PARKSTON — Parkston punched its second straight ticket to the DakotaDome on Friday. 

One year after falling in the Class 9AA state championship game, the Trojans are headed back to Vermillion and they've longed for it since last season. 

“You have no idea what it meant last year to get so close and fall so short,” Parkston senior Luke Bormann said after Friday’s 26-3 semifinal win over Hamlin. “We have been working for so long. Every single person on this team has put in so many late nights and so many early mornings.”

Parkston (11-0) will play Howard (10-1) in the Class 9AA state championship on Nov. 9. 

“It feels really good,” Parkston senior Brayden Jervik said. “But we are just never satisfied. Our goal wasn’t to make it to the Dome. It was to win it. So we just have to focus this week in practice.” 

The Trojans were focused on Friday. Bormann and Jervik powered the Parkston rushing attack, while its defense bottled up Hamlin. 

Bormann, a quick and speedy running back, rushed for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Jervik, a bruising fullback, rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown. 

The senior duo was instrumental in Parkston’s opening drive of the third quarter. Parkston, which was holding a 12-3 lead at halftime, received the ball to start the second half.

The Trojans featured a heavy dose of Bormann and Jervik on the drive, chewing up nearly seven minutes off the clock. 

“We went to our bread and butter,” Bormann said. “We went power left and power right. It meant a lot to bleed some of the time off the clock and do our thing.”

Jervik plunged in for a 4-yard touchdown run to cap off the drive. 

“I liked it a lot,” Jervik said. “I love smashing people in the mouth, but I also love watching the time tick off.” 

Parkston converted a pair of fourth-down conversions to keep the drive alive. 

“They gave us a run for our money,” Parkston coach Matt Grave said. “We had a fourth down two different times and we just had to get by and get as much as we could, but that was a massive turning point in the game.”

Then, Parkston’s defense continued to shine. The Trojans held Hamlin out of the end zone and forced a pair of turnover on downs.

 In the fourth quarter, Hamlin drove down to Parkston’s 4-yard line. The Trojans, however, forced a turnover on downs. 

“I feel like we were tough,” Jervik said. “They got in the red zone a couple of times and we just kept fighting, kept battling. That’s the way I describe our defense. They just fight and battle.”

Bormann then put the game out of reach, with a dazzling 96-yard touchdown run and a 26-3 lead. Bormann credited lineman Elliot Leischner and Jervik for blocking on the play.

Bormann did the rest. 

“I had one guy to beat,” Bormann said. “It was as simple as that. Get in open space and see what happens. That was great. We were backed up against the wall there.”

Parkston allowed its first points since Sept. 8 vs Hanson, when Easton Neuendorf booted a 28-yard field goal on the opening drive. But Parkston held Hamlin out of the end zone. 

In the second quarter, Bormann scored a pair of rushing touchdowns. 

Up next, Parkston will play Howard in a rematch of last season’s Class 9AA quarterfinals, which the Trojans won.

“It will be very physical,” Grave said. “Well coached teams on both sides. They are talented and hopefully we can get healthy and perform.”