Traxler: Revenge in rematches makes 2024 state football title games unforgettable – Mitchell Republic

VERMILLION – On a broad level, the 2024 South Dakota high school football championships may be remembered for the rematches and the reversals of outcomes.

Four of the seven state championship games were rematches from earlier in the season, the most since 2015, and in three of those games the losing team was the one to hoist the championship trophy in the DakotaDome the first time around.

The first game on Thursday provided the biggest swing in scoring margin, with Sully Buttes defeating Faulkton Area for the Class 9B championship 34-14. The Chargers lost by 20 points in the first game at home in Onida, but in the state championship game, Sully Buttes won by 20 points for a 40-point swing.

It was the biggest swing in a nine-man state title game rematch since 2013, when Potter County cruised to a 60-22 victory over Leola/Frederick in the Class 9A championship game. The Titans won the first game that season 12-7.

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

As of 2013, Mitchell still holds the record for the biggest title game turnover in a rematch. The Kernels famously fell 27-10 to Harrisburg in the first game of the season and then dominated the Tigers in the Dome for a 41-6 victory for the Class 11AA championship, a 52-point swing.

Saturday’s two games provided major upsets for No. 1 seeds. In Class 11A, Lennox stunned No. 1 seed Sioux Falls Christian by a score of 14-6. The Orioles lost the first meeting 19-8, but forced six goals in the rematch to eliminate the previously undefeated Chargers.

In the Class 11AAA championship game, No. 2 seed Sioux Falls Lincoln topped No. 1 Brandon Valley 31-21, avenging a 39-13 regular-season loss. The result gave the Lynx their first loss of the season and made Lincoln back-to-back Class 11AAA champions.

Trent Singer/Sioux Falls Live

It was almost a clean slate for the teams avenging their previous loss. Pierre lost 28-14 to Watertown, but nearly defeated the Arrows in Vermillion in the Class 11AA championship game. A stopped two-point conversion was the difference in the 14-13 victory in Watertown on Friday night.

All told, since the introduction of the Class 11AAA division in 2013, there have been 38 rematches at the DakotaDome and 10 have been won by teams that lost the first time around. Considering the number of teams in each division, the 11AAA and 11AA divisions are the source of the largest number of rematches.

The Patriots’ victory on Saturday marked only the second time since 2013 that the 11AAA champions have recouped a regular-season loss with a state championship. They joined O’Gorman from 2019, which also defeated Brandon Valley in the state title game.

The nine-member state champions may feel familiar to South Dakota high school sports fans, especially those who watch basketball. Both Hamlin and Howard were Class A and Class B state basketball champions in March and then won state football titles in November.

You have to go back to 2000 to find the last time this happened in both Class A and Class B in the same year. In 2000, West Central won the Class A state basketball title in the spring and the Trojans won the Class 11A title in the fall, while Tripp-Delmont won the Class B boys basketball title and then the Class 9A championship.

What Howard and Hamlin did, first winning a basketball title and then the football championship, is rarer, in part because it is done over two school years, meaning there is a difference between the basketball and football titles. The Chargers basketball team lost only two seniors, while the Howard basketball team had five seniors on the hoops title team.

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

Hamlin coach Jeff Sheehan said winning the state basketball title proved to the Chargers that they also had a football championship in them.

“This group of guys said, ‘This is our year. We’re going to do this,'” Sheehan said. “I’m not going to lie, winning the state basketball tournament last year gave them that extra edge: ‘Yes, we got this. We can do it.’ There aren’t many teams that can win a state basketball title, turn around and win a state football title. It doesn’t happen often in the state of South Dakota, but these guys did it.”

The only other team to accomplish the feat from Class B in the past 25 years was Arlington, which won both titles in the same academic year in 2005-06. This has happened much more often over the years. It happened two years in a row in Class 11A and Class A, as Madison achieved the double in 2017-18 and Tea Area won both in 2018-19. Brandon Valley is the only school to win a Class AA basketball title and a Class 11AAA football title in 2018-19.

Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

Winner’s 20-14 win over Sioux Valley continued a recent trend and marked the third straight Class 11B title game decided by seven points or less. It was the eleventh time in sixteen title matches since 2009 that a match was decided by seven points or fewer.

The Warriors have played in five of the last six Class 11B title games and averaged 21.2 points in those title games, winning three times.

There were also three matchups of No. 1 and No. 2 seeds playing in the state championship game in Vermillion and all three were won by the No. 2 seeds.

That included Hamlin’s 32-8 win over Parkston in Class 9AA, winner over Sioux Valley 20-14 in Class 11B and Sioux Falls Lincoln over Brandon Valley in Class 11AAA.

Proving that trends ebb and flow, the 2023 Championships also featured three matches between No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and all three were won by the No. 1 seed. For Winner, Friday’s championship was a benchmark for revenge as they were the No. 1 seed in 2022 when No. 2 Elk-Point Jefferson defeated them 21-14.

Overall, it was a tough year to be No. 1; only four of the seven made it to the Dome and none won a state title.

Marcus Traxler is the assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. A former winner of the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist Award and the 2023 South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year, he has worked at the newspaper since 2014 and covers a wide range of topics. Traxler, a Minnesota native, can be reached at [email protected].