Three defending champions return to defend their titles when the South Dakota football state championship games get underway on Thursday.
Howard is the defending Class 9A champion and was also runner-up in Class 9AA in 2023. The Tigers made it to the title game as a seventh seed this year with a 9-2 mark and will battle top-seeded and unbeaten Wall with an 11-0 mark.
The other two returning champs will have rematches with teams they beat in last year’s finales. Lennox (9-2) is back in Class 11A as the third seed against unbeaten Sioux Falls Christian (11-0). The Orioles lost to SFC 17-0 during the regular season. Returning Class 11AAA titlist and second seed Sioux Falls Lincoln (10-1) will again battle Brandon Valley, the top seed at 10-1, who defeated Lincoln earlier this season 35-30. However, Brandon Valley’s lone loss was to Sioux Falls Jefferson who lost to Lincoln twice, including a 42-28 loss in semifinal play.
Pierre (8-3) and the third seed had its seven-year championship winning streak broken by Watertown in last year’s Class 11AA title game but hopes to get back in the winner’s circle against Yankton, the number one seed at 9-2. The Bucks lost to the Governor’s in last year’s state semifinal and in the 2023 title game but defeated Pierre 35-28 in the regular season this year.
Seven of the 14 championship qualifiers lost in the state semifinals a year ago and are hoping to take home a title this season. Dell Rapids St. Mary’s, the number one seed in Class 9B with a perfect 11-0 mark, won a state title in 2021 and lost in the semis a year ago. They will clash with second seed Avon (10-1) who fell in the state quarterfinals last season and won a title in 2023. Avon’s only loss this season was to uneaten Class 9AA finalist Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy.
The Class 9AA finalists – top seed Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy (11-0) and second seed Elkton-Lake Benton (10-1) both lost in the semifinals a year ago. Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy handed Elkton-Lake Benton its only defeat this season 42-28.
The only matchup of unbeaten teams comes in Class 11B. Top-seeded Elk Point-Jefferson (11-0), the 2023 runner-up and 2022 champion, will tangle with #2 St. Thomas More (11-0). Both teams fell in the state semifinals last season.
FOR FULL STATS SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
