Wall at Harding County/Bison 

BISON — Two West River titans will clash in tiny Bison for a nine-man showdown.

Class 9A No. 2 Harding County/Bison (6-0) will host Class 9AA No. 4 Wall (5-1) in an all-West River clash. 

The teams aren’t in the same classification, and thus Friday’s contest will be the only meeting this season. So bragging rights, and more importantly, major seed points are up for grabs. 

The Ranchers and Eagles mirror each other in team statistical categories. Harding County/Bison averages 47.2 points per game, while allowing 11 points per game. Wall, meanwhile, scores 43.3 points per game and surrenders 7.7 points a contest. They have both pitched two shutouts and both can put up points in a hurry. 

Wall has scored 48 or more points four times this season, while Harding County/Bison has done it three times.

In Harding County/Bison’s recent win, a 74-20 win over Dupree, all-stater Rylee Veal rushed for 114 yards and four touchdowns for the Ranchers.

Wall is coming off a 38-0 victory over Lyman, in which all-state quarterback Burk Blasius completed 7 of 13 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for 71 yards and two touchdowns.

Wall, which won last season’s Class 9AA state championship, blanked the Ranchers 55-0 a season ago. 

Gregory's Rylan Peck (2) alludes a Wolsey-Wessington tackler earlier this season in Wolsey. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

Gregory at Parkston

PARKSTON — Two Missouri Valley Conference powers with eyes toward deep playoff runs will face off in Parkston.

Class 9AA No. 1 Parkston (6-0) will host Gregory (3-2) in a matchup featuring two teams that both played for state championships last season. Gregory won the Class 9A state championship, while Parkston was the Class 9AA state runner-ups. 

The Trojans, who haven’t lost since their runner-up finish, are among the favorites to play for the Class 9AA state championship. The Trojans have outscored their opponents by 44.4 points per game, have pitched four shutouts and their closest game was a 10-point win over Hanson. 

They feature a number of playmakers, including speedster Luke Bormann, who rushed for 121 yards and scored two touchdowns last week against Garretson. 

The Gorillas’ 2023 season has gotten off to a rocky start. Gregory, which entered the season as No. 1 in Class 9A, lost to Wolsey-Wessington and Platte-Geddes to start the year. The Gorillas have since rattled off three straight wins, including last week’s 29-18 win over Kimball/White Lake. Against the WiLdKats, Rylan Peck scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, while throwing for another score. 

The Trojans own a three-game winning streak in the series, including last season’s 32-25 victory in Gregory. 

Wolsey-Wessington's Caleb Richmond, left, carries the ball against Gregory earlier this season in Wolsey. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

Wolsey-Wessington at Platte-Geddes

PLATTE — Platte-Geddes has quietly put together a one-loss season, and can make some noise with a win this week. 

The Black Panthers (4-1) dropped their first game of the season against Parkston, 46-0. They’ve since notched wins over quality programs Gregory, Kimball/White Lake, Viborg-Hurley and Bon Homme. 

Last week against Bon Homme, Joey Foxley rushed for 65 yards and threw two passing touchdowns. Tanner Dyk caught two touchdown catches, while Quincy Stevens and Skylar Hanten hauled in touchdown grabs. Jye Bailey finished with 133 passing yards and two touchdown passes. 

Next up is Missouri Valley Conference foe Wolsey-Wessington (3-2). The Warbirds, who were honorable mention in the latest Class 9A poll, took losses against Parkston and De Smet. They defeated Gregory (48-32) and picked up a 41-14 win over Colman-Egan last week, in which Caleb Richmond passed for 226 yards and threw five touchdown passes. 

Platte-Geddes sports a three-game winning streak in the series, including a 42-24 victory last season. 

Warner at Hamlin 

HAYTI — It doesn’t get much easier for newly-minted Class 9A No. 1 Warner.

The Monarchs, who are coming off a 27-20 win over Class 9B No. 1 Faulkton Area, will face another nine-man power this week. This week, it’s a matchup against Class 9AA No. 2 Hamlin (6-0) in another highly-anticipated matchup. 

Warner improved to 5-0 with last week’s win, while catapulting to No. 1 in the polls and seed points standings. 

The Monarchs were again led last week by Hunter Cramer, who had his imprint all over the win, finishing with one rushing touchdown, 169 yards passing, two touchdown passes and an 81-yard punt return for a score. 

Hamlin, which joins Parkston as the last two undefeated teams in Class 9AA, is coming off a 59-6 win over Castlewood. 

Brandon Valley at Pierre

PIERRE — Pierre will look to extend the state’s longest active winning streak to 21. 

