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Gorillas gash Raiders, punch ticket to DakotaDome
Gregory's Owen Hansen (3) carries the ball against Lyman on Friday in Presho.
(Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)
Nov 4, 2022
 

By Ryan Deal 

605 Sports

PRESHO — The Gregory Gorillas are headed back to Vermillion. 

No. 2 seed Gregory pulled away from Lyman, 41-6, in the Class 9A semifinals on Friday and will play for the state championship on Nov. 10. It is Gregory’s first trip since 2017 when it captured back-to-back Class 9AA state championships. 

“Gregory is a football town,” Gregory coach Mike Murray said. “Let’s be honest. It’s been a little while and the whole town just loves football. It’s just going to be a lot of fun being there.”

On Friday, the Gorillas (10-1) punched their ticket to the DakotaDome with a convincing win over the Raiders (9-2). Gregory racked up 367 total yards and used a 21-point second quarter to put away Lyman. 

“It was kind of a physical game and I think we wore them down and it started showing up in the second quarter,” Murray said. 

Gregory quarterback Rylan Peck completed 6 of 9 passes for 172 yards and threw three passing touchdowns. He connected with Owen Hansen (15 yards) and Kade Stukel (60 yards) for second-quarter touchdown receptions. 

Hansen added a five-yard touchdown run as part of the 21-point second quarter. Peck’s 60-yard touchdown strike to Stukel stretched Gregory’s lead to 27-6. 

“The second quarter was huge,” Stukel said. “Sticking in that long pass that I had and then Fogel had another one, but we didn’t want to be too over our heads coming into the second half. So we just stuck with it.”

In the second half, Peck and Fogel connected for another touchdown reception, while Stukel added a fourth-quarter touchdown run. 

Stukel finished with three receptions for 109 yards, while Hansen had two catches for 33 yards. 

“They catch everything,” Peck said about his receivers. “That’s just what they are there for. I throw it up and they catch it.” 

Lyman's Tance Wagner (20) carries the ball against Gregory on Friday in Presho. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)


Defensively, Gregory bottled up Lyman’s potent offensive attack. The Raiders managed just 144 total yards. Lyman quarterback Teagan Gourneau completed 9 of 16 passes for 124 yards and threw a passing touchdown to Tance Wagner. Lyman wide receiver Cooper Long finished with three catches for 36 yards. 

“Andy Thomas is our defensive coordinator and he drew it up and we executed it really well,” Murray said. “We knew we had to get to their playmakers and keep them from making those big plays.”

The Raiders finished with just 20 rushing yards on 19 carries. Wagner, who is Lyman’s leading rusher, finished with just three rushing yards on seven carries. 

“The defense on the run game was insane,” Stukel said. “I couldn’t get enough credit to the line. We repped it in practice so much and we just had that locked down.” 

Up next, the Gorillas will shift their attention to Warner, a 63-20 winner over Harding County/Bison on Friday. 

“We can’t wait for it to come,” Peck said about the DakotaDome berth. “It’s going to be awesome.”