The Dell Rapids Quarriers defeated the Madison Bulldogs 12-7 in the South Dakota High School 11A Football Championship on Thursday, November 13th, at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion.

Dell Rapids started the game off with a bang as Riley Schmidt ran the opening kick-off back for an 81-yard touchdown to give the Quarriers an early 6-0 lead.  The defenses for both teams dominated the first quarter of play.  Both Madison and Dell Rapids combined for a total of four punts in the quarter, and Dell Rapids held a 6-0 lead after the first quarter.

After a Jase Nelson pass was intercepted by Matthew Palli, the Bulldogs had the ball with a 4th and 10 from the Quarrier 20-yard line.  Bradyen Gilbert lined up for a 37-yard field goal, but pushed it wide left, and Dell Rapids continued to lead 6-0 with 10:07 left in the half.  Dell Rapids then held the ball for nearly six minutes on the ensuing drive and took the ball to the Madison 8-yard line.  The Quarriers attempted a pass in the endzone on 4th and goal, but the pass was broken up by Brady Balogh giving Madison the ball back with 4:16 left in the half.  The Bulldogs were able to move the ball into Dell Rapids territory, but were forced into a 4th and goal from the Dell Rapids 12-yard line.  Gilbert set up for another field goal, this time from 29 yards, but Austin Eulberg was able to block the kick to keep Madison off the scoreboard.  The Quarriers took a 6-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Madison received the kickoff to start the third quarter and drove the ball to the Dell Rapids 45-yard line.  On 1st and 10, Mitch Hansen fumbled the ball, and Ben Gillogly recovered for Dell Rapids.  On the very next play, Schmidt ran the ball 54 yards for a touchdown to increase the Dell Rapids lead to 12-0.  Madison was able to answer on their next drive.  Hansen connected with Carter Kasuske for a 71-yard touchdown pass with 7:01 left in the quarter to make the score 12-7.  The Bulldogs were then able to execute a successful onside kick to get the ball back, but the Quarrier defense forced a turnover on downs after tackling Hansen for a two yard loss on 4th and 4 from the Dell Rapids 18-yard line.  The Quarriers led 12-7 at the end of the third quarter.

The first three combined possessions in the fourth quarter ended in punts as the defenses did not allow the offenses to get going.  With 6:15 to go in the game, Gillogly intercepted a pass at the Madison 11-yard line.  However the Bulldog defense got the ball back on a turnover on downs as Schmidt was stopped short of the endzone on 4th and goal.  The following Bulldog drive ended on a turnover on downs after back-up quarterback Josh Giles was saked at the Madison 43-yard line.  Madison forced Dell Rapids to punt yet again, and the Bulldogs had one last chance with :11 to go in the game.  Giles and the Bulldogs were able to run two plays, but both plays were incomplete passes giving the Quarriers the win.

Schmidt finished the game with 20 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown.  Keegan Hemenway had six carries for 26 yards, and Tanner Ljunggren had six carries for 18 yards.  Nelson finished 5-11 with 93 yards and two interceptions.  Schmidt also had two receptions for 51 yards.  Gillogly anchored the defense with 15 tackles, one fumble recovery, and one interception.  Seth Anderson added 12 tackles and three sacks.  Schmidt finished with nine tackles, and Nate McKee added eight tackles.

Dell Rapids earned their 5th 11A football title in the last seven years.  Griffin Ellison was named the SD Coaches Association Outstanding Lineman in the game.  Schmidt earned the SD Coaches Association Outstanding Back award and the SD Sports Writers “Joe Robbie” MVP award.

Dell Rapids final record was 11-1.

The Dell Rapids Quarrier football team is headed back to the Dakota Dome.  The Quarriers defeated the West Central Trojans 21-14 in a back-and-fourth 11A semifinal game on Saturday, November 8th, in Dell Rapids to earn the trip back to Vermillion after a one year absence.

West Central got on the board first on a 3-yard touchdown run by Josh Mettler with 6:12 to go in the first quarter.  Noah Vettrus tacked on the extra point to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead.  Dell Rapids scored the tying touchdown with :22 left in the quarter on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jase Nelson to Beau Carpenter.  The extra point was good by Keegan Hemenway, and after the first quarter the game was tied 7-7.

The Trojans regained the lead with 8:23 left to go in the second quarter when Seth Titus ran one into the endzone from 11 yards.  The extra point was good again by Vettrus, and West Central led 14-7.  The Quarriers again answered, this time on a 5-yard touchdown run by Hemenway with 3:52 to go in the second quarter.  Hemenway then kicked the extra point to tie the game at 14-14.

Both offenses were shut down in the second half.  Dell Rapids was able to drive to the West Central 15 yard line late in the third quarter, but the West Central defense forced a turnover-on-downs to keep the Quarriers off the scoreboard with 2:15 remaining in the quarter.  The Quarrier defense was just as impressive.  With 8:54 left in the game, West Central set up to attempt 47-yard field goal.  However the Trojans tried to run a fake field goal, and the Dell Rapids defense forced a loss of seven yard to force the turnover on downs.

Later in the fourth quarter, the Dell Rapids defense force the only turnover in the game.  With 5:24 left to play, the Quarriers recovered a fumble by Mettler on the West Central 35 yard line.  The Dell Rapids offense drove the ball to the Trojan 14 yard line over the next three minutes and 43 seconds.  With 1:41 left in the game, and facing a 3rd down and 11, Nelson connected with Riley Schmidt on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give Dell Rapids their first lead in the game at 21-14.

Schmidt said, “The play before we ran kind of the same play.  I saw their corner was playing up trying to stop the run.  So I knew I could get out, get behind him, and Jase could throw me a good ball.  He did, and we got in the end zone.”

The Trojans were not about to go down without a fight.  West Central took their last possession down to the Dell Rapids 25-yard line with :05 left in the game.  On what looked like the final play of the game, Jace Hanisch threw a pass to Cody Bussell in the endzone as time expired that was incomplete, however, the Quarriers were flagged for pass interference.  That gave West Central one un-timed down from the Dell Rapids 13 yard line.  The Trojans ran a halfback pass in which Hanisch threw a pass back to the acting quarterback Dan Skinner.  Skinner was tackled down at the two yard line giving the Quarriers the victory.

Head coach Steve Hansen said, “We didn’t really know what they were going to do, if they were going to make some changes.  We had several things, and we were trying to use Riley as a decoy a lot. But also knowing that if we were going to win the game, Riley needed to have the ball.   It was difficult coming in.  I thought our defense did a great job preparing defensively.  It’s two good programs playing.  And that’s the way it’s going to be..a knock down, drag out brawl.”

Dell Rapids ran 49 offensive plays for 267 yards , 125 passing yards and 142 rushing yards.  West Central ran 71 offensive plays for 310 total yards, 61 passing yards and 249 rushing yards.  Dell Rapids was 5-10 on third down conversions, while West Central was 8-15.

Nelson finished 7-11 passing for 125 yards and two touchdowns.  Tanner Ljunggren had nine carries for 69 yards.  Hemenway had 11 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown.  Schmidt finished with eight carries for 16 yards.  Carpenter had one catch for 39 yards and a touchdown.  Schmidt had two catches for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Ben Gillogly had eight tackles in the game, one tackle for loss, and a fumble recovery.  Austin Eulberg added five tackles and a sack.  Nate McKee finished with five tackles and two sacks.  Ljunggren and Riley Jurgensen also had five tackles in the game.

Dell Rapids improves to 10-1 on the year.  The Quarriers will face the Madison Bulldogs in the 11A Championship game on Thursday, November 13th, at 7:30 p.m.

Highlights