Winner 62, Lead-Deadwood 7

WINNER — Top-seed Winner bolted out to a 40-0 first-quarter lead en route to a Class 11B playoff football win over Lead-Deadwood. The Warriors racked up 258 total yards, all on the ground. 

Winner’s Riley Orel rushed for 79 yards on two carries and scored one rushing touchdown. Aiden Barfuss added 49 rushing yards and three scores. Zac Olson, Karson Keiser and Aiden Schroeder each had rushing touchdowns. Barfuss, Shawn Hammerbeck and Jack Kruger each had 3.5 tackles. 

Lead-Deadwood’s Drew Janke threw for 49 yards, while Ryan Rantapaa had 16 rushing yards and a touchdown. Tyler Williams hauled in 37 receiving yards. Rantapaa and Janke had two tackles apiece. 

De Smet 50, Colome 0

DE SMET — De Smet raced past Colome for an opening round Class 9B playoff win on Thursday.

De Smet’s Kadyn Fast rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Britt Carlson rushed for 61 yards and two scores, while adding two passing touchdowns. Trace Van Regenmorter had 85 receiving yards and one touchdown reception. Dylan Zell led with 17 tackles and two sacks.

Colome stats were not reported.

Herreid/Selby Area 56, Lemmon/McIntosh 6

SELBY — Top-seeded Herreid/Selby Area raced past Lemmon/McIntosh for an opening round win in the Class 9B playoffs on Thursday.

HSA’s Tray Hettick passed for 245 yards and five touchdowns. Brenden Begeman rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 130 receiving yards and two more scores. Trevor Gill had 65 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Darion Barker had 41 receiving yards and one touchdown.

L/M’s Sawyer Thompson threw a touchdown pass to Blair Ham.

Gregory 50, Iroquois/Lake Preston 0

GREGORY — Gregory picked up a Class 9A playoff win over Iroquois/Lake Preston on Thursday.

Gregory’s Rylan Peck had 73 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while passing for 32 yards and one touchdown. Eli Fogel had 32 yards receiving and one touchdown, while Owen Hansen had 33 yards rushing. Trey Murray added one rushing touchdown.

Iroquois/Lake Preston stats were not reported.

Canistota 42, Alcester-Hudson 24

ALCESTER — Canistota used 337 rushing yards to pull away from Alcester-Hudson for an opening round win in the Class 9A playoffs on Thursday.

Canistota’s Tage Ortman rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns, while passing for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Noah Kleinsasser rushed for 117 yards, while adding 32 yards receiving and one touchdown. Cayden Scott had 58 rushing yards and one touchdown, while also tallying 62 yards receiving and one score. Kleinsasser and Scott added 11.5 and seven tackles, respectively. Ortman added an interception.

Alcester-Hudson’s Mateo Kleinhans passed for 153yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 82 yards. Evan Brown added 64 yards rushing and one touchdown, while William Hallaway and Ethan Bovill each had one receiving touchdown.

Elkton-Lake Benton 32, Kimball/White Lake 18

ELKTON — Elkton-Lake Benton pulled away from Kimball/White Lake for an opening round Class 9AA playoff win on Thursday.

Elkton-Lake Benton’s Ryan Krog rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns, while passing for 87 yards and one touchdown. Riddick Westley rushed for 63 yards and one touchdown, while Quinten Poindexter added 45 yards receiving and one touchdown.

KWL was led by Iden Myers with 111 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Park Sinclair had 72 yards passing and one touchdown, while Blake Leiferman had one touchdown reception.

Kadoka Area 60, New Underwood 6

KADOKA — Kadoka Area used a monstrous rushing attack to defeat New Underwood in football action Thursday night. 

Gus Stout led Kadoka with 223 yards and five touchdowns. Reece Ohrtman garnered 107 yards and a rushing touchdown while Tyus Williams and Garrett Hermann each rushed for touchdowns for Kadoka. Hermann and Ohrtman each had a quarterback sack while the defense had eight tackles for loss. 

Stats for New Underwood were not available.

Elk Point-Jefferson 58, Rapid City Christian 7

ELK POINT — A balanced attack powered Elk Point-Jefferson to a win over Rapid City Christian on Thursday night. 

Lucas Hueser powered Elk Point-Jefferson with 102 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Ben Swatek finished with 60 yards and a score while Alex Scarmon and Caleb Niles each had a rushing touchdown. Noah McDermott added 126 yards of passing with two touchdowns. Hunter Geary and Swatek combined for 79 yards receiving with each catching a touchdown pass. 

Sam Fischer led Rapid City Christian with 28 rushing yards while Simon Kieffer had 90 yards passing and a touchdown pass to Sam Fischer. 

Deuel 27, St. Thomas More 10

CLEAR LAKE — Deuel used 20 second half points to pull away from St. Thomas More and win a Class 11B opening round playoff game.

Deuel’s Owen Quail had 35 carries for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Trey Maaland rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns, while passing for 51 yards.

