By Rich Winter

605 Sports

VERMILLION —The Lower Brule football team claimed the All-Nations Class B football championship Saturday with a 42-0 win over Tiospa Zina. 

Lower Brule (9-0) rushed for 218 yards and passed for 218 yards, scoring 36 second-half points to seal the victory. 

“It feels so good to send the seniors out with the win,” Lower Brule coach Charlie LaRoche said. “Coming out and competing they should be proud of what we did this season and leave it all out on the field and I think we did that tonight. Hopefully the seniors will cherish these memories and they can look back and hopefully feel like it was a positive experience. I had a lot of fun coaching these guys.”

Saturday’s finalists played on Aug. 31 in each team’s season opener with Lower Brule outlasting Tiospa Zina, 24-22.

For much of the first half neither team could find much offensive success. Cory Big Eagle’s 1-yard touchdown run with 3:31 remaining until halftime. The Sioux managed the clock to perfection late in the half as quarterback Lane Gray found Marley Carpenter for a five-yard touchdown pass with :04 remaining until halftime.

“At halftime I told our guys the third quarter and fourth quarter are just mental challenges,” LaRoche said. “I feel like we wore them down mentally in the second half, didn’t give them a dumb penalty and we were really good and disciplined in that second half.”

Tiospa Zina lost one of its top offensive weapons, DJ Renville to injury early and the Wambdi offense never got untracked.

While Tiospa Zina was struggling to find offensive rhythm the Lower Brule defense took it up several notches. The Sioux intercepted four passes on the evening and used an Elliot LaRoche defensive score to open the scoring in the second half. 

All told the Sioux ratted off 28, third-quarter points with Gray throwing touchdown passes to Quentin McBride (49) and Carpenter (23) and Isaiah Felicia scoring on a 23-yard touchdown run. 

Big Eagle finished with 115 yards rushing and the score while Isaiah Felicia ran for 52-yards, adding a third-quarter touchdown run. Carpenter finished with five catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Gray completed 10-of-20 passes for 218 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. 

Thomas Anderson III led the Wambdi (7-2) with 47 yards rushing. Javier Dominquez added 46 yards as the Wambdi had just 179 yards of total offense.