Today, two of the seven high school football state championships begin today as the Class 9B and Class 9AA state championships will be played in Vermillion.
Starting with the Class 9B state championship, the top seed Dell Rapids St. Mary’s did not have a close game all season, that is until last Friday when the four seed, Faulkton Area Trojans, made the Cardinals work for every point and yard all night. The 22-16 win was the lowest scoring game of the season for the Cardinals while also being the only one score game of the year. A 30-21 win over Centerville and 34-20 win over Alcester-Hudson was the only two score games the Cardinals played in all season. Six of the 11 wins were finished early with 50 point mercy rule wins and another 48 point win brought on the running clock. But they’ll face the 10-1 Avon Pirates who are coming off a close victory as well, beating Colman-Egan 38-28 in Avon. The Pirates beat both Sioux Falls Lutheran and Colman-Egan twice during the regular season and the Pirates only loss comes against 9AA Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy who is undefeated and also in the state championship. Both teams have high flying offenses and stout defenses. The last time the two teams met was in the 9B semifinals in 2001 where Dell Rapids St. Mary’s won 32-30 and eventually won the 9B state title, its latest win. Avon is looking to win the state championship for the first time since 2008 when they defeated Gettysburg.
The 9AA state championship will also feature the top two seeds in the class. Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy who is undefeated at 11-0 and Elkton-Lake Benton who is 10-1 on the year. It becomes a rematch of the week three contest when the Phoenix beat the Elks 42-28. Elkton-Lake Benton beat FMFA last year 40-12. Both teams like to throw the ball for chunk plays as FMFA’s quarterback Riley Tschetter is averaging 19 yards per completion with 26 touchdowns to one interception. Elkton-Lake Benton’s QB Colt Beck is averaging 20 yards per completion with 21 touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. The Phoenix hold the advantage of turnovers as the defense has forced 21 turnovers in 11 games while the Elks have forced 18 turnovers.
Kickoff of the 9B game is 11:00 on while the 9AA game will have kickoff at 7:00 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
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