By Rich Winter

605 Sports

On Sept. 23 following a 56-22 loss to Howard the Irene/Wakonda football team had a 1-4 record.

Fast forward six weeks and the 5-5 Eagles, seeded No. 12 in the Class 9B playoff field, are one game away from reaching the DakotaDome for the Class 9B finals. 

“I talked to the guys and we knew the beginning of the season was going to be tough,” Chris Torgerson, Irene-Wakonda coach said. 

The Eagles opened their season with losses to Canistota and Hanson followed by a 38-28 win over Centerville. Following a bye week the schedule only got tougher as Gregory and Howard came next.

“We wanted to win as many games as we could but going up against that caliber of competition was difficult,” Torgerson said. “I told the kids let’s play as good as we can, let’s get better as a team and once we got to the playoffs we knew we would be facing some teams we should have been playing during the regular season.” 

Not a single Class 9B team was on Irene-Wakonda’s schedule and the first time it met a 9B team was in Week 1 of the playoffs when the Eagles slipped past Corsica-Stickney, 61-52. 

Last week the Eagles scored a late touchdown to knock off Sully Buttes, 36-30. With back-to-back upsets Irene-Wakonda is the darling of the 2022 playoffs but senior quarterback Dashel Spurrell said the team didn’t feel like a No. 12 seed after such a challenging regular season schedule. 

“The teams we played this year showed us what to expect,” Spurrell said. “We knew what tough teams are like and that has given us confidence in knowing what we can do against teams in our class.” 

Spurrell leads the Eagles in rushing yards (879) with nine rushing touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior has thrown for 1,338 yards and 17 touchdown passes. He also leads the team in tackles (83) and interceptions (2). 

“Dashel is a phenomenal athlete,” Torgerson said. “He’s not that big but he gives you everything he’s got. On defense we put him wherever we need him, linebacker, defensive back and against Sully Buttes he played defensive end. He’s a phenomenal kid and is always willing to help the young kids out.” 

Torgerson says three year starters, seniors Spurrell, Miles Pollman and Garrett Libby are the heart and soul of this year’s team. 

Senior Chase Dahlerup, a 5-foot-9, 212-pounder, gives the Eagles some thump in their rushing attack. Dahlerup has rushed for 867 yards and scored a team leading 13 rushing touchdowns. 

“He reads the hole really well and if he can get through the initial line he’s tough to bring down,” Torgerson said. 

Miles Pollman, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior, has been a handful on both sides of the ball. While having just one sack on the season Pollman has 16 tackles for loss. Following game four of the season Pollman switched from fullback to tight end and the results have helped the Eagles ramp up a passing game that had just 70 total passing yards through the first four games of the season. 

“Through four games he had one catch for four yards,” Torgerson said.

Pollman enters Friday’s Class 9B semifinal with a team leading 660 yards receiving along with eight touchdown receptions.

Friday’s Class 9B semifinal against No. 1 Herreid/Selby Area brings a whole set of different challenges. Spurrell feels like the guys are ready for the challenge. 

“We’ve done it before and we’ve played some great teams this year,” he said. “They are a really good football team and we want to play downhill and stop the outside game and make them run up the middle and be aggressive.”