In a battle of top five teams in Class 11A, the #4 Vermillion Tanagers held on for a 28-26 win over the #3 West Central Trojans on Friday, October 8th in Vermillion.
The Tanagers got on the board first on a five-yard run by Jeremy Crowe with 5:56 to play in the opening quarter. The extra point was good for a 7-0 lead. Vermillion struck again with 10:38 to play in the second quarter. Jack Kratz scored on a one-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, and Vermillion led 13-0.
West Central got on the board after 40-yard wide receiver screen pass from Gavin Koch to Braden Dierickx with 8:42 to go in the first half. Tommy Berg made the extra point to make the score 13-7. The Trojans tied the game with :38 to play in the first half on a one-yard touchdown run by Logan Maras. Berg made the extra point again to give West Central a 14-13. The fireworks were not over in the first half just yet. Vermillion regained the lead after a two-yard pass from Kratz to Mehki Sheffield in the final seconds of the second quarter. They made a two-point conversion to take a 21-14 lead at halftime.
The Trojans scored first in the third quarter. Koch connected with Dierickx for a 54-yard touchdown with 9:15 to go in the third quarter. The extra point was no good, and Vermillion kept a 21-20 lead. Kratz scored again for the Tanagers on a nine-yard run with 3:59 in the third quarter. The extra point was good, and Vermillion led 28-20. The score remained 28-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
Koch and Dierickx connected again for a touchdown with just under nine minutes to go in the game. This time the pass was from four yards. The Trojans went for the two-point conversion, but did not make it. Vermillion hung on to the lead, 28-26. West Central’s final drive of the game ended on a turnover on downs with 1:12 to go in the game on the Vermillion 41 yard line.
Koch finished 21-37 passing for 215 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Dierickx had 12 catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Jacob Krempges had four catches for 29 yards, and Owen Heath had three catches for 17 yards. Koch also had seven carries for 32 yards. Justin Zirpel added 11 carries for 30 yards. Maras had two rushes for three yards and a touchdown.
Maras led the defense for West Central with 17 tackles. Dylan Stromer had 11 tackles. Thomas Berg finished with five tackles, and Dierickx, Zach Madsen, and Chet Carda all had four tackles each.