PARKSTON — Parkston beat a familiar face and returned to a familiar place. 

The No. 3 seeded Trojans topped Bon Homme, 36-7, in the Class 9AA quarterfinals Thursday and advanced to their fifth straight semifinal appearance. Parkston (9-1) secured another trip to the semifinals with its eighth consecutive win over the Cavaliers (7-3).

Parkston will play at Elkton-Lake Benton in the semifinals on Nov. 7, and it is gunning for a fourth straight trip to the DakotaDome in Vermillion. 

“It feels amazing,” Parkston junior running back/defensive back Mason Jervik said. “Right away we came out with a little laziness I would say, but we found our rhythm in halftime and we came out and finished the game.”

Jervik, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound speedster, had a hand in all five Parkston touchdowns and dazzled the home crowd with a number of open-field plays. 

“(He is) lightning in a bottle,” Parkston coach Matt Grave said. “He is fun to watch. He was patient as a runner tonight and when he got in the hole he exploded through the hole. As you noticed, he zig-zagged, stop, start. He can do some amazing things on the field. So it's really fun to watch him out in space.”

Jervik’s biggest play came on the defensive side of the ball. Parkston was clinging to a 16-0 lead, but Bon Homme drove into Trojan territory late in the second quarter. On the last play of the first half, Jervik intercepted a Bon Homme pass and sprinted 100 yards for a 22-0 halftime lead. 

“That was huge,” Jervik said about his first career pick-six. “That was the last play of the half, too. So if they would have scored we would have been a little sluggish at half. But we had all the momentum coming into that second half.”

Grave also felt the momentum shift after Jervik’s pick-six.  

“Getting the pick-six right before halftime was a huge play in the game,” Grave said. “It kind of took the wind out of their sails.”

In the third quarter, Jervik tacked on a 27-yard touchdown run and hauled in a 35-yard touchdown reception from Brycen Bruening for a 36-0 lead. Bon Homme’s Major Aarstad scored a 64-yard touchdown run to reach the final margin. 

In the second quarter, Jervik scored a 36-yard touchdown run and added a two-yard touchdown run before his highlight-reel interception return.  

It was Parkston’s second win over Bon Homme this season. The Trojans also beat the Cavaliers, 70-21, on Sept. 26. In the playoff meeting, the Trojans contained Bon Homme’s offensive output and didn’t allow a touchdown until mop-up time. 

“We were able to contain the triple option,” Grave said. “We were able to stay deep on some of their play actions and the couple they got open our D-line was able to make plays.”

Up next, the Trojans will play the Elks in the Class 9AA semifinals. Elkton-Lake Benton defeated Hanson, 44-15, on Thursday. 

“Elkton is going to be a dynamic team,” Grave said. “They are going to throw the ball. They are going to spread you out. You have to be able to make open field tackles and that quarterback (Colt Beck) is nice. He’s talented. He’s a dual threat. They are giving us a whole different aspect of the game or scheme wise that we have to make sure we are prepared for.”