Class 11AA No. 1 Pierre (5-0) will host Class 11AAA No. 5 Brandon Valley (3-2) as the Governors will face another top-level 11-man team. 

Pierre is facing its third consecutive ranked team, after knocking off Class 11AA No. 2 Yankton (27-14) and Class 11AA No. 4 Watertown (49-20) in back-to-back weeks. 

Pierre is riding a 20-game winning streak, and hasn’t lost since Oct. 21, 2021, at 21-14 setback against Brookings. 

Last week against Watertown, Jett Zabel hauled in three receiving touchdowns, while rushing for another score. Zabel finished with 108 receiving yards on eight catches. Pierre quarterback Cade Kaiser completed 19 of 34 passes for 347 yards and tossed four touchdown passes. 

Standing in Pierre’s way of win No. 21 is Brandon Valley, which is riding a three-game winning streak after starting with two straight losses. Last week against Rapid Stevens, a 52-0 shutout victory, Brandon Valley’s Jack Thue completed 15 of 22 passes for 241 yards and threw two passing touchdowns. Levi Veskrna (115 rushing yards/3 TDs) and Landon Dulaney (154 receiving yards/TD) were also instrumental in the win. 

Deubrook Area at Canistota 

CANISTOTA — A pair of 5-1 Class 9A teams will meet up in Canistota. 

Class 9A No. 3 Canistota will host Deubrook Area, which is honorable mention in the Class 9A poll, in a key nine-man contest. The Hawks are No. 4 in the seed points standings (44.167) and the Dolphins are No. 6 with 42.167 points. 

Canistota is coming off its first defeat, a 38-28 setback against Hanson. Against the Beavers, Tage Ortman completed 16-of-32 passes for 193 yards with two touchdown passes. Ortman also rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Levi Schroeder added 49 yards rushing while Brady Scott had four receptions for 36 yards and two touchdowns.

Deubrook Area’s lone defeat was against Elkton-Lake Benton, 39-30. Canistota defeated the Elks, 24-12. 

The Dolphins have recorded back-to-back 50-0 wins over Iroquois/Lake Preston and Florence-Henry. 

Dakota Valley at Lennox

LENNOX — A pair of 4-1 Dak-XII Conference foes will clash in Lennox. 

Class 11A No. 5 Lennox will host Dakota Valley, which is honorable mention in the latest poll, in a key matchup as both are among a logjam of teams in the seed points standings. 

Dakota Valley is No. 5 in the seed points standings with 41.800 points, while Lennox is just behind with 41.200 points. 

The Orioles, who feature a high-powered offensive attack, are paced by quarterback Boston Katzer. The junior signal caller had a hand in five touchdowns in a 42-14 win over Beresford last week. Katzer completed 19 of 32 passes for 286 yards, while rushing for 56 yards and another score. For the season, Katzer has passed for 1,259 yards and 20 passing touchdowns. 

Last week, Drake Mikkelsen hauled in five catches for 97 yards and two touchdown passes. Porter Ihnen hauled in 92 receiving yards and Chase Faulds caught a touchdown catch.

Dakota Valley is coming off a 12-7 win over Madison, in which Jackson Boonstra carried the football 26 times for 141 yards and a touchdown. Trae Piel and Beau Jones combined for 35 yards rushing. Drew Lukken completed 22 passes for 104 yards. Piel caught seven passes for 48 yards. 

Sioux Falls Jefferson at Sioux Falls O’Gorman

SIOUX FALLS — Sioux Falls O’Gorman and Sioux Falls Jefferson will highlight this week’s Class 11AAA slate.

The No. 2 Knights (4-1) will host the No. 3 Cavaliers (4-1) in a top-5 showdown, featuring two Sioux Falls powers both chasing No. 1 Lincoln. O’Gorman and Jefferson have both lost to the Patriots, and Friday’s matchup could be the first of two meetings this season.

O’Gorman is coming off a 58-35 loss against Lincoln, in which quarterback Hayden Groos completed 24-of-47 passes for 311 yards and four touchdowns. Maverick Jones rushed for 116 yards, while catching six passes for 113 yards and scoring three total touchdowns.

Jefferson dropped a 48-0 decision against Lincoln on Sept. 9. But the Cavaliers have since rattled off two straight shutout wins over Rapid City Central (41-0) and Mitchell (63-0). Against the Kernels, three different Cavaliers scored rushing touchdowns, Ethan Swenson threw a touchdown to Daevion Simonsen, Austin Brummels and Dawson Sechser had pick-sixes, Rylan Aman scored on a fumble return and Jefferson added two punt returns for scores.