After a back-and-forth first half, Herreid-Selby Area used a touchdown just before and right after halftime to carry the Wolverines into the Class 9A South Dakota high school football semifinals.
HSA (10-0) defeated Corsica-Stickney (6-4) 40-28 Monday night in Selby. Herreid-Selby Area will play at Warner (10-0) in Saturday's semifinals.
"We held them on defense, and then drove down to get a late one right before half," HSA coach Jeff Kosters said. "We knew we were going to get the ball in the second half, and we scored again. There is no doubt those two touchdowns were immense game-changers."
As it has all season, HSA got contributions from a bunch of different players.
Five players had a hand in the scoring: Nick Larson, Cooper Schaefbauer, Dakota Thorstenson, Austin Iverson and Dakota Houck.
The HSA offensive and defensive lines also dominated. "The guys up front did a great job," Kosters said.
The defense had several standouts, including Kennedy Kosters with eight tackles, 2.5 sacks and one fumble recovery. Thorstenson had 12 tackles, one fumble recovery and one interception, and Zach Geller had 10 tackles. Cade Opheim also recovered a fumble.
"It has never been one guy," Kosters said about his team's undefeated season. "It's always been a bunch of guys."
With the win came tough news for HSA. Schaefbauer broke his leg in the fourth quarter. Kosters said, "I'm happy as a lark that we won, but at the same time, I feel like I just got punched in the gut. That really hurt."
Larson and Schaefbauer both had more than 100 yards rushing. Larson also threw for 95 yards.
"Nick Larson is an athletic quarterback who made a lot of people miss with his legs," Kosters said.
Kosters said his team will have its work cut out for it. "Warner is a tough team that is the real deal."
Corsica-Stickney (6-4)|140014-28
Herreid-Selby Area (10-0)|614128-40
C-S - Touchdown not available. (conversion good).
H-SA - Nick Larson 24 run (conversion failed).
C-S - Gunner Baan Hofman 46 pass from Adam Bormann (conversion failed).
H-SA - Cooper Schaefbauer 1 run (Dakota Thorstenson pass from Larson).
H-SA - Thorstenson 24 pass from Larson (conversion failed).
H-SA - Austin Iverson 1 run (conversion failed).
H-SA - Thorstenson 41 pass from Larson (conversion failed).
H-SA - Larson 20 run (Dakota Houck run).
C-S - Baan Hoffman 48 run (conversion failed).
C-S - Mason Van Vuuren 12 run (Baan Hofman run).
Offensive Statistics: Corsica-Stickney stats not available; Herreid-Selby Area rushing 43-291 (Larson 12-116, Schaefbauer 14-114), passing 3-10-0 for 95 (Larson 3-10-0 for 95), receiving (Thorstenson 2-65).
Defensive Statistics: Herreid-Selby Area, Thorstenson 12 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception, Zach Geller 10 tackles, Kennedy Kosters 8 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 fumble recovery.