First Look at South Dakota High School Nine-Man Class 11B Semifinals – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL — One play, 48 minutes. That’s all that separates the South Dakota high school football programs that stayed put after Thursday’s quarterfinal round from a trip to the DakotaDome.

From undefeated battles to regular season rematches and bad bets, the statewide semifinal round on Friday, Nov. 8 will feature a little bit of everything.

Here’s an early preview of the semi-finals in Grades 11B, 9AA, 9A and 9B.

On one side of Class 11B, familiar foes East River are battling for a spot in the title game, while on the other side, an old rivalry with West River is being rekindled.

In the event, No. 2 Winner looks to return to the DakotaDome against an upset No. 11 St. Thomas More squad that has made long trips to beat Groton Area and Mount Vernon/Plankinton in back-to-back weeks. Although the Warriors and Cavaliers haven’t met since 2021, they were perennial rivals before that. Winner has won 11 straight in the streak, including a pair of postseason meetings. Winner last lost to STM in 2007, a season that included a regular season and playoff loss to the Cavaliers.

In the East, No. 1 Sioux Valley is looking for its first state title game since 1988 against No. 4 Elk Point-Jefferson, and the two programs are no strangers to each other. The Cossacks and Huskies have met every season since 2015, and while Sioux Valley has won 11 of the 12 meetings over that span, each of the Cossacks’ last three wins have come in close games. The last of those games was a 17-14 win over Sioux Valley on Oct. 18.

Regardless of who wins either game, Class 11B is guaranteed an East River vs. West River championship game for the sixth straight season. The winner represented West River in the first four contests, and EPJ is the two-time defending East River representative.

Both Class 9AA semifinals are rematches of games played earlier this season, with No. 1 Parkston vs. No. 5 Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy and No. 2 Hamlin vs. No. 3 Elkton-Lake Benton. Parkston and Hamlin won away games in their opening legs and now host in the semi-finals.

All four programs won by double digits in the quarterfinal round as Parkston defeated Leola/Frederick Area 40-6; FMFA destroyed Hill City 36-26; Hamlin knocked out Viborg-Gurley 56-20; and ELB outrebounded Hanson 46-21.

Rewind the season all the way back to Week 1 to find Parkston’s first meeting against FMFA, a 42-14 victory highlighted by a stellar performance from the Trojans’ Colter Kramer. However, a lot has changed since that game in late August, especially for Phoenix.

While Parkston continued to win, largely dominating his way to a 10-0 record that extended his winning streak to 22 straight games, FMFA had to shake off a slower start. After the loss to Parkston, FMFA also lost to ELB in Week 3, falling to 1-2. Since then, Phoenix has rattled off seven straight wins to secure its first semifinal appearance in program history.

On the other hand, Hamlin and Elkton’s previous meeting with Lake Benton is much more recent, coming during the final week of the regular season on Oct. 18. The Chargers came out of the penalty shootout that night with a 40-35 victory over the Elks. The result is ELB’s only loss of the season and the only game Hamlin has played that was decided by less than 36 points.

For much of the season, the top four seeds will compete in the Class 9A semifinals for two spots at the DakotaDome.

The top three teams — Wall, Howard and Warner — are all undefeated at 10-0, while Wolsey-Wessington is 9-1, its only loss coming by six points to Parkston, Class 9AA No. 1. Each of those four programs has a top-six scoring offense and the top five scoring defenses in the class, and they are almost certain to make it to the semifinals.

In the playoffs alone, Wall and Howard won the 50-point rule by a combined margin of 228-18. Warner outscored their opponents 86-14, while Wolsey-Wessington scored at least 50 points in both games. Between the four teams, only three of the 39 overall wins were decided by two or closer.

That will change on November 8.

In 2021, four dominant undefeated teams faced off in the Class 9A semifinal round, similar to the situation this season. The two semifinal contests that season were decided by a combined six points, treating South Dakota high school football fans to a pair of instant classics. While it would be difficult to hope for a couple of games on par with the 2021 semi-finals, meetings of such high caliber teams promise to be entertaining.

No. 8 seed Canistota pulled off a shock win in the Class 9B playoffs by beating No. 1 Avon in the quarterfinals. With the Pirates off the road, it’s hard to pin down a new favorite.

The four remaining programs — No. 2 Faulkton Area, No. 3 Dell Rapids St. Mary, No. 5 Sally Batts and No. 8 Canistota all have reason to believe it’s time to take home the title, and each has recent playoff pedigree to match.

Faulkton Area is the 2023 state runner-up and is looking to avenge its loss to Avon in last year’s title game. Dell Rapids St. Mary’s has just one loss and has been impressive most of the year as the Cardinals look to win their second championship in four years. Sally Batts also has just one loss, and behind dynamic quarterback Wesley Wittler, the Chargers are back in the title hunt, where they made three trips to Vermillion in four years in the mid-to-late 2010s.

After Canistota just demolished an offensive opponent that averaged 60 points per game against Class 9B opponents before the quarterfinals, Canistota’s confidence should be as high as ever as the program looks to return to the DakotaDome, where it has been since eight times 2010 (including as Canistota/Freeman). The Hawks’ defense has been strong all year and hasn’t allowed more than 14 points to a Class 9B opponent this season.

Dierks covers prep and college athletics throughout the Mitchell Republic coverage area. His coverage includes: Mitchell High School football and boys basketball; school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and athletics; and South Dakota State football. He is also at the forefront of Mitchell Republic podcasting. Dierks is a Mitchell native who graduated from South Dakota State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2020. He joined the Mitchell Republic sports staff in August 2021. He can be reached at [email protected] and found on Twitter at @LDierksy.