WOLSEY — The Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds came into the first round of Class “9AA” football playoffs with a perfect season record, as an early 60-6 mercy rule victory over the Miller/Highmore-Harrold Rustlers continued the steady success of the Warbirds.
Wolsey-Wessington progressed to the quarterfinals with a 9-0 record, while the Rustlers closed out their season at a 4-5 record, after the loss.
History repeated itself, as the last time the two teams met for the season opener game in August, the Warbirds defeated the Rustlers, 50-0, which ended by mercy rule after the second quarter.
Devante Luellman led the Wardbirds on the ground with 114 yards total. He recorded a 37-yard run for his first touchdown of the game. With a two-point conversion run by Diedrich Offt, Wolsey-Wessington took an early 8-0 lead at 9:14 to play in the first quarter.
The Rustlers gained a little momentum to earn six points with an 11-yard run touchdown by Karst Hunter at 5:58 to play after a 22-yard gain on a fourth and ten play, as McDonnell passed to Bloomenrader.
But the Rustlers stopped there with the scoring, the rest of the points were tallied up by the Wardbirds as the team stayed on top with their skilled rushing attacks and strong defensive techniques.
Seconds later, senior Lynden Williams took off with a 78-yard dash to the end zone for the longest run of the game, followed by a Zomer to Luellman two-point conversion pass. Warbirds had the lead, 16-6, at 5:51 to play in the first. Williams recorded 104-yards on the field as a consistent top rusher for the team.
Then Luellman took over with a 33-yard run at 2:34, Brevan Hooks added a two-point catch, which ended the first quarter scoring at 24-6. Luellman’s abilities continued to shine, as he opened up the second period at 11:53 with his third touchdown of the game.
Diedrich Offt totaled 43-yards, and a touchdown at 10:26 in the second, followed by back-to-back touchdowns by Mark Hamilton to gain 91-yards rushing for the senior running-back, which sent the game into half-time at a 54-6 lead for the Warbirds.
On return, the second half had barely entreated into the first minute of play before a 60-yard Marty Gohn rush to pick up a 60-6 score for Wolsey-Wessington, ended the game early with the mercy rule.
Tentatively, the Warbirds may be the first-seeded team throughout the playoffs, depending on the numbers which will be determined by the South Dakota High School Athletics Association. The Warbirds host their next round of the playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 25.
