MOUNT VERNON — It’s been the tale of two seasons for the Mount Vernon/Plankinton football team. 

The Titans were 1-4 after a four-game losing streak from Aug. 29 to Sept. 26, and their playoff hopes were in jeopardy. MVP’s 14-6 victory over Class 11B power Winner kickstarted a four-game winning streak, and the Titans are playing with loads of confidence entering the quarterfinal round. 

“The kids are really playing well right now, and they are doing some really good things,” first-year MVP coach A.J. Kortemeyer said. “There’s always things you are going to have to clean up and fix. We are never perfect, but we strive to be, and the kids have really turned some things around, and figured a couple things out and really figured out how to kind of play some football our way. I have a lot of confidence in them.”

MVP’s victory over Winner, last season’s Class 11B state champs, was the Titans’ first win in the series since 2018.  

“We lost to Chamberlain in a close game and we all felt down in the dumps and then we went to play Winner,” MVP senior Kyle Sandland said. “We beat Winner, which doesn't happen. I mean, second time in like eight years.”

The Titans followed up the Winner victory with a 24-0 win over Miller/Highmore-Harrold, and turned heads with a 30-6 win over then-No. 3 Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central on Oct. 17. 

“We came out with so much energy and we held them to nothing, the No. 3 team and we were 11 at the time,” Sandland said. “Now we are ranked eight, and we just want to prove everyone wrong.” 

The Titans took advantage of multiple WWSSC turnovers, jumping out to a 30-0 lead en route to the win. MVP continued the turnaround with a 40-12 win over Mobridge-Pollock in the Class 11B playoff opener on Oct. 23. 

Against the Tigers, MVP pounced on a Mobridge-Pollock fumble in the red zone and Sandland sprinted to the end zone two plays later for a 91-yard touchdown jaunt. The key sequence gave MVP a 32-12 lead and it added another touchdown to put away the Tigers. 

Mount Vernon/Plankinton now has a rematch with No. 2 St. Thomas More, which defeated the Titans 29-8 on Aug. 29. It will be the fourth meeting in the past two seasons between the Titans and Cavaliers, two programs separated by 265 miles. 

The teams split their two meetings last season, with MVP winning 36-30 in the regular season. The Cavaliers outlasted the Titans, 38-34, in the Class 11B quarterfinals. 

Part 4 is Thursday in Rapid City. 

“It’s fun to get another shot at them,” Kortemeyer said. “We got to play them Week 2 and we did some things that we don’t do anymore. We have grown. We have gotten better since that point, as have they. I have watched a little bit of them. They are looking good. They are a well-oiled machine at this point and they are extremely talented, and their quarterback (Noah Wald) can sling it again. They’ve got studs at wideout and they’ve got some big dudes that are back now that didn’t play against us Week 2. They’re No. 2 for a reason and that will present its own challenges.”