PHOENIX WIN AT HILL CITY: FULL REPORT

Players and coaches from Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy knew that Hill City was an explosive football team capable of scoring quickly and often — a team that scored an average of almost 51 points per game during the regular season.

They also felt that the Phoenix were the better team.

And on a cold autumn night in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota — with leftover snow from the day before lining the perimeter of the field — they showed it.

The Phoenix scored a touchdown on their second play from scrimmage, built a 22-6 lead at the break and survived two pick-sixes in the fourth quarter to hang on for a 36-26 win.

This is the deepest F/M/FA has gone in the postseason in the short, three-year history of the program; the Phoenix were eliminated in the quarterfinals in both 2022 and 2023 and will now play a much-anticipated rematch with No. 1-seed and top-ranked Parkston in next week’s semifinal round. The Trojans are the defending Class 9AA state champions, 9-0 this season, and defeated Leola-Frederick Area 40-6 on Thursday night. The Trojans will host the Phoenix Friday, Nov. 8.

Parkston defeated F/M/FA 42-14 in the opening game of the season on Aug. 23.

“You can’t ask for a better opportunity than to play the defending state champions to get to the Dome,” said senior Sawyer Wipf, who had three solo tackles and was in on three others to lead the defense against Hill City. “We’re going to have to be focused all week, take care of our business and not worry about them, and come out Friday ready to ball.”

The winner of Friday’s semifinal will move on to the Class 9AA state title game in Vermillion Thursday night, Nov. 14.

‘Bad day to be a Ranger’

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy’s cross-state trek to Hill City started with a student sendoff at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and as the players were making their way into their charter bus, sophomore lineman Hunter Nankivel was confident.

“It’s a bad day to be a Ranger,” he said.

Indeed, the Phoenix won Thursday night’s game at Hill City with an effort that exposed a vastly improved defense from the start of the year and an offensive playbook that can respond to almost any situation, and that effort against the Rangers featured an effective running game that controlled the tempo of the game and ate valuable game clock late.

F/M/FA ran the ball 48 times for 285 yards, the vast majority coming from Dominic Sperling (142) and Riley Tschetter (134).

“We played well, ran the ball, got a nice comfortable lead in the first half,” head coach Dustin Tschetter said after the game. “Our running game; that’s been the difference since Elkton (Lake Benton on Sept. 6). We’ve stressed running the ball, and we run it downhill. We don’t have a lot of big boys up front, but tonight we ran it down their throats.”

After the game, one of Hill City’s defensive linemen said the Phoenix’s offensive line was the best the Rangers had seen all year, and after the game, Sperling gave credit where credit was due — to that offensive line.

“They’re pretty good,” smiled Sperling, who led the team in rushing during the regular season with 665 yards and 10 touchdowns, and against Hill City broke free for a 14-yard score to make it 28-6 midway through the third quarter. “In the second half we really picked it up. I really appreciate their work; they’ve been working hard all season, and we got it done tonight.”

Coach Tschetter also praised his defense, which held Hill City’s high-powered offense to just 185 total yards from scrimmage and a season-low 26 points; its previous low was 41.

“Their quarterback is a very gifted athlete; obviously, they’ve got weapons on the edge,” said Tschetter. “Defensively, we locked them down tonight. That’s the second thing that really has improved since Week 3. We have found a way to make our assets work for us and tonight it showed. We had the better athletes all over the field.”

Game play

The Phoenix, who knocked off De Smet 58-14 in the opening round of the playoffs, went into Thursday’s game at Hill City with an 7-2 record and as the No. 5 seed. The Rangers — who this season moved town to the 9-man level after spending a number of years as an 11-man team and defeated Bon Homme 41-20 in the opening round— went in 8-1, as the No. 4 seed and the fifth-ranked team in Class 9AA.

But F/M/FA set the tone early, stopping the home team on four downs to start the game and scoring quickly on their opening drive, when quarterback Riley Tschetter found Christopher Aasen for a 27-yard scamper to the end zone. A successful two-point conversion by Dominic Sperling giving the visitors an 8-0 lead.

Hill City responded on its next possession by turning a fourth down into a 34-yard touchdown pass, but the Rangers failed on their two-point try and trailed 8-6 early.

Still, the first two series of the game were exactly what the Phoenix were hoping for.

“The fact that we were able to get that first stop early, and then when the offense is able to score on two plays, it’s like, ‘Here we go,’” said offensive coordinator Austin Unruh. “We were able to settle in after that.”

The Phoenix scored again late in the first quarter when Tschetter found Karter Weber for a 21-yard touchdown strike, and then again for the two-point conversion to give F/M/FA a 16-6 advantage. The Phoenix defense, meanwhile, continued to contain Hill City’s shifty attack, and the offense connected again late in the first half when Tschetter found the end zone from 1-yard out to give his team a 22-6 lead.

The two teams traded punts to start the third period, but the Phoenix kept the foot on the gas on their second possession of the half when Sperling got loose for his 21-yard touchdown carry. At 28-6, the game appeared to be comfortably in hand.

“We don’t want the season to be over and came out with the mindset that we were going to run the ball down their throat, and that’s what we came out and did in the second half,” said Wipf. “That’s what we relied on all game long and everybody was in on it.”

