Top-rated Monarchs complete perfect season with their first state championship

VERMILLION — In four previous state Class 9A championship appearances (all since 2008), Warner's football team had yet to outscore an opponent.

Boy, did the top-rated and top-seeded Monarchs solve that issue Thursday when they topped unranked and seventh-seeded Deubrook Area 76-54 in a record-setting state Class 9A title game in the DakotaDome.

It was the high-scoring championship game ever (any class) in the history of the South Dakota state football playoffs, which open in 1981. Warner also tied the record, not only 9A but all classes, for most points scored. Deubrook Area also set a record for most points scored in a losing cause.

The win didn't come easily.

"Our motto all year has been, 'Next play,' and that certainly was the case today," said Warner head coach Kerwin Hoellein. "We battled all the way."

Despite holding a possession advantage of 35-plus minutes to 12 and outgaining the Dolphins 642-250, Warner didn't get to breathe easy until it scored the final touchdown of the third quarter and the first two of the fourth quarter. The scoring plays stretched the Monarchs' lead from 56-48 to 76-48.

Deubrook Area led 22-21 after one quarter. Warner led 42-36 at halftime.

"It was a crazy game and a fun one to be part of," Deubrook Area coach and Watertown native Nathan Lamb said. "Our guys earned a chance to play on the big stage and show what they could do. I think there might be a lot of people googling 'Where is Deubrook?' after today."

Senior quarterback Hunter Cramer, selected by the media as the Joe Robbie MVP winner and by the South Dakota Football Coaches Association as the outstanding back of the game, rushed 19 times for 211 yards and four touchdowns and completed 15 of 21 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown.

More: State championship games scheduled for Thursday through Saturday in the DakotaDome

Cramer scored on runs of 1, 1, 3 and 43 yards and also tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Brodey Sauerwein for a Warner team that accumulated 454 yards rushing. Jesiah Baum added 153 yards rushing on 19 totes, scoring on runs of 2, and 50 yards. Charlie Dulaney contributed 89 yards rushing and four TDs (5, 2, 11 and 3 yards). Sauerwein finished with five catches of yards.

Big plays kept the Dolphins, who upset No. 2 seeded Alcester-Hudson and No. 3 Philip to earn their first trip to the Dome since winning the 2012 state Class 9AA title, around.

Gavin Landmark (37-yard run), Jake Jorenby (87 interception return) and J.P. Rogness (79 kickoff return) each found the end zone in the first quarter. Landmark (52 run) and Rogness (41 pass from Jace Vomacka) continued the big-play barrage in the second quarter.

Rogness' huge day (323 yards in returns and receiving) included returning another kickoff 85 yards for a TD and a punt 64 yards for another score in the third quarter. Only the Dolphins' final score, a 13-yard TD pass from Vomacka to Jorenby with 35 second left, didn't come on a big play.

The Dolphins ran 11 times for 122 yards, including Landmark's 134 on seven totes, and Vomacka completed 13 of 28 passes for 128 yards. Jorenby hauled in five passes for 59 yards.

"Losing always has a sting to it, but we know that's a possibility. When we accept that, it allows us to play fast and loose," Lamb said. "There should still be joy in the act of playing the game even in a loss. If the worst thing that happens to these guys is they play their hearts out and lose a football game, they'll have a pretty good life."

Devon Fischbach led Warner's defense with seven tackles. Baum added five. Cramer and Sauwerwein each intercepted passes and Zachary Evans recovered a fumble.

Gavin Landmark's 12 tackles and 10 each by Rogness and Jorenby led Deubrook Area. Devon Landmark, Samuel Leen, Dylan Rios and Connor Andrews each contributed eight for Watertown native Nathan Lamb's Dolphins.

9A Final Stats: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24153053-9afinal?responsive=1&title=1

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Warner wins record-setting battle with Deubrook Area in 9A football