We brought him in slow and he hasn’t played defense for us yet this year.” 

Redfish says he is back to his old self and after reaching the All-Nations A Division championship in 2021 he is pumped to get another chance to play at the DakotaDome in Vermillion. 

“I’m very proud to be able to go back and represent the Falcon name and showcase my skills and all the training I put in this summer,” he said. 

The 10-0 Falcons play Red Cloud (9-1) for the A division championship starting at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon.