After losing in last season’s semifinals, the Wall Eagles have been on a mission this season.

The Class 9A No. 1 Eagles have ripped off an 8-0 regular-season campaign, outscoring their opponents by 51.5 points per game. Wall will kick off its DakotaDome campaign against No. 16 Lemmon/McIntosh (3-5) on Oct. 23. 

On the other side of the state, Warner (8-0) is the No. 2 seed and is also hungry for another trip to Vermillion. The Monarchs also lost in last year’s Class 9A semifinals, and also haven’t lost since. 

Warner will host No. 15 Timber Lake (3-5) in its playoff opener. The Monarchs have outscored their opponents by 25.5 points per game. 

Most intriguing first-round matchup 

Platte-Geddes will host Lyman for the second time in a month’s span.

The No. 6 Black Panthers (7-2) will host No. 11 Raiders (4-4) at 7 p.m., a rematch of Platte-Geddes’ 64-28 win on Sept. 26. 

In the first meeting, Lyman was clinging to a 22-14 lead early in the second quarter. But the Black Panthers rattled off 38 unanswered points to seize control of the contest. 

Platte-Geddes is powered by the senior duo of Jye Baily and Kenyon Kuiper, who combined for seven touchdowns in the previous game against Lyman. The Black Panthers are coming off a 28-22 win over Corsica-Stickney, snapping a two-game losing skid. 

Lyman enters the postseason on a two-game losing streak, losing to No. 1 Wall (55-0) and Philip (48-44). 

Defending champion Howard slips to No. 7 

Class 9A defending champ Howard, a perennial nine-man power, dropped a 32-22 decision against Class 9AA Viborg-Hurley on Oct. 17. 

The loss dropped the Tigers down to the No. 7 seed in the Class 9A playoffs. The Tigers (6-2) will host No. 10 Centerville (5-3) in their playoff opener. 

Despite the No. 7 seed, the Tigers are a scary team to face in the postseason and will rely on their patented rushing attack and stout defense to make another run.  

Class 9A First-Round Pairings

No. 16 Lemmon/McIntosh at No. 1 Wall, 6 p.m., MT, Wall 

No. 9 Dupree at No. 8 Castlewood, 6 p.m., CT, Castlewood

No. 13 Estelline/Hendricks at No. 4 Philip, 6 p.m., MT, Philip 

No. 12 Harding County/Bison at No. 5 Ipswich, 6 p.m., CT, Ipswich

No. 15 Timber Lake at No. 2 Warner, 7 p.m., CT, Warner

No. 10 Centerville at No. 7 Howard, 7 p.m., Howard

No. 14 Deubrook Area at No. 3 Alcester-Hudson, 7 p.m., CT, Alcester

No. 11 Lyman at No. 6 Platte-Geddes, 7 p.m., Platte