The Tea Area Titans remained undefeated and moved on to the 11A championship game with a 32-21 win over the Dell Rapids Quarriers on Friday, November 4th, at Tea Area High School.
The Titans moved the ball successfully in their first two drives of the game. After receiving the kickoff to start the game, Tea Area had an 11 play, 89 yard drive that lasted 5:24 ending in a 29-yard touchdown run by Adam Heien. Their second drive was a 10 play, 70 yard drive that lasted 4:10. With 11:09 remaining in the second quarter, Kendron Rensch scored on a two-yard touchdown run to put the Titans ahead 13-0.
Dell Rapids got their offense rolling in their third drive. The Quarriers ran just four plays and covered 69 yards ending in a 39-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Hansen to Anthony Miller with 9:51 remaining in the half. The Dell Rapids defense then forced two consecutive punts, and the offense was driving late in the second quarter. With just over a minute to play, the Quarriers had the ball with a 2nd and goal from the two yard line. What happened next changed the flow of the entire game.
Hansen took the snap, ran a fake hand-off, spun to his left and was met by Logan Hoon who stripped the ball from Hansen and ran it 94 yards the other way for a Titan touchdown to put Tea Area ahead 19-7 at halftime. The play seemed to give all the momentum to the Titans for the second half.
The Titan defense forced a three and out of the Quarriers to open the third quarter. Tea Area then scored on their next drive. Payton Conrad scored on a four-yard run with 6:16 to go to push the lead to 26-7. The Titans scored again with 4:27 remaining in the third quarter when Heien reeled off a 57-yard touchdown run to make the score 32-7.
Dell Rapids was able to get two scores in the fourth quarter. Tanner Heim scored both times for the Quarriers. The first touchdown came with 6:35 remaining in the game on a one-yard run. The second score happened with 2:47 to go and was a three-yard run.
The Quarriers finished with 375 yards of offense, 188 rushing yards and 187 passing yards. Tea Area finished with 360 yards of total offense, 281 rushing yards and 79 passing yards. Adam Nagelhout had two carries for 78 yards. Seth Andersen had five carries for 55 yards. Hansen had 12 carries for 35 yards, and Heim had seven carries for 18 yards and two touchdowns. Hansen finished the game 7-11 passing for 125 yards and a touchdown. Carson Rentz was 5-10 passing for 62 yards and an interception. Heim had four catches for 41 yards. Mason Peter had two catches for 58 yards. Miller had one catch for 39 yards for a touchdown. Defensively Heim led the team with 10 tackles. Nate McKee added nine tackles, and Hansen and Andersen both had eight tackles.
Dell Rapids finishes their season with an 8-3 record. The Quarriers lost to Madison once, and Tea Area twice….the two teams that will compete for the 11A championship on Saturday, November 12th, at 1:00 p.m. in Vermillion.