BRANDON — The top two teams in South Dakota’s largest class, the Harrisburg Tigers and the Brandon Valley Lynx, were set for a one versus two battle in Brandon on Friday night. The second-ranked Lynx came out with a hard-fought victory 21-7 over the top rated Tigers.

Harrisburg said early in the week the key to the game was getting out to a quick start. They did just that as Braeden Feeldy caught three passes on the opening drive including a 15-yard touchdown from Sam Knuth on 3rd down.  

After trading punts and field position the first quarter ended with Brandon Valley driving. Head coach Matt Christensen dialed up a wide receiver pass play that almost tied up the game. Landon Dulaney took a pitch and hurled a perfect pass into the endzone from over 20 yards out but after Wyatt Melcher couldn’t quite grasp it Grayer VanHull ended up with possession in the endzone for a big interception. 

After forcing Harrisburg to turn it over on downs, the Lynx marched back down the field on a 15-play drive to score a game-tying touchdown with 12 seconds left in the half. 

Brandon Valley has scored on almost every first drive of the second half this season. The Lynx came out of halftime and did it again. After a late hit penalty on Harrisburg put Brandon Valley in Tigers territory at the 49 yard line. Levi Veskrna ripped off a huge running play to turn in the second of his three touchdowns. Veskrna hit paydirt again with :48 seconds left in the third quarter to give the stingy Lynx a secure 21-7 lead. 

“Halftime adjustments can be overrated but at least it’s a chance to recover physically,” said Christensen. “If we own that third quarter there’s something really special about that.”

But Harrisburg wasn’t done threatening.

Sam Knuth led a gutty drive that included two clutch first downs all the way down to the six-yard line. It was 3rd and 2 for the Tigers when Knuth called his own number but had the ball stripped away by Drake Jellema at the one yard line. 

“I’m just always punching at the ball trying to create turnovers and game-changing plays,” Jellema said. 

After a quick three and out lead to a punt the Tigers again drove the ball confidently into the red zone. But, on fourth and goal Sam Knuth tried to run it in but was stopped by a gritty Lynx defense with under two minutes in the game which effectively won it for Brandon Valley. 

“This game means a ton, we haven’t beaten Lincoln or Harrisburg the last two years and that didn’t seem right, so it’s awesome to go beat ‘em,” said Jellema.

Veskrna rushed for 172 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns in the win. Briggs Knutson finished 12-of-14 for 80 yards, while Dulaney had 41 receiving yards on seven catches. Evan Gray posted seven tackles and one sack. Mehki Zacher had five tackles and two sacks. 

The Tigers rushed for 152 yards on 38 carries, while they threw for 81 yards.