MADISON — Sioux Falls Christian remains the best team in 11A football.

Class 11A No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian (5-0) forced four turnovers to run away from No. 2 Madison (4-1), 42-6, in the second 1 vs. 2 ranked 11A matchup this season.

“Our defense is just outstanding,” said SFC head coach Jared Smith. “We were really good on defense last year, and we had seven guys back on our defense this year. So we knew that coming into this year, our defense was going to be really, really hard to score on.”

The Chargers defense didn’t take long to make its presence felt at Brian Kern Family Stadium. On just the second play of the game, senior defensive back Tate Connell intercepted a pass along the sideline from Madison quarterback Henry Veenhof, returning it to the Bulldog 19-yard line.

“I was going to go over top on the go-route and then the corner was on him so I just went down to the corner route and the quarterback threw it my way and went up and got it,” Connell said.

Two plays later, Senior running back Jensen Pixler scored from 16-yards away, giving SFC a 7-0 lead in under two minutes of gametime.

Madison’s only score of the game came two possessions later when Veenhof connected with Luke Johnson for a 73-yard touchdown pass with 4:44 to play in the opening quarter, but that would be the last completion of the game for Veenhof.

From the Bulldog touchdown, SFC recorded another takeaway in the first quarter, a second Veenhof interception at the hands of Lincoln Olseth, setting up Connell for a 5-yard rushing score.

Madison’s special teams gave the Chargers another short field after a wild snap on a punt. Sophomore quarterback Cooper Strande took advantage and found Nicholas Popkes on the next play for a 19-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

The Chargers went out to punt with just over a minute left in the half, and forced yet another turnover after the punt hit the back of a Bulldog player, allowing Popkes to recover the muffed punt at the 25-yard line. Strande hit Brant Wassenaar for a 25-yard touchdown to push the Chargers lead to three scores at the break.

“Having a defense that’s going to give us the ball in great positions and great spots, that’s going to make an offense look pretty good, even when we’re making some mistakes.

Strande made almost no mistakes in the win Friday night, completing 9-of-18 pass attempts for 155 yards and two touchdowns, adding 37 rushing yards on the ground.

Two more SFC touchdowns would put a button on the Charger’s victory. Veenhof tossed a third interception, and his second to Connell on a 50-yard house call pick-six. 

Connell was an all-around playmaker for the Chargers in the win, recording two interceptions for 58 return yards, returning one for a touchdown, while tallying three carries for 10 yards and a score on offense.

“I’m just thankful for my teammates and how they set me up to make plays like that and help me perform to the best of my ability,” Connell said.

Later in the third quarter, Pixler reached the endzone again to score the final touchdown of the night, ending the Chargers route. Pixler ended the night with 12 carries for 56 yards and two touchdowns.

“I love having him on my team, he’s awesome,” Strande said of Pixler. “Having him on my team gives me a lot of confidence in the backfield and is always helping me out.”

The Bulldogs were limited to just eight first downs and 166 total yards of offense in the loss and couldn’t find consistency on offense after senior receiver Shane Veenhof left the game in the first quarter with a leg injury. In the second half, the Bulldogs netted just two first downs and 32 yards of offense.

“When Veenhof went out of the game there, that changed their offense completely,” Smith said. “And coverage for them, that changes their defense too. He’s a great player and all week we were preparing for that and how he’s going to play.”

But the SFC survives and remains undefeated in Class 11A this season. The Chargers host Vermillion next Friday at 7 p.m. Madison heads to Tri-Valley next week.