Winner Warriors outlast Sioux Valley for 10th state football title

Nov. 15—VERMILLION — After a two-year hiatus, Winner is back on top in Class 11B.

Tied entering the fourth quarter, a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Eli Vobr on the first play of the final frame stood up as the game-winning score, as the second-seeded Warriors earned a gritty 20-14 win over top-seeded Sioux Valley on Friday afternoon at the DakotaDome. With the victory, Winner became the second program to win 10 state football titles in the playoff era, joining West Central.

“It’s (championship) No. 10, a nice round number, so that feels good,” said Winner head coach Trent Olson. “They all feel good, but we hadn’t won one in a couple years. That’s a big deal to the kids and for the community, and it’s a big deal for the program to say you’re in double figures. There aren’t a lot of teams that can say that.”

Nothing about title No. 10 came easy for the Warriors, who needed fourth-down heroics on offense to score both of their first-half touchdowns. After a scoreless first quarter, Kellen Brozik snagged a 30-yard touchdown pass from Eli Vobr on fourth-and-11, and in the waning seconds of the first half, Karson Keiser turned a misdirection double handoff into a 6-yard score on fourth-and-2.

Meanwhile, the Warriors’ defense was contending with the big-play ability of Sioux Valley star running back Donovan Rose, a player Olson called “as explosive a runner as I have ever seen.”

Rose broke loose for a 33-yard scoring scamper late in the second quarter for the Cossacks’ first points. Had it not been for an illegal motion penalty, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound speedster would’ve added a second from 64 yards out on the final play of the first half.

As it was, Winner led 14-6 at the break, but Rose struck again with a 55-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Despite having to attempt the ensuing two-point conversion from the 18-yard…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/winner-warriors-outlast-sioux-valley-004800038.html

Author : The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.

Publish date : 2024-11-16 00:48:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Check Also

David Pollack believes Georgia is playoff lock

Dec 31, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ESPN analyst and Georgia Bulldogs former player David Pollack …