Dupree/Takini rallies past White River, claims Class 9B All-Nations Football Conference championship
Dupree/Takini's Traden Meeks (2) celebrates after converting a two-point conversation to give the Tigers a 36-28 lead over White River late in fourth quarter of the All Nations 9B state championship game Friday, Nov. 6, 2026 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)
VERMILLION — Dupree/Takini flipped a 14-point halftime deficit into its first-ever Class 9B All-Nations Football Conference championship.
The Tigers capped off an undefeated season with a comeback victory over White River, 36-34, in an entertaining state championship game Friday at the DakotaDome.
Dupree/Takini, playing its first season in the All-Nations Football Conference, finished with a 10-0 record and the first state football championship in school history.
“I'm just so happy for the community,” Dupree/Takini coach Mike Busch said. “I'm happy to be working in that community. I don’t know if anybody knew that we played football in Dupree, and I hope somebody watching said, ‘Hey, this is not a bad football team.’ ”
Dupree/Takini defeated White River, 28-8, on Sept. 25 in Dupree. It was White River’s only defeat of the regular season.
On Friday, the all-Tiger battle featured 830 yards of total offense and Dupree/Takini tightened up its second-half defense to spark the victory.
“We knew that White River was a really explosive team,” Busch said. “They'd been here three years in a row. We knew it wasn't going to be like any of the other games that we had played in the league.”
In the first quarter, Bryson One Star tossed passing touchdowns to Mekhi Krogman and Colton Waln for a 14-0 advantage. After Dupree/Takini’s Traden Meeks cut the deficit to 14-8 with a touchdown run, Hayden Hand pushed White River’s lead to 22-8.
“They came out and got after us in the first half,” Busch said. “We had a lot of penalties that kind of hurt ourselves. We couldn't get some first downs. But at halftime, our kids were poised. We just needed to adjust a little bit with some different players in places and then we needed to get some stops.”
Dupree/Takini’s Hudson Terveen-Smith scored a three-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 22-14. One Star’s 39-yard touchdown strike to Kreg Stoddard gave White River a 28-14 advantage.
Dupree/Takini responded with three straight touchdowns, taking its first lead at 36-28 with 3:56 left in the game. Meeks hauled in a touchdown reception from Terveen-Smith, Ricco Swallow scored a rushing touchdown and Terveen-Smith's two-yard score gave Dupree/Takini its 36-28 lead.
Trailing by eight with 3:56 left, White River marched down the field and scored on a One Star-to-Liam White Hat 11-yard touchdown reception with 1:59 left. But the two-conversion failed.
White River recovered the onside kick, but after Dupree/Takini forced a turnover on downs, the Tigers kneeled on the ball and celebrated the state championship.
One Star finished with 339 passing yards, while Krogman led the receivers with 106 yards receiving.
Dupree/Takini totaled 318 yards rushing, with Michael Donovan (94 yards) and Swallow (92 yards) leading the way. Terveen-Smith rushed for 48 yards, while he passed for 87 yards.
Busch was also complimentary of the Takini players that make the drive to Dupree for practice every day, while he also praised the seniors for their dedication to the program.
“It was just a great year,” Busch said. “It’s a special group of seniors that lead you, but everybody falls in line and knows their role behind them.”