Class 9B Football Playoff Preview: Defending champions Wall, Dell Rapids St. Mary eye repeat title seasons
Wall's Tanner Volmer (8) carries the football against Harding County/Bison on Sept. 11 in Wall. (Matt Gade / 605 Sports)
A pair of defending state football champions sit atop the standings ahead of the playoffs in the state’s smallest class.
Wall, the defending Class 9A champion, dropped down to 9B but has picked up right where it left off a year ago. The Eagles are one of three undefeated teams left in the class and will face No. 16 Jones County in the first round.
Dell Rapids St. Mary, the defending Class 9B state champion, earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 15 Irene/Wakonda. Warner, the final undefeated team, is the No. 3 seed and faces No. 14 Northwestern in a rematch of its season-opening 48-8 win over the Wildcats.
Most intriguing first-round matchup
Unfamiliarity headlines the No. 9 vs. No. 8 matchup.
No. 9 Deubrook Area (4-4) plays at No. 8 Herreid/Selby Area (4-4) at 6 p.m. CT in Selby in the opening round. The Dolphins and Wolverines share no common opponents and have not played each other in recent memory.
The teams have both pieced together up and down seasons, but the winner advances to second round and would attempt to play spoiler in the quarterfinals.
Dell Rapids St. Mary eyeing elusive repeat season
No team in Class 9B has been able to win back-to-back state titles in over two decades. The last team to complete this feat was Kimball in 2003-04. Dell Rapids St. Mary has eyes on a repeat season with just three graduating seniors from last year’s championship squad, but plenty of contenders could rise to the challenge.
St. Mary is currently on a 20-game winning streak and hasn’t lost since the 2024 state semifinals against Faulkton Area.
Class 9B First-Round Pairings
No. 16 Jones County (2-6) at No. 1 Wall (8-0), 6 p.m., MT, Wall
No. 9 Deubrook Area (4-4) at No. 8 Herreid/Selby Area (4-4), 6 p.m., CT, Selby
No. 13 Iroquois/Lake Preston (3-5) at No. 4 Avon (6-2), 7 p.m., CT, Avon
No. 12 Wolsey-Wessington (3-5) at No. 5 Hitchcock-Tulare (7-1), 7 p.m., CT, Hitchcock
No. 15 Irene-Wakonda (3-5) at No. 2 Dell Rapids St. Mary (8-0), 3 p.m., CT, Dell Rapids
No. 10 Kadoka Area (3-5) at No. 7 Oldham-Ramona/Rutland (6-2), 6 p.m., CT, Rutland
No. 14 Northwestern (3-5) at No. 3 Warner (8-0), 7 p.m., CT, Warner
No. 11 Gettysburg (4-4) at No. 6 Colman-Egan (6-2), 7 p.m., CT, Colman