Trojans now have won state football championships in both 11-man and nine-man
VERMILLION — Parkston became one of the few high school football programs to win both 11-man and nine-man state championships on Thursday.
A year after falling to Wall in the state Class 9AA championship game, the top-rated and top-seeded Trojans returned to the DakotaDome and capped a perfect 12-0 season by rallying in the second half for a 12-7 win over second-rated and third-seeded Howard.
The title was Parkston's first in nine-man football. The Trojans also won the 2014 state title and added three other runner-up finishes in Class 11B.
Howard (10-2) broke up the scoreless battle with a 1-yard touchdown run by Taiden Hoyer with 2:13 left in the first half. Karsyn Feldhaus added the point-after kick for a 7-0 lead.
Parkston's defense blanked Howard in the second half and the Trojans' Luke Bormann scored two touchdowns in 86-second span late in the third quarter.
Bormann scored on a 22-yard run with 2:27 left in the period before being stopped on the conversion. After kicking off and stopping Howard on downs, Parkston got the ball back and took the lead on Bormann's 74-yard touchdown run with 1:01 remaining in the quarter.
Bormann, who was named the Joe Robbie MVP and the South Dakota Football Coaches Association's Outstanding Back of the game, rushed the football 21 times for 167 yards for Parkston, which gained 259 yards rushing and only 25 passing. Brayden Jervik added 53 rushing yards and Kolter Kramer 40.
Parkston's defense was led by Will Jodozi's nine tackles. He was named the Outstanding Lineman of the game. Maddux Brissette contributed seven tackles and Kaden Holzbauer and Brody Boettcher six each. Jervik recovered a fumble.
Howard's offense produced 95 yards rushing and 30 passing. Hoyer ran for 47 yards and went 3-for-6 passing for 30 yards, completing all three passes to Jackson Remmers. Feldhaus gained 42 yards on the ground.
Kade Grocutt and Weston Remmers each made 10 tackles, Hoyer eight and Feldhaus and Luke Koepsell seven each for Howard, which is coached by former Waverly-South Shore coach Pat Ruml.
Genevieve Dement-Osborn of Rapid City became the first female to referee in a South Dakota state high school football championship when she was part of the officiating crew that worked the game.
9AA Final Stats: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24160834-9aafinal-2?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: Parkston rallied to down Howard for the state Class 9AA football title
