The West Central Trojan football team is making a return trip to the Dakota Dome for the 11A championship game. West Central defeated the Lennox Orioles 57-22 at home in the semifinals on Friday, November 3rd.
Lennox delivered the first score on a 26-yard run with 6:37 in the opening quarter. A made two-point conversion gave the Orioles an 8-0 lead. Jesse Jost put the Trojans on the board with a 34-yard touchdown run with 2:33 left in the first quarter. The Trojans took the lead, 14-8, after a 52-yard touchdown run by Aiden Bartmann and a made two-point conversion with just 0:06 remaining in the quarter.
The defense for West Central got a score within the first minute of the second quarter. Keaton Vessells forced a fumble on a sack, and Karsen Wilde scooped up the fumble and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Another made two-point conversion put West Central ahead 22-8. Layton Johnson had a 52-yard touchdown run with 7:41 to go in the quarter, and Ashton Gebhard made the extra point for ra 29-8 lead. Lennox cut into the lead with a 30-yard touchdown pass and made two-point conversion with 2:14 remaining in the half. The Trojans added one more score before halftime. Caden Alfson connected with Johnson on an eight-yard pass. The made extra point gave the Trojans a 36-16 lead at halftime.
Chet Carda added a 41-yard touchdown run with 10:45 to play in the third quarter. Jude Jarding had a 75-yard touchdown run with 4:25 to go in the quarter. Both extra points were made for a 50-16 lead. Bartmann scored his second touchdown of the game on a five-yard run with 10:18 to go in the game. Jonathan Goehring made the extra point to make the score 57-16. Lennox scored one more time with 5:44 remaining on a two-yard pass.
The Trojans will play the Dell Rapids Quarriers for the 11A title in a rematch of last year’s title game. The 11A Championship game will be played on Friday, November 10th at 2:00 p.m. in Vermillion.
