Oct. 20—The brackets are back. And the march to the DakotaDome is on again.
The South Dakota high school football playoffs are here again and kick off on Thursday, with games in Class 11B and the nine-man divisions around the state. Sixty-four total teams in those divisions will be down to only 32 by midnight.
Now begins the march to Vermillion and a shot at state championship glory. That stands four wins away, with a new season and new hope after a hard-fought regular season. Some seasons will keep rolling on, and the rest will put away the pads and helmets for another year.
Here's a look at a handful of games to watch in the first round of the playoffs:
No. 10 Sioux Valley (4-4) at No. 7 Rapid City Christian (6-2)
The Class 11B playoffs start for the Cossacks with a 7-hour trip west to Rapid City to try to spoil the Comets' strong season to this point. Sioux Valley has had an up-and-down campaign, but they've won their last two games, and they've taken their four losses to top-eight seeds in the Class 11B bracket. That included a one-point home loss to McCook Central/Montrose, a two-point home loss to Clark/Willow Lake and a 16-point road loss at Elk Point-Jefferson. Rapid City Christian was a team to watch all season after moving down from Class 11A, and the Comets lost the season opener to Chamberlain, won six games convincingly and then gave St. Thomas More a big challenge last week in a 42-32 loss. That's the Comets' M.O.: They score 41 points per game, and if Sioux Valley can match scores with them, this could be the top game of the first round.
No. 9 Viborg-Hurley (4-4) at No. 8 Bon Homme (4-4)
The two teams meeting on Thursday night in Tyndall can say a lot about the type of roller coaster season they've been on. Going into the games on Sept. 18, the Cougars and Cavaliers were a combined 7-0. Since then, Viborg-Hurley has lost four of its last five, and Bon Homme comes in 0-4. Both teams have offenses that have shown they can score in bunches and defenses that have struggled to get stops in the second half of the season. The team that can make some defensive plays on Thursday has a likely date with No. 1 Parkston in the quarterfinal round.
No. 9 Faulkton Area (5-3) at No. 8 Kimball/White Lake (5-3)
For the third year in a row, Kimball/White Lake finds itself in a No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in the first round. This time, the Wildkats have the game at home, which will be a good feeling for a KWL team that was 3-1 on its home field this season. When they start their playoff run, a well-tested Faulkton squad will be on the gridiron. The Trojans lost to Sully Buttes and Warner by a combined 12 points in the first two weeks of the season, and they've won five of their next six entering the postseason. The two teams share the same statistical profile, allowing 17 points per game and scoring in the neighborhood of 30 points per contest.
No. 12 Lyman (4-4) at No. 5 Bennett County (7-1)
Normally, this wouldn't be a spot to recommend a rematch from last week. But that was a heck of a game, a 28-21 win for the Warriors in Presho that included a last-minute stop by the Bennett County defense. Now they'll turn around and play again, but this time in Martin. Lyman's M.J. Diehm and Bennett County's Maddux Risse are two strong nine-man quarterbacks that can make plays in all facets. Risse and his talented wide receiver Rush O'Neill connected for 223 yards and three touchdowns in the first meeting that will certainly have the Raiders' attention before this one. Lyman has been close to a big win a few times this season, including one-score losses to Sully Buttes, Philip and the loss to the Warriors. This would be a big spot to turn that around in the postseason.
No. 10 Kadoka Area (3-5) at No. 7 Oldham-Ramona-Rutland (6-2)
The Kougars and Raiders will meet up on Thursday night in Rutland amid ORR's best football season in two decades. The Raiders have won five games in a row this season and have not won seven games in a season dating back to 2004. ORR has not played a team with a winning record since Aug. 28 when they lost to Dell Rapids St. Mary 62-12. Kadoka Area secured its playoff position with a win over a five-win Philip on the road in the regular season finale on Oct. 16, with Kadoka looking for another playoff win to join 2023, 2024 and 2025. Karson Eisenbraun is a dual-threat quarterback for the Kougars with 16 total touchdowns, including 11 on the ground. This should be a good battle between two programs looking to level up with a playoff run.