On Saturday, October 15, West High alumnus and South Dakota University linebacker Nate Ewell faced off against the Cedar Valley’s own, Northern Iowa Panthers. Ewell had a career game back near his hometown in front of his friends and family that gathered to show support.
As a Wahawk.
Ewell graduated from West High back in 2021. As an upperclassman, he had a total of 134.5 tackles and 17.5 tackles for loss as the starting linebacker. On the offensive side of the ball, Ewell played wide receiver, finishing with 440 yards his senior year, coming in second on the team behind his fellow West High standout and Division I wide receiver Tay Norman. Along with football, Ewell also participated in basketball, track and served as the Co-Op in the athletic office.
The start of something new.
Ewell was determined to play college football and committed on February 2, 2021, to Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. (NAIA) Ewell played his first three years of collegiate football for the Vikings, where he played 27 games and helped lead Grandview to a combined 38-3 record over this tenure. Ewell racked up numerous awards with most noticeably, First Team All-Defense and Third Team All-American in 2023.
Ewell’s stats backed up his awards, where he logged 128 total tackles, 80 of which being solo. Ewell also had 18 pass deflections, five forced fumbles and five fumbles recovered for the Vikings. Although Ewell was phenomenal at putting on pressure and making big tackles, he could also get it done dropping into coverage, where he had seven interceptions and a pick-six.
The move.
Following his Junior season at Grandview, Ewell decided he wanted to play at a higher level college that offered more competitive football. Ewell was contacted by former Grandview head coach Travis Johansen. Johansen had made the move to South Dakota in 2019, after being the head guy for six seasons at Grandview. At the University of South Dakota, Johansen started as their Defensive Coordinator before moving up to Associate Head Coach and now Head Coach of the Coyotes. With Johansen having ties to Grandview, he knew they could produce the star talent needed for an FCS level program. Johansen had found that star guy in Ewell, and decided to join him in Vermillion as a Coyote. All he needed was one coach to reach out to him to jump into a bigger opportunity. Ewell committed to the University of South Dakota on January 17, 2024 and quickly adapted to his new home in Vermillion, South Dakota.
As a Coyote.
Ewell is in his second year at South Dakota where he has accumulated 143 total tackles in 25 games so far. Ewell helped South Dakota reach the FCS Semi-Finals last year after a great 11-3 season. So far the Coyotes are 7-4 and ranked 17th following back to back top 25 wins. Ewell set a personal record for tackles in a game with 13 against Northern Iowa. Along with his big game against Northern Iowa, Ewell has also won multiple awards for his time at South Dakota. So far, he has earned MVFC All-Newcomer team, Second Team preseason All-American, and ranked No.12 for returning FCS linebacker according to herosports.com. Since Northern Iowa the Coyotes lost to a 18th ranked Illinois State and then upset 8th ranked North Dakota and 9th ranked South Dakota State. South Dakota is back to three games above .500 at 7-4 after winning the annual Interstate Series game vs the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.