As for the defensive, he said the Phoenix’s ability to control the outside made the difference.

“Our athletes on the edge did a great job of containing them,” said Wipf, whose defensive state line included a quarterback sack. “That was our plan all week long.”

That Wipf and Company allowed the Rangers’ offense to score just 14 points speaks to that effort. But a pair of defense touchdowns in the fourth quarter made for some Phoenix nerves late. Both came with F/M/FA deep in Hill City territory and threatening to really break the game open.

The first pick-six came with 8:12 left in the game when junior defensive back Caleb Sobolik intercepted a Tschetter pass to the outside and took in 60 yards for the score to make it 28-14.

The second pick-six followed F/M/FA’s final touchdown of the game, a gutsy fourth-and-goal pass from Tschetter that found Tate Sorensen in the back of the end zone that led to a 36-14 lead. That second big play from Hill City came on another Phoenix fourth-and-goal, when a tipped pass attempt from Tschetter resulted in a 98-yard interception return from another junior defensive back, Nick Schroeder, with 2:26 to play.

Tschetter said that the offense wasn’t set up for the look that the Hill City defense showed, which is regrettable looking back.

“I should have called a timeout,” he said. “But give them credit. They tipped it, they caught it, and they made a play.”

Hill City’s second defensive touchdown of the fourth quarter cut the lead to 36-26, but a F/M/FA timeout allowed the defense to set up for the Rangers’ critical two-point conversion, and Sperling batted down a pass to the edge that keep it a two-score game late.

And when a failed onside kick gave the ball back to the Phoenix, the Rangers were forced to use their final two timeouts, and F/M/FA’s continued success running the ball resulted in a game-clinching first down. One kneel-down later and the game was over.

“Their defense took away some of what we do really well,” said Unruh, “but we were able to find and establish a run game that went up and down the field. It was all about Dominic and that offensive line; that is really where it started and ended.

“The game was won in the trenches.”

Reactions

Aasen, who along with Sperling, Wipf and Lincoln Anderson are the only seniors on the team, said he knew going into the game that a loss would mean his prep football career would be over.

“I was thinking about that the entire ride here,” he said. “But God was in our favor and we get to play another one.”

Aasen, who came to Freeman Public his sophomore year, said that that Phoenix got the job done defensively by reading the speed of Hill City senior quarterback Devin Buehler, “and just playing like dogs.” Buehler, a threat to both run and throw the ball, accounted for the Rangers’ two offensive touchdowns both on the ground and through the air. He ended up rushing for just 31 yards and throwing for 136 yards.

“I was completely confident in our defense,” said junior defensive lineman/tight end Tate Sorensen, whose catch in the back of the end zone after a Tschetter scramble on that fourth-and-goal made it 34-14 early in the fourth quarter and may have been the play of the game. “That was all quarterback.”

“It got a little scary there at the end with those two pick-sixes, but I still had all the faith,” Sorenson continued. “Coming out of the gate right away with that touchdown, I knew it was our game right away. The way the offensive line was firing, the way we were pushing the ball inches and inches, yards and yards, I was confident the whole time.

“I’m super proud of how far this team has come since Week 1 against Parkston.”

Unruh said having an offensive playbook as deep as the Phoenix has is invaluable.

“It’s a wonderful thing to have the ability to adjust to a game plan and a scheme for every scenario,” he said. “Quarterback run play hasn’t been a major part of our offense, but it’s great to have and makes for good complimentary football. It’s great to line up and know you can do what you need to do.”

As for the environment Thursday night — and the opportunity to drive across the state as a team in a chartered bus — Unruh says it doesn’t get any better.

“Going through something like that is so unique and so special,” he said. “Few teams get to go on a six-hour road trip like that, and Hill City is just a wonderful setting and made for a wonderful night, with the snow around the field, and the view. Any football guy is going to be thrilled with the whole moment. Coming out on top was the icing on the cake.”

Tschetter noted after the game that — yes — it’s special to coach his two sons, Riley and freshman Easton Tschetter, but he’s close with all of his players.

“I’ve been coaching a lot of these guys since they were 4 years old in pee-wee baseball,” he said. “I’ve coached most of these kids my whole life, so they’re all kind of my own.”

And this “family” has at least one more game to go this season.

“Here we are, year three (of the co-op), and we’re in the semifinals,” Tschetter said. “I’m excited for the opportunity.”

“It’s absolutely wide open,” Unruh says of Class 9AA’s final four, which in addition to Parkston includes No. 2 Hamlin and No. 3 Elkton-Lake Benton on the other side of the bracket; Hamlin is 10-0 and Elkton-Lake Benton (the only other team to beat the Phoenix this season) is 9-1. “We’re just honored to be in the conversation.”

Riley Tschetter’s final stat line Thursday night in Hill City showed 14-of-22 yards passing for 174 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball 21 times for 134 yards.

Sperling’s 142 yards rushing came on 25 carries, and Aasen caught seven passes for 70 yards.

In addition to Wipf’s six tackles, Riley Tschetter and Sorensen each had four solo stops, and Lincoln Anderson, Tayden Kerrigan and Luke Peters each had three.