STM’s Lee Neugebauer passed for 120 yards, while Matthew Larson rushed for 56 yards and one touchdown. J.D. Green added a 21-yard field goal.

Tea Area 39, Watertown 6

WATERTOWN — Tea Area got back in the win column that earned the Titans a win over Watertown on Thursday night. 

The dual headed rushing monster of Blake Thompson and Chase Van Tol led Tea Area. Thompson finished with 109 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Van Tol had 101 yards and a score. Quarterback Maddix Slykhuis threw just five passes but the Titans were in control all game. Jackson Smythe led the defense with 11 tackles. Watertown’s Juven Hudson led the Arrows rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown. 

Harding County/Bison 38, Chester Area 10

BUFFALO — A punishing ground game helped propel Harding County/Bison to a win over Chester Area in 9B playoff football action Thursday. 

Rylee Veal led the Ranchers with 207 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Kelby Hett passed for 180 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for a touchdown. Gage Gilbert led the Ranchers with 72 yards of receiving and a touchdown. Gilbert and Hett each had interceptions to pace the defense. 

Chester Area’s Layke Wold passed for 114 yards and a touchdown. Jovi Wolf led the Flyers with three receptions for 55 yards and a score. 

Hitchcock-Tulare 50, Jones County 0

HITCHCOCK — Hitchcock-Tulare raced past Jones County for a Class 9B opening round playoff win.

HT’s Landon Puffer returned three punt returns for touchdowns and added 71 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown. Erik Salmen rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Carter Binger passed for 45 yards and one touchdown to T.J. Salmen.

Jones County stats were not reported.

Avon 74, Faulkton Area 48

AVON — Avon used 615 total yards to outlast Faulkton Area for a Class 9B first round playoff win on Thursday. Avon rushed for 573 yards as a team.

Avon’s Cade Faulkner rushed for 266 yards and two touchdowns, while Brady Bierema tallied 201 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Paxton Bierema rushed for 76 yards and one touchdown, while passing for 42 yards and two touchdowns. Landon Mudder added one rushing touchdown, while Landon Thury and Cody Soukup each added one receiving touchdown.

Faulkton Area’s Layne Cotton passed for 260 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 51 yards and three touchdowns. Roman DiMaria tallied 197 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Daniel Stoll had 90 yards rushing and one touchdown. Stoll also had 45 yards receiving and one touchdown. Faulkton Area totaled 510 yards as a team.

Irene-Wakonda 61, Corsica-Stickney 52

CORSICA — Irene-Wakonda outlasted Corsica-Stickney to win a Class 9B first round playoff game on Thursday. Irene-Wakonda tallied 570 total yards.

Irene-Wakonda’s Dashel Spurrell had 199 passing yards and three touchdown passes, while rushing for 195 yards and four touchdowns. Chase Dahlerup rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Miles Pollman had 90 yards receiving and two touchdown receptions. Jake Kuhl added one touchdown.

Corsica-Stickney’s Waylon Bolle rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 60 yards receiving and two more scores. Carter Wright tallied 154 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while adding 60 yards receiving and one more score. Shad Bosma passed for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Tate Talsma led with 14.5 tackles on defense, while Bolle and Wright added 10.5 and nine tackles, respectively.

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy 36, Florence/Henry 30

FREEMAN — Riley Tschetter’s 39 yard touchdown pass to Evan Scharberg as time expired lifted Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy to a Class 9AA first round playoff win over Florence/Henry on Thursday.

Tschetter led the Phoenix with 300 yards passing and three touchdowns, while adding 100 rushing yards and one touchdown. Matt Hagen had eight receptions for 130 yards and one touchdown, while Maddox Kihne had 66 yards receiving and one score. Scharberg added 59 receiving yards and the game-winning score. Dominic Sperling added 63 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Florence/Henry was led by Mehki Keller with 74 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Keller also had an interception return for a touchdown. Tegan Sumner passed for 62 yards, while rushing for 51 yards and one touchdown. Clay Trupe and Adam Moe had 11 and 9.5 tackles, respectively. Trupe also added an interception, while Moe added two sacks.

Castlewood 26, Timber Lake 0

CASTLEWOOD — Castlewood blanked Timber Lake in a Class 9A high school football contest on Thursday. 

Castlewood’s Lane Tvedt completed 8 of 14 passes for 136 yards and threw one passing touchdown. Carson Kirwan added 61 rushing yards and a touchdown. Tvedt rushed for 25 yards and two scores. Kirwan hauled in 58 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. Jeremiah Wiersma recorded 7.5 tackles. Quincy Thu intercepted two passes, while Jackson Schofield and Kirwan also had interceptions. Booker Schooley had two sacks. 

Timber Lake’s Gracen Hansen passed for 47 yards and rushed for another 57 yards. Thane Keller hauled in 35 receiving yards. Caleb Bieber had five tackles, while Cole Ducheneaux intercepted a pass.